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We’re Making a Difference!

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greatist.com 100 most influential people

I’ll admit, I can get pretty discouraged with the pace of change in the health and nutrition world. When I see yet another article in a mainstream magazine or newspaper about how bad saturated fat is for us or why we should avoid red meat because it causes cancer I feel like we’re not making much progress at all.

But I know that isn’t true. Google searches for the Paleo diet have increased exponentially over the past few years. It is being covered in major news stories around the world. And more and more physicians and health care professionals are beginning to embrace it.

That’s why I was encouraged to see that Mark Sisson, Robb Wolf and myself were included in Greatist.com’s Top 100 Most Influential People in Health and Fitness in 2012, along with Dr. Oz, Dr. Weil, Dr. Mercola, Dr. Hyman, Tim Ferriss, Jamie Oliver and Michael Pollan.

This is a fantastic sign that the message of ancestral health and nutrient-dense food is starting to penetrate mainstream consciousness. There’s no way I would have made this list without your participation, advocacy and support. Thank you for helping to spread the message!

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16 Comments

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  1. Agreement about AARP. I use it for rental discounts, the monthly newsletter gets a quick skim, I shake my head several times, and then it goes into the trash. (The magazine, not my head.)

  2. I am of the age to be a member of AARP. They send out two publications a month and there is almost always one in there giving TERRIBLE advice on food. I just want to write their food editor and ask where they got their data. I started your Personal Paleo Code system a year ago almost to the day. Now I no longer have chronic, long-term diarrhea, mental fog, exhaustion, migraines, and am no longer overweight. Go Paleo? You’d better believe it. It doesn’t matter how old or young you are.

  3. Congratulations Chris! I came to find out about your website via an Australian journalist and blogger Sarah Wilson. Since then and since adopting a paleo lifestyle I’ve loved following you on here.

    Thanks for all that you do!

  4. You’re making a huge difference Chris with your (to me) unbiased views on nutrition trying to explain and figure out what is good and bad.

  5. Hi Chris,

    When I woke up this morning and read this article I knew that I would have to write a comment to respond to it by the end of the day.

    Discouraged with the pace of change in the health and nutrition world, you say? Well, that’s because you are a Galileo of nutrition – in my book all who come to the Paleo Template style of eating are among the Galilei, as it were. If you feel like everyone else is moving too slowly, you may be experiencing symptoms of a Galileo-like condition called “being ahead of your time” or “being avant-garde”. If that is the case, you may like to watch this four-part video by Doreen Virtue:

    “Indigo Revolution!”
    http://thecalmcanaryblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/blog-post.html

    “Please have patience with us older people, while we’re still learning to cope and grow ourselves. And, please, Indigos, listen to your own inner voice. Don’t be dissuaded – just because someone is older than you – to go off of your own path. Please don’t let an adult who is saying something that doesn’t vibrate as the truth to you to talk you out of your own inner truth. Indigos, we need you to stick to the mission that you came here to do, and to know that you’re old enough to do it, that you’re qualified, that you’re ready to do it, and that ultimately we adults will come around and support you even if in the beginning we may seem to resist you.” – Doreen Virtue

    Unfortunately Doreen Virtue is a vegan – but we (royal) do try to synthesize the best that everyone has to offer. We can only hope that someday she stumbles upon rawfoodsos, Archevore Blog, Chris Kresser’s page, my website, or gets hit in the head by a copy of The Perfect Health Diet!

    I’ve heard that there is also a condition called “being a cynical asshole” which can be the other side of the coin of the Galileo-like syndrome I mentioned earlier. I certainly have experienced both. Once again, I must give my highest recommendation (sort of a plug) on this site for two of my favorite episodes of South Park – “You’re Getting Old” and “Ass Burgers” which both touch on the subject of being a cynical asshole (a real diagnosis – be careful of that mercury and aluminum in the vaccines and that fluoride or silicofluorides in the water, folks…) Note: the combination of the Galileo-like syndrome with the condition known as “being a cynical asshole” produces a disorder which can be characterized as “autistic savant-garde” – a term which would make a good “Before and After” on Wheel Of Fortune! Sometimes marijuana makes me feel creative! I use enough that I feel most threads of the universe are woven together so tightly it is impossible to tell where one starts and the other begins. That’s more than Queen Victoria used for her cramps, to be sure.

    Anyway, I, too, get disappointed when I feel that things aren’t changing fast enough. While I have already successfully merged the Paleo 2.0/Paleo Template community with the medical marijuana community, [see post “MariNoia, Vol. IV: A peaceful merger of the Paleo 2.0 and MMJ communities!” – http://thecalmcanaryblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/merging-paleo-20-and-mmj.html%5D I still need to merge this new PaleoPot crowd with the conspiracy theorists! (And I also have that lifelong goal of merging the best allo-PATH-y has to offer like LDN with more conservative approaches such as good old fashioned empiric medicine, integrative healthcare/naturopathy etc.)

    Chris, you have said that you aren’t a conspiracy theorist. “I’m no conspiracy theorist, …” was how you worded it. And I left a long comment on that page which constitutes a rebuttal, or perhaps a criticism of your non-theorizing or at least a collection of examples of why I am a conspiracy theorist. [see article “Are GMOs safe?” http://chriskresser.com/are-gmos-safe%5D

    (by the way, thanks for using “GMOs” instead of “GMO’s” – the apostrophe that some people add always seems unnecessary to me)

    Let me emphasize that I understand if you choose not to “out” yourself as a conspiracy theorist on this website. You are trying to reach the greatest number of people you can with the best health information you have, and wouldn’t want to narrow your audience by discussing other subjects if they are irrelevant or by chasing people away with scary topics that most people won’t touch with a ten foot pole. But not outing yourself as a conspiracy theorist is one thing – not believing is another. If you don’t believe in any conspiracy theories, I think you have been missing out on a lot of information. And if you think discussing conspiracy theories is irrelevant, then think again. I think that conspiracy theories and conspiracy theorizing are about to become fashionable. No longer will men and women cringe and turn away at the sound of the breathy word “conspiracy”! [See post “The nature of conspiracy” – http://thecalmcanaryblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/nature-of-conspiracy.html%5D

    Have you never considered the possibility that malice is a real component in the world? Over a year ago, before I lost my political virginity, I thought that greed was really the only factor causing mayhem on the planet. But I have come to understand that malice is real and that it is actually more common and pervasive than one might assume.

    Have you ever considered the notion that there are people who spread not only misinformation, but also those that spread disinformation knowingly?

    And do you think that the Crusade Against Cholesterol (CAC) and the War On Animal Fats (WOAF) could have anything to do with a conspiracy, rather than a simple string of “honest mistakes” and scientific “oops” moments where everyone shrugs their shoulders? Do you think it’s just an accident that most people who believe in the lipid hypothesis haven’t even heard of it? (This is an honest question – I haven’t done much research into this history specifically, but because I am a conspiracy theorist I am open to the idea that there could be a Great Cholesterol Con[spiracy]!)

    Chris, you did an excellent job dismantling the Harvard study on red meat/cancer:

    http://chriskresser.com/does-red-meat-increase-your-risk-of-death

    And you said in that RHR show, “…it’s not just, like, an academic point we’re making here. There are real consequences, and I think it’s irresponsible and borderline unethical and almost criminal for a researcher to come out and say that their data proves something when it clearly doesn’t. There’s really no excuse for that at all…”

    But what if it isn’t ALMOST criminal? What if it actually IS criminal? What if it really is “a conspiracy?” Is that so hard to believe? There are real conspiracies. My aunt told me she lost HER political virginity after the Watergate scandal, a classic example of a real conspiracy. Imagine the expression on her face: “What? The President did something bad?” Haha

    Hah-vard is supposed to be a bastion of credibility and authority – is it so inconceivable that researchers could be “bought off” to use this Harvard image to demonize red meat?

    I’ve seen a big push against healthy foods (Danish fat (including butter) tax, beef tax discussed in “What in the World Are They Spraying?”)

    Google searches are very important and very influential. And it is good that Google searches for the Paleo diet are increasing. Doctors Oz, Weil, and Mercola are all very influential, also. But I feel compelled to highlight some specific elements of their influences!!!

    First, while I don’t want to jump to conclusions, I tend to agree with a guy called Andrew Norton Webber who says that Dr. Mercola is a disinfo agent – that Mercola EXISTS for the purpose of being the author of the article that is the NUMBER TWO spot on a Google search for “distilled water”. Try it yourself. Google “distilled water”. Mercola’s article is just below the wikipedia page. Why do I agree with this interpretation – that Mercola is an 80/20 disinfo agent? That he gives 80% good information (i.e. fluoride is bad, vaccines are bad) mixed in with 20% disinfo (anti-distilled water article)? Because Mercola and the World Health Organization are the only prominent figures that oppose drinking distilled water. Don’t get me started on The WHO. Both WHO and Mercola use the bogus argument that drinking distilled water leaches minerals from your bones and teeth (like vegans and veget-arians believe that eating animal protein is acidic and does the same…). They want us to believe that hunter-gatherers who used huge leaves to collect rainwater for drinking melted like the Wicked Witch of the West. But WHO, in their anti-distilled water document, recommend adding fluoride alongside their recommendation not to drink “demineralized” water – RO or distilled. In my book, this destroys their credibility – I’m not a fluoride fan. For more information about Andrew Norton Webber, [see post “Water Of Love” – http://thecalmcanaryblog.blogspot.com/2012/11/who-i-wouldnt-trust-with-glass-of-water.html%5D.

    I have also seen some dubious advice emanate from Dr. Weil’s fingertips:
    “Are Childhood Vaccines Dangerous?” (2006)
    http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400067/Are-Childhood-Vaccines-Dangerous.html
    “Aluminum: A Vaccine Danger?” (2007)
    http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400319/Aluminum-A-Vaccine-Danger.html
    “HPV for Pre-Teens?” (2012)
    http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400145/HPV-Vaccine-for-Pre-Teens.html
    To be clear: I personally disagree strongly with Dr. Weil’s assessment of the vaccine situation.
    Also I have seen him make some comments about medical marijuana that seem to seek to smoothe over the public reaction to learning about the antitumor properties of the herb. For more information about this, [see article “”MariNoia, Vol. III: “Phoenix Tears”” – http://thecalmcanaryblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/marinations-volume-iii-phoenix-tears.html%5D There is also information there about Dr. Weil’s obsession with pressing for the use of Sativex, a standardized tincture of cannabis flowers made by GW Pharm.
    The public reaction doesn’t need smoothing over. It needs stoking up.
    If some patriarchal authority figure (such as a government) says that you can’t use herbs and you must use pharmaceutical drugs – then you are a biochemical slave. It is time for the human race to wake up from the trance and realize that it is enslaved so that it can shrug off its masters! How can a prisoner break out of his cell if he can’t see the bars that confine him? How can any person change a thing in the future if they don’t know what is happening in the present?
    Anyway, my point is that I have a lot of reasons to distrust Dr. Weil, and I have written about it a lot on my blog.

    Next, I have never trusted Dr. Oz and have never found it necessary to explain to anyone why I don’t trust him – it is just self-evident. So I won’t go into details about why.
    But I tend to take a perspective that makes use of some of the information of all three of these prominent, influential doctors, and roughly that looks like this:
    (if I may resort to crass dualism)
    I think distilled water is good, vaccines are bad, fluoride is bad.

    I agree with commenter shamrockjzb in that there are signs that a shift in consciousness is occurring. But I disagree with the way she characterizes it. “We can [not] rely on the government to keep us healthy – their primary concern is making a dollar.” (I inserted the ‘not’ because I figured there was a typo in the original.)
    Here’s why I disagee: while it is true that those near the top of the pyramid are primarily concerned with “making a dollar,” those at the top – the ones who constitute the all-seeing eye at the top of the pyramid on DARPA’s Information Awareness Office logo – I personally suspect that those people have other concerns. For more information about the IAO, [see article “Are you AOL or AWOL?” – http://thecalmcanaryblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/are-you-aol-or-awol.html%5D
    Anyway, I hope that this comment helps conspiracy theorizing “penetrate mainstream consciousness”. I swear, Chris, sometimes I feel like you are baiting me to leave comments here with the way that you word your articles. This one felt like a prompt.

    Congratulations, Chris! I’m glad to watch your website exploding in popularity – I recommend it to everyone I can because it’s one of the best health resources I know.

    Thanks for reading! Nighty night,

    – John (The Calm Canary of http://thecalmcanaryblog.blogspot.com/)

  6. Hooray! I love seeing these signs that a shift in consciousness is occurring. People are starting to wake up and realize that we have to take charge of our own health. We can rely on the government to keep us healthy – their primary concern is making a dollar. As for me, my primary concern is my health and happiness and people like you, Chris, are the ones that keep me educated. Thank you!

  7. Congratulations, Chris and to those that support you, your website and podcast. Another success story below. Spoiler: long winded.

    I first heard about paleo from an ayurvedic doctor in rural South Africa (seriously). Thought nothing of it and continued on my “reduced” grain/soy/sugar diet. I firmly believe life makes continuous attempts to teach you lessons; if you choose not to listen from that person, place and at that particular time, life will try again until you finally learn.

    It’s fascinating how the tidbits of info or intros made by others somehow lead you down a certain rabbit hole, and hopefully a good one at that. Months later I found myself inducted into the ancestral lifestyle. Informational destiny(!)… or something equally as divine. Thanks to the series of tubes, from the slew of body-hacking/paleo podcasts to the articles orbiting the social networking circles, the rabbit hole led me to your website, and my still-Neanderthal brain finally got the message.

    I rely a lot on the information you provide, and I often bounce between you and Paul and Shou-Ching over at PHD. I just wanted to thank you for all the hours you put into this. You are making a difference and it is deeply appreciated. I am a woman in my late 20s. After two months of an overhaul in diet, sleep hygiene and stress management, I’ve managed to reverse aggressive alopecia, better manage lifelong eczema, eliminate facial acne, come out of mild depression and unintentionally lose belly fat while gaining the muscle and energy my body really needed. I haven’t climbed and surfed this well in, um, ever?

    Anyway, sorry for hijacking your comments section with this ramble-athon. Perhaps if someone like the Old Me finds themselves fortuitously landing on this page, I thought it was worth taking some time to write this up to tell them to promptly read your articles, listen to your podcasts and sign up for your paleo program. As a reformed vegetarian and born again omnivore, it’s frustrating to come to terms with the fact that I thought I knew, for so many years, what it means to be healthy. I never challenged my meat and saturated fat fearing, legume loving belief system. I neglected to realize the power that stress and lack of sleep have on the body. I wish I had learned this sooner, but hey, I’m grateful that at least I know it now.

    Keep up the fantastic work, Chris. You are changing a lot of people’s lives. Thank you! -Marie, San Francisco, CA

  8. That’s great! Congratulations! I’m constantly frustrated by how pervasive the misinformation about nutrition continues to be, but it’s true we’re at least being noticed. Even though Paleo tends to show up on all of the ‘worst diet’ lists, I guess that’s better than not showing up at all!

  9. Congrats! And a real shame Dr. Oz was included in that list. The man is a total corporate disinformation tool, from the Oprah Winfrey marketing school.