Jim Swayze wrote:

>My way of looking at this is to start with a minimum and expand from  there
if necessary.  Something tells me that one could stick with Ray's  vision of
this thing -- follow his guidelines exactly -- and have a very, very  healthy
life.

Todd Moody wrote:


I don't disagree.  But my intuition is that one could depart from  his
guidelines in a number of ways and be just as healthy.

*********************

There are endless  discussions on this list about which foods are Paleo,
which are not, and why, or  why not, and how far one can depart before drifting
"over the edge." But one  issue not often discussed in relationship to its
"Paleo-ness" is the number of  calories consumed. The topic appears now and then,
with references to well  documented studies about caloric restriction and the
benefits to health and  longevity, and in discussions about effective weight
loss methods. Ray's  book, Neanderthin, espouses a philosophy whereby eating a
huge number of  calories, as long as they are Paleo foods, will result in
weight loss in those  who are overweight. This works for Ray, but many of us on
this list know it is  far from that simple. Yes, some people have lost huge
amounts of weight while  not having to restrict calories very much, if at all, and
others struggle  fiercely with weight, and cannot lose on any diet, without
severe and sustained  calorie restriction.

Dr. Roy Walford, one of  the founding fathers of the CRON movement (caloric
restriction with optimal  nutrition) has his own version of the ON part of
CRON, which is primarily a diet  low in fat, and high in vegetables and complex
carbohydrates. Many people on the  CRON mailing list present solutions to
fighting hunger with foods that are high  in fiber and artificial sweeteners; foods
that are filling yet very low in  calories. Such foods would hardly qualify as
Paleo. Yet few would argue the  benefits of losing excess weight, as long as
it is done with "any reasonable  diet." Even Dr. Walford acknowledges in his
book, Beyond the 120 Year Diet, that  studies of anorexic girls have shown that
"on their way down," BEFORE they  reach a state of severe malnutrition and
starvation, their biomarkers for health  are generally excellent.

It is generally  acknowledged that our ancestors in Paleo times probably went
for periods of time  with very little or no food at all. Perhaps during harsh
winter weather or  summer droughts or whatever, they suffered through
enforced periods of  caloric restriction, or even total fasting. Those who had a
tendency to use  calories very efficiently, i.e., put on weight easily, would have
a survival  advantage over those who didn't. In today's world, we have access
to a  superabundance of food all the time, so that this early survival asset
has  become a liability, and hence, some 2/3 of Americans are now  overweight.

The bottom line is that  part of the Paleo philosophy has to pay some mind to
the amount of food  consumed, and not just the types of foods eaten. Some
folks, like Ray, can alter  their diets dramatically and resolve devastating
health issues, as he did,  recovering from both Type II Diabetes and Rheumatoid
Arthritis. But for others  of us, we may not see various diseases disappear
until we practice a Paleo diet  combined with a certain amount of calorie
restriction, for some, more severe  than others.

In my own personal fight  with obesity, I find it helpful to keep reminding
myself that I am one of those  with the "thrifty gene," who cannot lose weight
without severe caloric  restriction, Paleo or not, but that keeping my weight
under control gives me a  survival advantage over those who are naturally thin.

Maddy Mason (eating a very  small portion of grassfed beef, Mesclun greens,
and wild blueberries for  dinner tonight)
Hudson Valley,  NY