On Wednesday, November 16, 2005, at 11:27  PM, Todd Moody wrote:

> I think oatmeal is a good choice.  It's very low GI (unless you dump
> sugar on it) and I think a case can be made that oats are paleo.  They
> are edible raw, after all, even though they're more palatable after
> soaking.  But then, soaking is as paleo a technology as a sharp stick.
> I know that "paleo orthodoxy" states that no grains are paleo, but in
> my
> view this is just wrong.  It's a minority view, however, so handle with
> care.
>
> Todd Moody

I tend to agree. Even wheat, which is the biggest cause of trouble for
me, is 'paleo' if it is eaten in the paleo way, that is, occasionally,
as a supplement to the normal diet. The season for ripe wild wheat
would be a few weeks in mid to late summer. A little, plucked and
hulled by hand and chewed on the way to somewhere would have no
negative impact. I used to do that myself as a boy. There were lots of
different grasses we chewed, just like those nostalgic pictures of
country boys you see. But ripe raw grains don't taste all that great,
and don't have a pleasing texture, so I doubt anyone would make a diet
out of them unless desperate.

Oats, corn and rice don't cause me any real problems except that I
prefer to keep fairly low carb. But that is a modern concern, not a
paleo one. A diet based on them isn't paleo, and has all the problems
we have identified, bad teeth, diabetes etc etc. But the occasional
consumption is paleo, at least as I see it.

That said, for myself, I am so oversensitive to wheat that a single
meal of bread will give me headaches for a couple of days afterwards.
That is due I suppose to the years of overconsumption. A person who had
never made their diet based on bread wouldn't have that reaction.

For weight lifters, I have to ask, what is the point? If you want to
build giant muscles, don't expect the paleo diet to help. Giant muscles
are in a sense unnatural overgrowth. That is why it is so hard to build
and keep them, the body is always trying to tear them down and restore
equilibrium. Paleo will help a lot to keep you fit and healthy, but a
more balanced exercise program seems the way to go. A little jogging,
some dance, a game of tennis and all that, rather than concentration on
one aspect, muscle growth. All said, I am getting slack and fat on too
little exercise and too much fruit! I need to take my own advice! My
own preferred sport is long distance running. Probably no more
'natural' than weight lifting. Paleo life makes you do some of all of
it, hauling logs for the fire one day, jogging out to the hunting
grounds the next, dancing in the moonlight.