On Wed, 21 Oct 1998, James Crocker wrote:

> Yes, I agree.  Amadeus posts some very interesting information about some
> of the foods he eats.  They appear to be very much based in ancient diet
> philosophy, at least in the respect that the foods were around a long
> time ago.

Furthermore, he does not argue that actual paleolithic people
were vegetarians, but concedes that his own reasons for
vegetarianism are personal and not normative.  Yes, he criticizes
the way many of us use meat, but what of that?  Criticisms force
us to examine and reexamine our assumptions.  This is not a bad
thing.

Neanderthin is not a scientific research document, nor is it
meant to be.  It is propaganda for a particular way of eating,
and theories that contradict it are for the most part ignored.
Ideas that are highly speculative or hotly disputed are presented
as if they were well known (i.e., heart disease is an auto-immune
disorder caused by foreign dietary proteins).  This is not out of
place in a work of propaganda, and diet books are mostly just
that.

There is no reason, though, why those of us who are interested in
implementing some sort of paleodiet should not aim a critical eye
at the claims of Neanderthin and its competitors.

> IMO the genetic enhancement of feedlot animals and vegetables cannot be
> ignored.  Neither can we suggest the total lipid and lipid compositions
> of modern feedlot animals as being like "the real thing" paleo wise.

If we take Neanderthin's application of chaos theory at face
value, then we must be suspicious of *any* dietary deviations
from actual paleolithic "initial conditions," including massive
alterations in dietary lipids.  Indeed, Neanderthin does caution
us about the differences between modern fruits and vegetables and
their ancient counterparts.  No word of caution is applied to the
meats that we are most likely to consume.  This is no doubt
because if we were told that we really must strive to get meats
that are quite similar to the meats routinely eaten by *homo
habilis*, nobody would bother about this diet.

Todd Moody
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