RE: Paleo diet criticisms

From: gts (gts_2000@yahoo.com)
Date: Mon May 05 2003 - 19:22:58 MDT

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    BillK wrote:

    > So to sum up, there is not that much wrong with the paleo diet.

    Glad you agree.

    > Just that it ignores perfectly good food groups

    What food groups do you have in mind? Agricultural and dairy products? How
    are these food
    groups "perfectly good" replacements for other paleolithic food groups,
    other than as a cheap source of calories useful for avoiding famine? Keep in
    mind that one cannot add a calorie from one source without also subtracting
    a calorie from another source.

    > and forgets to insist that
    > regular exercise is also required for good health.

    I don't believe anyone here is forgetting exercise. These threads have been
    about diet, mainly.

    As for paleo exercise, we're probably best suited to brief bursts of energy,
    as from running from predators, attacking prey that we've been tracking, and
    carrying prey and other heavy items back to camp. This suggests moderns are
    best off doing wind-sprints and relatively short intense weight-lifting
    sessions as opposed to very long distance running or cycling
    (notwithstanding certain modern aborigine tribesman who sometimes run
    forever).

    Recently on another health-related discussion list I posted a case study
    about a male marathon runner who suffered from severely diminished
    testosterone levels after running approximately 15 miles per day for
    something like a dozen years. His hypothalamic/pituitary/testicular (HPT)
    axis was shot from the constant impact stress to his pelvis. He quite
    literally almost ran his balls off. :/ Fortunately for Forrest Gump his
    doctor was able to restore normal testicular function by administering the
    female fertility drug clomiphene citrate (Clomid) daily for six months.
    Clomid is a drug used often by professional body-builders to offset some of
    the negative consequences of anabolic steroid use. But that's a completely
    different discussion.

    -gts



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