In a message dated 10/9/02 5:12:32 AM, [log in to unmask] writes:

>Fallon doesn't even realise that her tirade will turn away many people
>who
>are "Paleo curious". She's done the paleolithic diet movement a great
>disservice.
Ben,

I doubt seriously that her review on Westonaprice.org is going to squelch
people's curiousity about paleo eating. Also -- there may be a justified
element of 'paleo' rage in her --  Cordain's book (and many others) at first
present data that exonerates fat; that champions its healthiness and
importance in human diet and quite frankly that's what much of the primary
research (including Cordain's) is revealing. Then in an about shift --
usually at the point that the author presents his meal plans and recipes they
seem to get cold feet. The recipes are often simply more low fat fare -- and
saturated fat is completely shunned. (The first part of a book I look at
these days is the recipe section --  that's how I can discern the author's
real 'colors') Even though wild animals store some of the polyunsaturates
they get in grasses and thus their omega 6 -3 profile is better than grain
finished cattle -- any fat that they make themselves from carbohydrate
sources is saturated. Hayden, Stefannsson and others all gave first hand
reports on the importance of fat in hunter-gatherer diets -- they often throw
out the lean in favor of the fatty portions.

Don't get me wrong -- I've read much of Cordain's scientific papers -- and I
admire him a great deal. However, from what I read in his latest paleo diet
book and what others on this list have reported, he seems to have 'lost his
nerve' . His advice to marinate in flaxseed oil is just nuts -- flaxseed is
an extraordinarily fragile oil that should be used in small amounts cold.
Flaxseed meal is a bit more robust and seems to be able to withstand heat
needed for baking -- antioxidants and other factors still intact. Chinese
have used flaxseed oil for low temperature cooking. But to advocate
marinating meat in it -- and then presumably grilling it invites oxidation.
(Too many polys, even the important omega 3s, is probably unwise considering
their high oxidation rate and their connection with cancer and stroke)

Namaste, Liz
<A HREF="http://www.csun.edu/~ecm59556/Healthycarb/index.html">
http://www.csun.edu/~ecm59556/Healthycarb/index.html</A>