In a message dated 10/13/02 11:03:13 AM, Todd Moody <[log in to unmask] writes:

<< After all, we store
excess fat as an energy store for when we need it.  "When we need it"
would certainly be times when dietary fat is scarce -- so paleo man
would not normally be burning up large amount of  body fat at the same
time as eating lots of animal fat -- right? >>

I'm not so sure about that. According to Wiley and Formby in the book, Lights
Out, we (back then) gobbled up large amounts of available high carbohydrates
fruits in the summer, putting weight on for the coming scarcity of winter. In
winter, when there were no high carb fruits around, we lived on still
available high fat megafauna, and lost weight. Those naturally lean
individuals not fortunate enough to possess the "thrifty gene" (the ability
to easily pack on the pounds) would have died of starvation during winters
with little food available.

To me this says that Paleo man WOULD have been burning up more fat at the
same time as he would have been eating more fat, but fewer carbohydrates.

Maddy Mason
Hudson Valley, NY