Good morning!

Here's your Saturday 7 roundup!

📝 What's the Paleo Diet:

Most people think they know the paleo diet: lean meat, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.

Most people think our ancestors just ate these foods whenever they were around, whenever they could.

I spent the last four months writing Chapter 2: The Foundation of The Human Diet, which dismantles the common 'paleo diet' narrative.

Through clues hidden in teeth and bones, you'll discover a suprising picture of what our ancestors were really eating — one that flips the modern “paleo plate” on its head.

If you're just tuning in, I'm working to turn a decade of research into a book — and I’ve decided to release some chapters (maybe all of them). 

• Introduction: What Your Teeth Say You Should Eat
• Chapter 1: The First Human Diet
• Chapter 2: The Foundation Food

P.S.

Over the years, countless researchers have shaped my thinking about human nutrition. For this chapter in particular, I owe a special debt of gratitude to Miki Ben-Dor, Raphael Sirtoli, Ran Barkai, Amber O’Hearn, Leslie Aiello, Peter Wheeler, Max Kleiber, Richard Wrangham, Peter Ungar, Loren Cordain, S. Boyd Eaton, Melvin Konner, Marjorie Shostak, and William Leonard — and to many others whose work helped unearth the nutritional origins of our species.

🐘 What it was like:

I submitted Chapter 2 to my editor, Steph, at the end of July.

Aptly — writing it felt like eating an elephant. Grueling. 

During this time I wrote 1-2 hours/day and had at least 10 “Writing Days” of 10+ hours. 

I probably over-obsessed about this chapter because I think it’s one of the most important ones. (I reserve the right to say this about future chapters :)

This chapter gets to the heart of what most people get wrong about ancestral diets. I wanted to set the record straight, which meant fitting a ton of complex information into a digestible read, without losing nuance and maintaining scientific accuracy, while somehow still being enjoyable to read. 

If you get a chance to read it, please leave a comment under the chapter or hit "reply" here. Your feedback means a lot and I’d love to know if I pulled it off or how I can make it better.

😴 What's next:

Goal: finish Chapter 3 by year's end, which will wrap up Part 1: Early Human Diets (which I’d like to turn into an ebook and video series). 

Then, next year I’ll write Part 2: Revolutionary Diets.

Then, yes, I think it’ll take until 2027 to write Part 3 and publish. 

But good things take time, right?

Thanks for following along and cheering me on!

💡 How to be (more) productive:

H.M. Ward writes ~2 hours a day and averages 5,000 words. Nancy Thompson publishes about 5 books a year by writing a chapter a day. 

Me? Same 2 hours, but maybe 200 words. One chapter a quarter. Three years for a book. 😭

Their secrets:

• Daily goal (like word count — which didn't work for me).
• Phone on silent. 
• Set a timer.
• Don't get stuck.
• Write every day.

🧠 What quote I've been thinking about:

“A man on a thousand-mile walk has to forget his ultimate goal and say to himself every morning, ‘Today I’m going to cover twenty-five miles and then rest up and sleep.'"

– Tolstoy

🌎 What is converging:

The world feels more chaotic by the day. 

Ray Dalio explains how five major forces are converging in predictable ways. Spotting these patterns can help explain some of the chaos and help dodge financial pitfalls and seize opportunities.

Few people make the case for bitcoin better than Dalio — which is why it was surprising it took him so long to come around to it.

✔️ What's your vote:

Vote for the most life-changing American invention.

As always, it's an honor getting to spend some time with you. 

Hope you have a great weekend!

Kevin

P.S.

Paleovalley has a BOGO deal on bone broth protein. 

While I'm a supplement minimalist, I'm traveling soon and will be living on their meat sticks. I'm also a fan of their electrolytes.

Dr. Kevin Stock
Meat Health

SnoreBuds
 

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