Alex Shvartsman wrote:
>>During one of my discussions with my wife on
>>the advantages of the paleo diet
>>she pointed out to me: "If this
>>way of eating is so great how come no one
>>has heard of it?  I never hear it
>>mentioned on TV, and no one else but
>>you seem to know anything about it!

Hilary responded

>I don't think one should measure the validity of
>an idea by its popularity. In many cases
>it's more like the other way around, I've found.

Hilary's right, but there may be more to it than that.

We seem to have abrogated to the mass media the responsibility to censor,
sort, rank, validate and sanctify what we think and know.  We laugh at how
totalitarian states manage their populations
through state-controlled
media.  We in the West may not be much better off unless we actively seek
out new ideas and fresh perspectives.  At least we are free to do that; do
we have the curiosity, critical faculties and energy to exercise our
freedom?

This list has about 350 members and there will be many more who are on the
CaveManFood list and the Primal Food list and others Yahoo lists.
Lorenzo, who runs CaveManFood, has been eating Paleo since around 1950.
Look back through our list and see how many Paleo books and web articles
(including many from mainstream academic sources) are referred to in the
posts here.  It's a busy, burgeoning field.

Loren Cordain's book was among the top ten selling books on Amazon for a
while.  Just because one person hasn't found about it through his or her
usual media filters doesn't mean it is invalid. In fact it will probably
never get to prime time televi
sion because, to do that, the network
managers have to be convinced a topic will hold the attention of
millions.  (It might just make it as a ridiculing distortion, but never as
a balanced, serious view).

In fact, because the Paleo Diet is more a general 'way' than a narrowly
defined 'diet', it is much harder to label or pin down (to simplify,
praise, or condemn) than Atkins, Sears and others who specify allowed
foods, ratios, banned foods, timings etc with almost pharmacological
precision.

Paleo eating will never be as popular as the eponymous diets.  It requires
alertness, an enquiring mind, a willingness to accept new ideas and the
tenacity to hold on to principles.  It also requires practical, daily
application of the principles.  And not many of our fellow citizens can be
bothered, frankly.

Keith