From: gts (gts_2000@yahoo.com)
Date: Thu Apr 24 2003 - 12:38:35 MDT
Rafal Smigrodzki wrote:
> grs wrote:
>> Presumably Mr. Hugh M. Species has already done so regarding the
>> theory of evolution. He accepts the theory of evolution, and accepts
>> the fact that he is adapted best to the diet upon he evolved.
>>
>
> ### It is more precise to say that this person is likely
> adapted better to the paleodiet (eat fresh meat, veggies)
> than to the alternatives available and tested by his
> ancestors (e.g. eat rotten meat, chalk, and sawdust).
Fine.
> Whether there are other types of diet which are better than
> paleodiet, does not follow directly from the evolutionary argument.
What does follow, however, is that he knows his 4,000,000 year old paleodiet
is the best starting point from which to derive his optimal diet. Indeed it
is the only starting point, as this is the diet he is currently consuming at
the time the dairy and grain farmers arrive on the scene.
Consider a more extreme hypothetical to make my point more clear: instead of
dairy and grain farmers, along come Neolithic "gasoline farmers" who want
him to start drinking gasoline with each meal. Our man Mr. Hugh M. Species,
being an educated man with a rational mind, knows better than to drink
gasoline without first seeing solid scientific evidence that foods from the
gasoline farmers are worthwhile additions to the diet. He is skeptical of
the gasoline farmers' claims because 1) he accepts the theory of evolution
and because 2) he knows he did not evolve on a diet containing gasoline. He
therefore asserts (just I would) that the burden-of-proof is on those who
advocate a gasoline diet. If the gasoline farmers can't rise to the
challenge by offering solid scientific evidence in favor of gasoline
consumption then our man won't add gasoline to his diet.
This is the same position I think moderns should take regarding any
non-paleo food. Where is the evidence that milk and cheese add anything to
health and longevity? There is none. Likewise with agricultural products.
There is nothing healthful about these foods that can't be obtained from
more nutrient-dense paleo foods.
-gts
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