From: Damien Sullivan (phoenix@ugcs.caltech.edu)
Date: Mon Apr 14 2003 - 15:58:08 MDT
On Mon, Apr 14, 2003 at 05:08:12PM -0400, Harvey Newstrom wrote:
> > selection, adaptation) and 2) modern nutritional science is
> > incomplete and fraught with contradictions
> >
> > The conclusion then is that evolutionary science is a more
> > reliable guide to making diet choices than nutritional science.
>
> So whatever "nature" has given us is the best answer, and science can never
> hope to improve upon that? This seems to go against everything
Re-read his text.
"Modern nutritional science is incomplete". It is. And the way it keeps
twisting and turning makes it an unreliable guide. Fifty years from now
things will hopefully be better. But right now it's not unreasonable to view
science as not very useful for reductionist changes in this area, vs. finding
a gestalt with historical evidence and eating that.
He didn't say anything about 'never'.
> research, as well as life-extension studies. I'd rather take my supplements
> than eat a "default" diet. There is no reason to believe that evolutionary
But do the supplements help? Do they do damage? Are they ignoring harder to
isolate factors in normal food, or based on studies on yeast? Is the
recommended supplement of 5 years ago collecting cautionary studies about it
today?
Having read a lot myself I think the only reliable nutrition recommendations
are "eat more fruits and veggies" and "eat less/don't be a pig". Avoiding
added sugar and hydrogenated fats also seems a good bet. And the right fish
is probably good, but look out for mercury, and maybe worry about the
conservation side of things too (audubon.org has good fish listings). Beyond
that it's all various gambles, whether vegetarianism, supplements, paleo,
Okinawa, or whathaveyou. Even CR (sure they live longer, but I wonder about
effects on the brain.)
> do it. Science trumps nature all the way. I want to live *longer* than a
Only after science knows what it's talking about, which can take a while.
-xx- Damien X-)
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