Paleo Diet is

Vegetables

Meat

Fruit

Nuts

Read more here

I have been doing paleo for 11+ years which gives me fewer headaches, more energy and I get sick a lot less often.

Why paleo diet?

3 perspectives:

Evolutionary Perspective

Nutrients and Anti-Nutrients

Paleo Feels Good

Currently taking:

Magnesium

Vitamin D

Collagen

Axio (niacin) (1/2 packet per day)

The cheerful upvote emoji is definitely modeled after you!

Sleep Hacks are ways to improve your sleep, getting a full night's rest with little insomnia. None of these are likely as important as full blown sleep apnea issue, but worth trying for every % of better sleep.

a) Light blocking curtains.

b) check for mold in your house. Some amount of mold is common everywhere however large amounts can interfere with your sleep and cause serious throat inflammation. If you do find mold, depending on the amount / strength, it might be worth calling a specialist. At home solutions for it, include using a UV light, air purifier, deep cleaning carpets, air ducts and reducing moisture from the walls.

c) some people swear by mouth taping , night-time nose cavity strips and nasal spray as sleep hacks. These may indeed be good, however if they are giving you a very large benefit, it's definitely worth checking for sleep apnea and seeing you can get a more permanent solution with jaw modification.

d) shut down your electronics. Before sleep we turn off wifi and all the electricity to the bedrooms at the circuit breaker. If you have a large house, you might actually find it helpful to completely separate sleeping areas from any daily use electronics what-so-ever.

e) meditation before bed can calm you and get you to "turn off" your mind from worrying.

Responsibility over parasociality

https://pashanomics.substack.com/p/responsibility-over-parasociality

Red light therapy and "bromeopathy" have entered the popular discource due to the trailer for "The End of Men." Red light therapy generally referes to shining light with 650 - 1000+ nm wavelengths, which is in either the red or near-infared spectrum. The End of Men is now released on Fox Nation
My experience with red light therapy is with this product:

It seems slightly effective in increasing my mood and a having a "warm feeling" after a 5-10 min session. There is a distinction between red light frequency in (600-650nm) and near-infrared (810-850nm). The product above has both. You can read more about the red vs NIR distinction. Visible spectrum wavelengths penetrate less deep in the body compared to longer wavelengths infrared. Some infrared saunas have wavelengths of 1000nm or above and are thus able to penetrate even deeper. They need to be used with more caution.

A number of studies showed effects of both red light and infrared therapy, most commonly on skin repair. One example study found a significant improvement in skin tone in treatment group after 30 days. 

Another study also shows facial rejuvenation:

Another study has shown a correlation of red light therapy with impovement of distance run in 12 min. This result didn't "technically" reach significance, but anyone who has done any sort of running should be impressed by this. Also this study used red light therapy during sleep, which is not something I would recommend, since I prefer to sleep in as dark of a room as possible.

There are a number of other red light therapy studies linked here. Although some of them are not convincing by themselves because they are done on mice or have low sample sizes, the overall picture is fairly positive, especially since effect sizes tend to be quite large.

You don't have to use red light therapy while power posing:

But it looks cool if you do. And it might have benefits towards posture.

There are some medical jaw interventions which are likely counterproductive and can make one's jaw smaller either deliberatly or as a side effect.

Removing teeth

Generally removing wisdom teeth or any teeth extractions for orthodontic reasons is a bad idea. Almost always Teeth are generally improving the overall jaw strength and size.

Agga appliances 

Agga appliance category is under a lot of scrutiny for bad outcomes. They are are currently facing at least one lawsuit. and maybe more is coming.

Headgear
Headgear orthodnics has multiple different types and depending on the type it ranges in it’s potential issues. Pull headgear is almost certainly counter-productive in that it decreases one of the jaws to "match the other." Reverse pull headgear, such as FaceMask could, *in theory* be more productive, however it has some risks of damaging teeth if attached improperly. It risks pulling the maxilla downwards, which is the wrong angle of pull. There is an almost mythical headgear called “FaceMax,” unfortunatelly similarly named to “FaceMask”. It supposedly pulls the maxilla up and forward instread of down and forward such as FaceMask does.This would in theory be helpful if you manage to attach it to the bone correctly, such as attaching to an MSE and avoid tooth damage and screw drag. However, the information and case studies are so limited that this should be not be considered a proven device. 

Anything that reduces the jaw

Any device that aims to "correct" things by pushing making jaws smaller and less wide is highly suspect in my view. Any orthodontist which does not worry about sleep apnea impact of their treatments is also likely suspect. Aligning teeth, while important for long term stability, should never come at the expense of the airway. 

Other, such as rhinoplasty

The following articles also talks about rhinoplasty (nose jobs) and other procedures as potentially causing long-term damage to one’s sleep. Common Procedures that can Worsen Sleep Apnea

Declining jaw health is an extremely serious issue. From the book "Jaws, The story of a hidden epidemic”:

There's a silent epidemic in western civilization, and it is right under our noses. Our jaws are getting smaller and our teeth crooked and crowded, creating not only aesthetic challenges but also difficulties with breathing

Generally, jaw health and size are closely related to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). OSA is associated with a massive range of negative health outcomes, including but not limited to anxiety, depression, daytime sleepiness, insulin resistance, neuro-degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, ADHD, loss of IQ, heart disease, car accidents, cancer and many others.

One of the key causes of OSA aside from being overweight is an under-developed jaw, which is related to a generally under-developed skull.

Jaw under-development is not completely understood and likely has many causes. Most common hypothesi include:

- Insufficient breastfeeding

- Allergies, such as pet allergies and mold allergies
- Insufficient meat in childhood
- Insufficient chewy foods in childhood
- Hormonal deficiencies
- Mouth breathing
- Physical Facial trauma
- Emotional Trauma
- Bad orthodontics, including improper teeth extraction

There are many suggested solutions for jaw-maxxing. Sample links:

Alternatives to Jaw Surgery

Maxillary Skeletal Expanders

Jaw Surgery

Jaw Interventions to avoid

Several sites are dedicated to publicizing information on the topic, such as Jaw Hacks and the Great Work

In the above image, I am pretty sure they are not thinking “oh I sure wish I had some plastic bottles of liquid food.”

The last perspective is less of a Paleo specific idea, but rather the final arbiter of what foods I eat and don’t eat. Generally speaking, it means “follow your gut,” but intelligently so.

It’s worth looking at other people and how often they go on and off diets. I have been doing paleo for 11 years and while I don’t consider my diet necessarily perfect, I tend to look for health improvements in other areas. Many people try “vegan diets” and go out of it. Many people try keto, which usually ends up being a stricter version of paleo and go out of it. Sometimes people do stick to pure keto or pure carnivore. Epilepsy sufferers in particular seem to benefit from keto. Somebody sticking to diet for a long time is a good sign it feels good to them. Every diet has some die-hard supporters, but be wary of something that has a low retention rate.

While others can provide somewhat of a guide, what about something feeling good to you? What foods look good to you? Do you ever look at a colorful salad and get “food envy”?

Once you understand the blue-print of paleo – such as eating what your ancestors ate, avoiding seeds and roots, you might have some questions about whether specific foods are good or bad for you and what combinations are best. This will be determined by a mix of your genetics, gut floura, food you are used to, what is available in your area, what your lifestyle is.

Once you have the above blue print, what is the method to modify it to suit you more specifically? And how do you know it’s working?

The first step is to try to be pretty strict for 3 months or so, eliminating all known allergens, including alcohol. In my experience after 3 months, I was no longer having cravings for a lot of non-paleo food.

The second step is slowly relax your constraints, watch carefully what you eat and note how it makes you feel. Food frequently has a particular feel to it in the first hour after eating, a few hours later and the next day. You can try to do a food diary recording everything, or you can try to note whenever you feel “bad”, such as “low-energy” or “food coma” or general sadness and note which foods you have eaten in the last day or so. More often than not you will find a “culprit” such as either a break from the diet or a food you determined is ok to eat occasionally, such as rice or chocolate that you had a bit too much of. Occasionally you might note that you could be lacking a food you normally eat. Maybe you are lacking a certain food as well. Perhaps you needed a small amount of fresh veggies or a magnesium supplement. Maybe it has not been very sunny, so you actually need some milk or a vitamin d supplement.

This method is similar to the “Elimination Diet”. I generally like their method, however the prior knowledge of elimination diet is not as strict as I would like. One should assume that non-paleo foods are likely bad for you and paleo foods are good as long as you have the proper variety.

You might say that this suddenly seems a lot like a diet which says “eat what you like.” Well, not exactly the main difference that “eat what you like” has from my method is the understanding that food may take up to a day or more to have a noticeable impact on one’s mood. Also, the expectation of what food might be good is not as reliable as what food has had a good impact in the past. Expectations of what might be good are usually related more to the macros rather than specific foods. If you want ice cream you might be lacking fat and can use some eggs and bacon instead.

The general argument here is that after using the prior information of paleo, you can understand your specific use case by getting in touch with your body’s reactions to food. Generally speaking, my guess is that if you are careful enough you will not deviate from the priors that much. However individual experience is an important way to navigate food.

One of my favorite arguments for the paleo diet is less of an argument and more of a guideline of how to try it and see / feel it for yourself.