Book Reflection

The Primal Connection

By: Mark Sisson

So far the book interestingly introduced that the brain is hardwire to experience the threat of survival that was often experienced by our ancestors in the past as a result of scarcity, war, and fear of predators.  It suggests that all of the factors that threatened our survival also changed the neurotransmitters and hormones that helped develop the complex plasticity in our brains. For example, encountering things that were scarce resulted in a release of good hormones and neurotransmitters such as serotonin & endorphins. Experiencing brief movements of fright after coming into contact with predators also changed the hormones in our brain like cortisol. Balanced doses of these hormones and neurotransmitters seems to have kept both of the brain and our body healthy.  However in todays busy society we have strayed from the primitive necessities that our brain and body requires to remain healthy. We now tend to indulge in the urges of being satisfied immediately, and not allowing our brain to be showered with the good neurotransmitters that are promoted by scarcity. We now have unlimited access to: climate control (heaters and AC), light (electricity), food such as sweets, fruits, grains, alcohol, etc.  These accommodations result in a lack of feel good neurotransmitters in the brain and may interfere with our brain development.  Because we rarely or never experience scarcity, brief periods of cold that threatens our survival, brief periods of hot temperatures that threaten our survival, or diverse sounds of nature, we then find ourselves self-stimulating our reward system for the release of these feel good hormones. This self-stimulating actions involve: over eating sweets, becoming addicted to certain things, being obsessed with social networks, sex, shopping for things that we do not need, gambling, etc. The goal of this book is not to go back to the ways  that our ancestors used to live, but to teach us ways and skills on how to incorporate the way that our ancestors lived in the past to our present.

The author then explains a few important connections that are needed for a good quality of life:

Inner Dialogue Connection- Describes that our ancestors probably didn't have the time to obsess over a superficial life. Now a days, we are over stimulated by negative thoughts that are within our minds; we tend to obsess about things that are not real or have not happened.

Body connection- Explains how human touch provides comfort, healing, and improves our biochemical levels. It also mentions why moving our body throughout the day is much more healthier then engaging in an intense workout.

Nature Connection- Mentions that our genes expect to experience some type of nature. Being out in nature can improve our mood, cognition, and immune function.

Daily Rhythm Connections- The solar sequence has been imprinted in our genes and has influenced our hormone and biochemical patterns. But now, artificial light has interfered with the primitive patterns of our natural circadian rhythm. Short sleep cycles as a result of technology, media, and stress has provided unbalance in our health and quality of life.

Social Connection- We have been hardwired to have connection with small groups rather than large groups such as those found on social media.  Small groups of people promote a healthier lifestyle; they bring balance, peace and satisfying social relationships.

Play Connection- Play would allow our ancestors to learn how to problem solve, experiment new out comes, therefore increasing knowledge about our environment without facing danger. However, true play, especially in children is being neglected these days because we tend to stick to artificial fillers like electronic devices, facebook, etc.


All of these connections flood our brains with healthy and feel good biochemicals which then reinforce the primitive neural pathways that keep us healthy.


Citation:
Sisson, M. (2013). Introduction. In The primal connection. Malibu, Calif.: Primal Nutrition.