> Enough of the trite trashing of Cordain.  He is a first-rate
> scientist who publishes in peer-reviewed scholarly journals.

I was just commenting on canola oil and had no idea this
was somehow tied to "trashing" Cordain. But is being
published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals really
something to brag about?

> Cordain's basic
> recommendation that we eat several times a day, and that
> each meal be balanced -- with lean protein (or less lean if the
> source is cold-water ocean fish or grass-fed stock),
> nonstarchy vegetables, fruit, nuts,  and water -- should ring
> sound to most of the people on this list.

In other words, you have to take the good along with the bad.
Nothing wrong with that. Nobody is perfect and the more
mainstream the book, the more you are going to have to
compromise.

> As for
> canola oil, all the benefits of increasing LNA (the omega-3 fatty
> acid that it is rich in) in one's diet are reaped by using it.

I can think of much better ways to get omega-3 fatty acids.
My rule of thumb is that what you eat should come from
something edible in its natural state, and the rape seed
does not meet that criteria to my satisfaction. I'm with the
other people on the study, it looks laughable to me, too.

I looked at the reviews of the Paleo Diet on Amazon.com.
The number one complaint, and almost the only
complaint is Cordain's stance on oils/fats. Note, I'm
not necessarily in agreement with the eat-all-the-fat-
you-want people, I'm more of just against processed
oils. I like the guy below who said, "Cordain should be well
aware that liquid vegetable oils simply did not exist back in
paleotlithic times." How very true.

Here are most of the comments, as found on
Amazon.com:

* I've surveyed a number of other nutritional guides and found that this one
does not hold up so well. Several current diet books discuss saturated fats
much more thoughtfully than Dr. Cordain does with his dismissive
"artery-clogging" epithet. As he points out, animal fat today--at least in
most commercially available meats--is not the nutritious animal fat that
Paleolithic people ate, but his solution to this problem can create more
problems.

* The credibility of the book is further compromised by his clear lack of
knowledge about edible fat composition and cellular biology and the
importance of both saturated fats and polyunsaturated fats (together with
cholesterol) in the generation and maintenance of cell integrity, not to
mention hormone manufacture. ... As for recommending flax oil for cooking!!!

*  Like another reviewer, I find Cordain's suggestion to cook with flaxseed
oil extremely distressing. The flaxseed oil manufacturers themselves
(including the ones named in the book) advise against this, as do other
authors touting the values of omega-3 fatty acids. This recommendation
seriously damages Cordain's credibility.

* The most alarming error is his frequent recommendation to use flax oil
when cooking meat dishes. Recipe after recipe calls for marinating cuts of
meat in flax oil before cooking - a very bad idea! For those who don't
already know, you should NEVER cook with any type of polyunsaturated oil.
Their high degree of unsaturation makes them extremely prone to oxidative
damage, and this process is greatly multiplied by exposure to high
temperatures (e.g cooking temeratures). Omega-3 fats, like those found in
flax oil, are the most vulnerable polyunsaturates of all. When eaten, these
'healthy' fats trigger a chain-reaction of nasty free-radical activity in
the body, leaving one open to the development of all sorts of degenerative
ailments. Cordain should be well aware that liquid vegetable oils simply did
not exist back in paleotlithic times.

* Where the book goes wrong is in its explanation and role of fat in human
diets. Cordain erroneously believes that saturated fats cause heart disease
and other diseases--totally wrong. Because of this belief, he also writes
that our Paleolithic ancestors did not each much saturated fat from animal
sources. The evidence he gives to support this, however, is very selective
and misleading.

* I agreed with most of Dr. Cordain's concepts except when it came to eating
fat. Fat, and more specifically saturated fat, has been unfairly villainized
by modern paradigms and this book does nothing to clear this misinformation.
There is some evidence to suggest that our ancestors preferentially ate the
fat from the animals they hunted. Cordain's diet seems to skirt this issue
and combine a true paleo diet with a modern day, politically correct, low
fat diet.