Charles Alban posted:
>>There is a lot more to Sally's approach than
butter, cream and sugary desserts...
My reply:
I am well aware of the breadth of Fallon's approach. I have had her
book for four and a half years and have read her articles and Price
Pottenger Newsletter for even more years. My husband and I are members of
the Price Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, which Sally Fallon was once the
president of, prior to starting the Weston A. Price Foundation. About four
or more years ago, my husband and I did public presentations of Price's
videos. We've had his book for many years.
Fallon's approach is definitely an improvement on the Standard
American/Western Diet. I do not doubt about that. However, her approach to
cooking and eating is still a radical departure from that of modern day
hunter-gatherers and the non-agricultural peoples studied by Price. Some of
what she espouses flies in the face of what anthropologists have learned
about primitive diets and the benefits of such diets.
When it comes to food prep, a (modern) paleo dietis far less time consuming
than the kind of diet espoused by Fallon. This is not a judgement, just a
statement of fact. For people who prepare their own food, as opposed to
eating out in restaurants often, Fallon's approach requires extensive
soaking, sprouting and fermenting of grains, flour products, and beans, more
time reducing sauces, baking, etc. Also, Fallon's approach does not take
into account the fact that few Westerners have access to unpasteurized dairy
products and many modern people have difficulty digesting or consuming
grains (particularly gluten rich grains) and dairy foods (even if cultured)
as daily staples, in part because so few Westerners were breast fed or
breast fed for very long and in part because of the quality of food
available. She does not offer dairy alternatives in her book or the
articles of hers I have seen.
Further, Fallon argues (on page 506 of her book) that Sucanat is "
dehydrated cane sugar juice, the usgar that the people of India have used
for thousands of years..... rich in chromium, magnesium, silica and other
minerals." The word "rich" is misused here!
First of all, the people in India have a colorful history with regard to
sugar and have suffered the ill effects of their love affair with it (for
thousands of years). Diabetes is just one of the common problems that has
gone along with their sugar consumption.
Further, sugar cane, and the juice extracted from it, has never been (and
never will be) a significant source of any vitamins or minerals. The amount
of mineral salts contained in sugar cane juice amount to about .5% (half a
percent). You¹d have to eat an absurd amount (several cupfuls of dried
cane juice in one sitting or one day) to get any significant trace amount of
minerals, which would add an insane amount of empty calories and would
cancel out any benefit from the trace nutrients contained. The claim that
Sucanat is "rich" in minerals is all marketing hype, fueled by sugar addicts
who want to keep eating sugar and believing that they are doing something
good for themselves and others. For a food to be "rich" in minerals it must
contain an extraordinary amount of that nutrient in a reasonable serving
size.
Charles wrote:
>>French people now, and also Spanish, Portuguese, Italians,
Greeks and Turks all have less than one-third the US heart attack rate. And
also, the "Spanish paradox" ...as the meat consumption in these southern
European countries is increasing, the heart attack rate is decreasing.
My reply:
Granted, their modern diets are healthier than the current US diet, and
superior to the pasta rich "Mediterranean." However, in comparing various
modern industrialized groups we should not forget that we are looking at the
"low among the high." The rates of disease among modern Europeans are still
much higher than those observed among hunter gatherer peoples. Also, heart
disease and cancer are not the only things to look at. There are other
diseases or nutritional deficiencies among modern Europeans that don't make
the headlines in the popular press but exist never the less.
Charles wrote:
>>There is far more to this than I can say here -- I believe
that Sally Fallon has the best and most logical approach to this nutrition
crisis that we face. Check out the website at westonaprice.org.. And better
yet, join up!
My reply:
I can see your enthusiasm about Sally's work and the work it is based on
(Price's work). I am well versed in her arguments and have tried the kind
of omnivorous whole foods diet she espouses (minus the sucanat desserts!).
I also have friends who have tried that approach, some of whom have migrated
to the paleo approach because they found that eating a diet rich in whole
grains (even if "properly" prepared), dairy products, butter, and meats led
to fat gain. Some people, particularly women, find that a generous carb
consumption (even if unrefined carbs are chosen) paired with a generous fat
consumption leads to fat gain.
Fallon and Enig have made some tremendous contributions to the world of
nutrition. They have also hotly debated the findings of leading
anthropologists, scientits, and researchers, including Loren Cordain, Ph.D.
and S. Boyd Eaton, M.D., about the total fat and fatty acid profile of wild
game and how the composition of grain fed cattle differs markedly from 100%
grassfed steer.
If you prefer Fallon's approach to eating, by all means, join her. However,
bear in mind that many people have come to this list because they have found
improvements from a paleo diet.
Rachel
My reply:
Charles San Diego, CA
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