Weekend Link Love – Edition 462

RESEARCH OF THE WEEK

The sperm count in men from North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand has declined by 50% over the last 40 years.

Sperm quality is down in dogs, too.

Birthday wishes do come true, as long as you wish to increase the cake’s bacterial levels by 1500%.

Another study shows that wearing blue blocking goggles at night boosts melatonin levels, even when you use your smartphone.

Watching TV for a few hours a week might not be so bad (and may even be good) for a kid’s brain development as long as they watch and discuss it with a caretaker.

Hip thrusts are great but don’t seem to increase sprint performance.

Turns out the Canaanites weren’t killed off.

High brain iron may precipitate Alzheimer’s.

NEW PRIMAL BLUEPRINT PODCASTS

Episode 179: Thor Conklin: Host Elle Russ chats with Thor Conklin, an entrepreneur who credits his healthy paleo lifestyle as a critical co-factor in his success.

Each week, select Mark’s Daily Apple blog posts are prepared as Primal Blueprint Podcasts. Need to catch up on reading, but don’t have the time? Prefer to listen to articles while on the go? Check out the new blog post podcasts below, and subscribe to the Primal Blueprint Podcast here so you never miss an episode.

• CrossFit Training: How to Lose Fat with Primal
• Stop Obsessing Over the Numbers
• 5 Non-Dietary Factors That Influence Your Microbiome

INTERESTING BLOG POSTS

How to lower your cholesterol, if you’re into that sort of thing.

This isn’t fake news.

MEDIA, SCHMEDIA

Why Wif Hof explicitly cautions against doing his breathing techniques in or around water.

Homo erectus may have displayed human-like thinking at least 1.8 million years ago.

EVERYTHING ELSE

The overwhelming importance of conscientiousness.

DNA evidence is changing everything we thought we knew about plant and animal domestication.

How is the poke craze affecting yellowfin populations?

The first human embryos were just edited in the US using CRISPR.

It’s always nice to see a success story.

THINGS I’M UP TO AND INTERESTED IN

Nice take on the AHA/coconut oil controversy: From Nina Teicholz.

I hope they used avocado oil: Bob Dylan potato chips are all the rage in China.

I would have liked this guy: Japanese longevity expert who recently died at 105 had great advice for long life.

I’m glad I never got into playing football: 110/111 NFL brains were found to have evidence of CTE, the neurodegenerative disease caused by trauma.

I just did the same thing last week: Man thinks cubed butternut squash is cubed cheese, tries to return it.

RECIPE CORNER

• Paleo char siu. Who doesn’t love that red pork?
• Slow cooker short ribs that slip right off the bone.

TIME CAPSULE

One year ago (Jul 30– Aug 5)

• The Primal Competitive Instinct: What is it Good For? – How we can harness our desire to beat the other guys.
• Is Gluten Sensitivity All in Your Head? – No.

COMMENT OF THE WEEK

“Good stuff as always Mark I just beg you to never publish a link to an article that states eating a couple of bites of 85% chocolate every day is bad for me. ?”

– Even if such a study were to come out, I’d suppress the findings with every ounce of my being, HealthyHombre.

Want to make fat loss easier? Try the Definitive Guide for Troubleshooting Weight Loss for free here.

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Tamari and Kombu Soft-Boiled Eggs

Hardboiled eggs are a perfect snack, but even a perfect snack can get boring sometimes. This recipe offers a slight variation—and, oh, what a difference! A mild-flavored hard-boiled egg turns into an umami flavor bomb. This egg practically melts in your mouth, thanks to a yolk that is creamy and runny instead of dry and chalky. The soft, rich middle is a delicious contrast to the salty flavor and firm texture of the outer egg white.

Try a soft-boiled egg once, and you might never go back to hard-boiled. The change is easy to make—simply boil the eggs a few minutes less. Eggs are the ultimate Primal food source, full of protein, healthy fats, and a variety of vitamins and minerals. The more ways you can enjoy them, the better. A carton of soft-boiled tamari and kombu eggs is a healthy and easy go-to snack to keep in the fridge.

(P.S. Kombu isn’t an ingredient that’s absolutely necessary for this recipe, but it’s worth adding. Steeping kombu in the marinade extracts minerals and makes these eggs an even healthier supplemental food).

Servings: 6 soft-boiled eggs

Time in the Kitchen: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 3/4 cup warm water (180 ml)
• ½ cup tamari* (120 ml)
• 2 tablespoons coconut aminos (30 ml)
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (30 ml)
• 2-inches ginger root, peeled and chopped (5 cm)
• 1 strip kombu, broken into 2 pieces

Instructions

*The saltiness of tamari can vary between brands. If your first batch of eggs is too salty, cut back on the amount of tamari used for future batches.

In a medium bowl, whisk together warm water, tamari, coconut aminos, rice vinegar, ginger and kombu. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Use a large spoon to carefully set the eggs in the bottom of the pot.

For soft-boiled eggs, cook exactly 7 minutes.

While the eggs boil, fill a large bowl with water and ice.

When the eggs are done, set them gently in the bowl of ice water.

When the eggs are cool, peel while holding the egg underwater (this helps the shells come off more easily).

Submerge the eggs in the tamari marinade so they are completely covered. If the eggs aren’t completely submerged, try a different sized bowl or a jar, or, add more water.

Marinate the eggs in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours (after that the eggs tend to get too salty). If refrigerated, the eggs will stay fresh for about a week out of the marinade. The marinade can be kept in the refrigerator and re-used for more eggs.

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How to Affordably Upgrade Your Fitness Wardrobe + $250 Giveaway

I’ve teamed up with thredUP to bring you this blog post. I love thredUP and have used it for years now. Try it for yourself and use code CAKE 40 for 40% off your first order!

You guys have definitely heard me rave about thredUP quite a few times on CNC in the past, so it’s no secret that I’m a huge fan and regular customer. I use it to sell like new clothing and pretty much Quinn’s entire wardrobe is from thredUP. (Not even kidding – I was on thredUP every other week when he went through a “knee slide” phase because all of his pants had holes in them, and he desperately needed new ones!) Clearly, thredUP has become one of my go-to resources for toddler clothes, especially seasonal items, like winter gear and special occasions (remember Qman’s birthday “3” shirt?), but even more so for activewear and athleisure apparel for myself. I’m always on the hunt for new cute workout gear and love scoring the best deals, so I’m excited to partner with thredUP again to bring you this post and share more of the brand’s awesomeness. Never heard of thredUP? Oh, you are in for a treat!

thredUP is a huge online thrift store that both buys and sells second clothing – but with none of the hassle! Seriously. When friends in real life ask me about thredUP, I always tell them how easy it is to use. I typically shop from my couch after Qman goes to bed and my order arrives, right to my front door, just days later. There’s even free shipping on qualified orders, if you spend more than $79, which is usually pretty easy for me to do because I just keep finding more and more awesome deals to add to my shopping cart!

thredUP resells clothing from more than 35,000 top brands and designers for up to 90% off the original retail value. Simply search by your favorite brands (like Lululemon, Gap, J.Crew, Express, Forever 21, H&M, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, and Anthropologie) and filter by size, color, price, and style to easily find what you’re looking for. thredUP triple inspects each item by hand to ensure all the clothes are like-new, many are even brand new with tags – and they add 15,000 (!!) items everyday so there are always new finds to score!

And then there’s the selling side of thredUP, which is perfect for selling maternity clothes, workout gear, and barely used kid’s clothes – they outgrow them so fast! It’s super easy to sell on thredUP – just go online to order a free “clean out kit,” fill the bag with the items you want to sell, and pop it in the mail. thredUP takes care of the shipping! thredUP keeps you updated on the progress of your consignments (via email notifications) and then you can use what you earn to purchase clothing/accessories right from their site or they’ll send you a VISA gift card in the mail for the same amount. Personally, I’m a fan of the credit option!

Speaking of credit, I recently cashed in some of mine to upgrade my workout wardrobe with a few new pieces. Once I placed my order online, all your like-new items arrived neatly folded and packaged in thredUP’s signature polka-dot box. It’s quite exciting to receive it in the mail!

My order included six new items (all workout/athleisure clothing) from thredUP and saved a whooping $466!! Awesome, right?!

Favorite pieces from my order…

Like new Zella tank (originally $45) for $17.99

New with tags Gap Fit pullover (originally $89) for $23.99

Like new Gap Fit Active Tank (originally $54) for $16.99

Like new Marc New York hoodie (originally $238) for $50.99 <— totally obsessed! 

One of the tanks that I ordered wasn’t quite right, so I returned it to thredUP, which was a piece of cake – I just printed out a shipping label and dropped in the mail. Easy-peasy!

GIVEAWAY TIME!

Here’s your chance to win a $250 shopping spree on thredUP! To enter, just leave a comment on this blog post with a link to an item that you love on thredUP. I will randomly pick a winner next week. Good luck!

In the meantime, you can get your shop on (hey, back to school) now at thredUP. They’re offering Carrots ‘n’ Cake readers a special discount! The first 100 people to use my code CAKE40 will get an extra 40% off their first order! Forty percent off, people! Hop on that! You have nothing to lose! (Applies to new US customers only. Redeemable online only. Discount up to $50).

 

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