From: I William Wiser (will@wiserlife.com)
Date: Wed Apr 23 2003 - 18:01:25 MDT
Eliezer mentioned my favorite null hypothesis. Eat what is
most convenient and enjoyable. I have made a few changes
so far. The Paleodiet suggests additional changes which
means time, effort and reeducating taste buds. Paleodiets
also conflict with some expert recommendations. It's harder
when experts disagree. :)
I saw a book by Loren Cordain recently. The bibliography
looked nice. I'll look for some more rigorous literature on
Paleodiet ideas when I get to the competing hypothesis
part of my studies. I don't think it wise for me to endorse
or reject the idea from what I have seen so far and if I'm
going to look at it, I may as well go to the source. That
ought to be about that for me but to be chatty...
I have read in several nutrition books that calcium is
abundant in some plants but poorly absorbed. I also recall
a study of rural Chinese diets saying they seemed to get
plenty of calcium from vegetables. I think researchers
suggested that plant calcium may be poorly absorbed if you
eat animal products. One could as easily theorize poor plant
absorption if you eat dairy products. So, would the idea be
that plant calcium is absorbed fine or that Paleodiets include
a lot of plants so the poor absorption is not a problem or
that dairy does interfere with calcium absorption from plant
sources or that calcium is best gotten from bone marrow or
that we don't really benefit from as much calcium as nutrition
textbooks suggests. The main argument for dairy products
is calcium. They are not the only source but they are a
convenient and tasty source for many people.
Also it's not enough for me to show that a Paleodiet is healthy
but I would want to see that dairy is unhealthy before I gave
up dairy. Not that dairy is unhealthy for some people but that
dairy is unhealthy for most people (likely including me). I'm not
so sure that nutrient density is something rewarding to optimize.
It looks like once you get a certain level of nutrients while keeping
your calories below a certain level the rewards level off (except
for a few nutrients which can be supplemented). Like alcohol I
would ask how much dairy and grain I can eat without paying a
definite health cost. Eating more meats on the other hand I like.
So if I can discover that meats are just as healthy as grains and
dairy that would lower my dairy somewhat by substitution.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Wed Apr 23 2003 - 18:12:40 MDT