Josh Turknett > Quotes

“Eat Mostly Animals and Plants”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“When Eating Fruit, Favor Berries of Various Sorts over the Sweeter Stuff”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“Eliminate Foods with Flour (Wheat, Barley, and Rye) and Added Sugar”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“Don’t forget to read labels to make sure an unhealthy oil hasn’t been snuck into the food you’re buying.”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“Eliminate Processed Foods (Or Only Eat Whole Foods)”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“In general, when deciding whether to consume a particular food, first ask yourself if it is something you could either hunt and kill or grow in a garden.”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“For almost the entirety of our species’ existence on this planet, grains have been unavailable as a food source, as they are toxic to humans when eaten raw. The discovery of methods for rendering them edible was the spark that ignited the agricultural revolution. Grains are nutrient poor and contain substances that block nutrient absorption (phytates), disrupt the intestinal lining (lectins), lead to life-threatening gastrointestinal illness in vulnerable populations, and may be a critical factor in the pathogenesis of a whole host of chronic diseases (gluten).”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“Let’s consider what happens to our metabolism when we eat carbohydrate, or, in particular, the carbohydrate in grains. Most of the carbohydrate contained in grains exists in the form of starch, which is just a large chain of glucose molecules. Starch is quickly broken down into its individual glucose units by enzymes in our saliva and those released by the pancreas. The glucose is then absorbed into the blood, causing a rise in “blood sugar.” The spike in blood sugar triggers the release of insulin from the pancreas, a hormone whose primary function is to remove glucose from the bloodstream by facilitating its transport into the bodily tissues. Once inside the tissues, the glucose can then be burned for energy. Once those tissues have their fill of glucose, however, any that’s left over in the blood must still be eliminated. Glucose that stays around too long ends up sticking to bodily tissues and causing irreversible damage. So how does our body get rid of this excess glucose? It stores it…as fat. Yes, that’s right. Any starch you consume that’s in excess of what your body needs is, under the direction of insulin, converted to fat. And, in addition to driving the storage of glucose as fat, insulin also suppresses the release of fat from the adipose tissue.”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“In general, the sweeter fruits (bananas, apples, grapes, pears) are less nutritionally dense and will also lead to a sharper rise in blood sugar, which, as a migraineur, is something you wish to avoid. This doesn’t mean you need to give up sweet fruits, just eat them in moderation, and always in the context of a larger meal (which helps to blunt the blood sugar rise). For many, eating a sweet fruit on an empty stomach is a big migraine trigger. The same goes for concentrated fruit juices, which should be avoided.”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“Cook with Butter, Animal Fat, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, or Ghee (Clarified Butter”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“So, in contrast to what you may have been led to believe, eating fat doesn’t make you fat. Insulin is the primary hormone that drives the storage of fat in the fat tissues. And insulin is released not in response to dietary fat, but in response to dietary glucose. And the primary source of glucose in the modern diet is grain.”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“Of all the foods composing the typical modern diet, grains and soy are among the highest in lectin content.”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“Dr. Harris argued that our current nutritional dogma—that a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet high in carbohydrates was best for optimal health—was dead wrong.”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“more than anything else, what we eat is what determines our health and well-being.”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“If your food is coming from a chemistry lab, the safe bet is to leave it alone.”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“eating foods high in fructose may make you feel hungrier”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“a program of regular exercise has been shown to be as effective at preventing migraines as the best available prescription medications”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“Cheese In general, aged cheeses are the primary offender here. As a general rule, if it’s a hard cheese with strong flavor, chances are it will raise your risk score. Softer cheeses usually are not aged and so are less of a problem.”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“Gluten, a major component of wheat, barley, and rye, is a composite of two different proteins, gliadin and glutelin. Gluten is what gives bread its stretchiness and elasticity, qualities most folks enjoy. But gluten also makes some people seriously ill. It is estimated that about 1 percent of the population is gluten intolerant, though most are unaware of it. If gluten-intolerant individuals eat gluten grains, they develop what’s known as celiac disease. Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition in which the gliadin protein in gluten grains generates an antibody-mediated immune-system attack against the intestines, leading to chronic diarrhea, fatigue, stunting of growth, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, anemia, nerve damage, and osteoporosis. Furthermore, those with celiac disease have higher rates of cancer, schizophrenia, and a whole host of autoimmune illnesses (Jackson et al. 2012; Rubio-Tapia and Murray 2010), suggesting that the body’s response to gluten affects more than just the intestines. And, on the flip side, almost every chronic autoimmune disease we know of is associated with a significantly increased risk of celiac disease (Cosnes et al. 2008; Rousset 2004; Rodrigo et al. 2011; Song and Choi 2004).”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“As for fructose, its metabolic effects are even more damaging. Unlike glucose, fructose can only be metabolized by certain cells in the body. In fact, the body treats fructose like a toxin, doing whatever it can to keep it out of the bloodstream. Like other toxins, the only place fructose can be metabolized is in the liver, where some of it can be burned for energy. What’s left, however, is then packaged into triglycerides (fat) that are then released into the bloodstream. The more fructose we eat, the higher our blood triglyceride levels. Elevated levels of triglyceride in the bloodstream are a well-established marker of cardiovascular disease risk.”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“there is also some alarming evidence linking fructose to cancer”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“Don’t cook with canola, seed, or grain-derived oils. Vegetable and seed oils were made possible by the industrial revolution, and as such are very new additions to the human diet. They are high in unstable, oxidation-prone omega-6 fatty acids that tip the biological scale toward widespread, systemic inflammation. Butter, animal fats (including lard, tallow, and duck fat), coconut, olive oil, and ghee are all high in saturated fat. Unlike the omega-6 PUFAs that are highly reactive when in contact with oxygen, saturated fatty acids are very stable.”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“The adult is afraid to make a mistake. The adult’s top priority is not to fail. The child seeks them out. The child’s top priority is to learn. If we broaden our perspective, these differences aren’t all that surprising.”
― Josh Turknett, The Laws of Brainjo: The Art & Science of Molding a Musical Mind

“Processed and Preserved Meats Basically, any type of meat product that you can buy at the store and eat without first cooking it yourself is a risk (salami, pepperoni, ham, jerky, bologna, hot dogs, etc.). It’s thought that the nitrites used in the preservation process are the culprits, which you’ll find on the list of ingredients (either as “nitrites” or “nitrates”). Meats and other foods that are smoked will also raise your risk level.”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“Autoimmune illnesses, which include well-known ailments like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, hypothyroidism, and type 1 diabetes, occur when our immune system mistakenly mounts an attack against our own bodily tissues.”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“In most analyses, the rate of migraine headaches is roughly three times greater in women than men.”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“But, as someone who's spent his professional life caring for those with brain disease, when it comes to counteracting the forces of aging, or fortifying yourself against degenerative brain disease, you can't do any better than learning to play a musical instrument.”
― Josh Turknett, The Laws of Brainjo: The Art & Science of Molding a Musical Mind

“To understand what happens when we ingest lectin, let’s consider the example of wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), a lectin contained within wheat. Like other lectins, WGA is sticky, readily binding to other proteins it comes in contact with. After it enters our digestive tract, WGA sticks to the intestinal villi (fingerlike projections along the walls of the gut that are critical for the absorption of nutrients). The binding of WGA to the villi results in the damage and death of its cells. This destruction of the villi caused by lectins, including WGA, interferes with our ability to absorb nutrients from food. There is also evidence that lectins disrupt the gut’s natural flora. These microorganisms in our gut not only play an important role in digestion, but their disruption can result in the growth and proliferation of unhealthy microorganisms, such as E. coli, which can overrun the normal gut microbial environment and make us ill.”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good

“Brainjo Law #6: There is no failure, only feedback.”
― Josh Turknett, The Laws of Brainjo: The Art & Science of Molding a Musical Mind

“Monosodium Glutamate MSG is a chemical used to add flavor to all sorts of foods. It’s a common ingredient in Chinese food, often used to enhance savoriness. Many restaurants will now state if they’re a “no MSG” establishment—if you don’t see this information posted anywhere, then it’s worth asking for a dish with no added MSG. MSG is also a frequent additive in processed foods. If you’re buying something that isn’t in the produce or refrigerated section (i.e., it’s food that comes in a box or bag and can live in your pantry without spoiling for months on end), read the list of ingredients on the label. And be on the lookout for some of the common MSG aliases on the ingredient list, including glutamic acid, glutamate, yeast extract, sodium or calcium caseinate, or any type of “flavoring” (e.g. “natural flavor,” “chicken flavor,” “beef flavor,” etc.).”
― Josh Turknett, The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good