From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Apr 21 2003 - 13:39:11 MDT
--- gts <gts_2000@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Harvey Newstrom wrote:
>
> > However, I still have a few problems with the Paleo diet theory.
> >
> > 1. Why are beans left out? I don't buy the part about not being
> able to soak them.
> > 2. Why are grains left out? Same thing. Everyone seems to admit
> > that grains grew wild all over the place.
The simple explaination is that grains and beans just didn't grow wild
all over the place as we imagine. The bean and grain species we are
used to are the result of several thousand years of directed evolution,
breeding specifically for large fruit size and quantity. Their
paleolithic ancestors just didn't produce that much fruit and no fruit
of the size we are used to. Because of this, paleolithic people didn't
invest much time into gathering these specifically because the energy
payback was so meager.
It was only when some individuals got the bright idea of selecting
grains from the most fruitful plants to grow in isolation that the long
process of domestication occured. The development of this technology
spelled the end of the paleolithic era.
>
>
> > 3. Speaking of not having bowls, this Paleo Diet seems to assume
> > that everything needs to be cooked using an open flame. Modern
> > knowledge tells us that this is the worst way to cook foods,
> > especially meats.
Not necessarily. Pit cooking techniques are paleolithic in nature and
do not result in the charring that generates the carcinogenic compounds
moderns are so afraid of. Ever been to a new England clam bake or
Hawaiian pig roast? That is non-carcinogenic paleolithic cooking.
> > 4. I agree that humans are naturally omnivores, eating meat and
> > vegetables. But the meat-eating seems a bit exaggerated. It is not
> > obvious or proven that the ancient ancestors ate huge amounts of
> > meat every day. They probably had meat a few times per week, and
> > foraged for nuts, berries, and vegetables the rest of the time.
> > Their diet was mostly vegetarian every day, with boosts of meat
> > occasionally.
I beg to differ. Anthropologists have developed evidence that
neanderthals ate a 90% meat diet, where cro-mags ate about 60% meat,
depending on habitat.
> The studies of hunter-gather cultures I've seen suggest that HG
> peoples
> consumed as much as 60% or more of their calories from animal
> sources, even
> if they did not eat animals every day. Keep in mind that this
> includes
> calories from fats and organs as well as from muscles. A single wooly
> mammoth could feed a small tribe for several weeks.
Yes, and paleolith proponents are 'down on vegetarianism', as Harvey
says, specifically for energy and power reasons. Look at any
vegetarian. Most are waif thin. Only the most disciplined are able to
maintain any sort of significant muscle mass. Imagine such individuals
trying to take on a sabre tooth or cave bear, trying to track a woolly
mammoth or red deer for days, then having the energy to haul the kill
by hand over miles of rough and hostile terrain, fighting off
scavenging packs of hyenas.
>
>
> > 5. Speaking of vegetarianism, most of the complaints against
> > vegetarianism have nothing to do with modern day. First of all, if
> > someone isn't a total vegan, meaning they also eat milk, dairy and
> > eggs, then they are not missing out on all the animal-only
> > nutrients. Plus, we have supplements today. Any modern person
> > taking a well rounded supplement won't have any of the deficiency
> > problems. Plus, we can mass produce food in ways never available
> > before.
Outside of lactose intolerance being an indicator that dairy was not a
common paleolithic food group. With modern supplements, yes, you can
make up for shortfalls in the vegan diet that way, but what is the real
uptake? I was under the impression that the uptake of supplements was
rather poor. It is also kinda dishonest, much like my article on how
the Nearings cheated on their "Good Life" with inherited wealth.
> > Maybe the
> > ancients couldn't mass produce tofu enough for their diet, but the
> > corner grocery store can. Most of the anti-vegetarianism
> > stuff I read here is aimed at theoretical diets that don't
> > exist any more, or aimed at pseudo-scientific claims that
> > have nothing to do with a life-extensionist diet that avoids meat.
>
> This is basically a nutritional science based approach to "designer
> diets," and while I don't reject nutrition science out of hand,
> (I'm a LEF member and a customer), I also believe nutrition science
> is incomplete and fraught with contradiction.
But that isn't the point, either. The point of living a paleolithic
diet is to live healthfully without modern interventionist techniques
like supplements, caloric restriction, body building and aerobic
training. It naturally avoids foods which the human animal did not
evolve to eat.
> > 6. I agree totally with the part about ancient lean meats being
> > much healthier than the fatty meats we produce today. That is
> > part of the reason I am vegetarian, and part of the reason I
> > don't eat a lot of meat to duplicate the Paleo diet. Modern meat
> > is dangerous, fatty stuff.
>
> Yes. I have a list of about 20 sources of natural range-fed and wild
> game meats and eggs that ship by mail-order. Let me know if you
> would like it. Range-fed and wild game meat is much leaner, with the
> proper balances of important fats like omega-3 and 6, whereas farm-
> fed beef is overly fat and overly rich in omega-6 from the high
> omega-6 non-paleo corn upon which it is raised.
Watch out. I have found that many of the so-called 'range fed' meats
are stall fattened with corn for several months prior to slaughter.
While I don't mind eating these once in a while, if I cannot obtain
truly wild meat, I will eat naturally lean meat like fish, turkey,
ostrich, emu, buffalo, etc.
=====
Mike Lorrey
"Live Free or Die, Death is not the Worst of Evils."
- Gen. John Stark
"Pacifists are Objectively Pro-Fascist." - George Orwell
"Treason doth never Prosper. What is the Reason?
For if it Prosper, none Dare call it Treason..." - Ovid
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