At http://www.multidiet.com there is an interesting online book,
a teaser (but 125 pages) for the printed version.  It's not
paleo, nor is it particularly revolutionary to those of us who
have thought a lot about paleo diet, but it's entertaining and
has some useful material.

Executive summary:

The main thesis is that obesity is caused by unnatural hunger,
which in turn is caused by a nutrient deficit of some sort.  The
author (anonymous) maintains, however, that we typically have
only the vaguest sense of what that deficit is, so we tend to eat
randomly to try to make it up.  This results in excess calorie
consumption, so we gain fat.  The cure, then, is to *avoid* any
nutrient deficit, and thereby avoid "waking the Beast" of
unnatural hunger.  If one simultaneously wishes to lose fat,
however, then a caloric deficit is necessary, which makes it more
challenging to avoid a nutrient deficit.  So the key is to get a
maximum of nutrients with a minimum of calories.

We would argue that the best way to do this is to follow a paleo
diet.  Even so, it is easy enough to have a nutrient deficit,
even on paleo.  We've discussed this sort of thing many times.
If one doesn't eat much liver or *lots* of colored vegetables, a
vitamin A deficit is likely.  If one doesn't eat much brains or
cold-water fish, an omega-3 deficit is likely.  And so on.  The
author advises supplementation, because of the conflict between
the goal of caloric deficit and avoidance of nutrient deficit.
People not interested in weight loss could presumably have a
better chance of doing without supplements and getting nutrients
from food.

What I found most interesting about this is the author's humorous
but accurate description of the phenomenology of dieting: the
initial "honeymoon" phase, followed by a sense of decreasing
satisfaction and eventually a feeling of being increasingly taxed
by the whole thing.  This is how it generally is for me --
initial success and enthusiasm followed by slowly increasing
restlessness and preoccupation with food.  Paleo has been no
exception; neither has the Anchell diet.  Unlike Amadeus, I have
never been one to monitor micronutrient intake very much, but I
am aware that my consumption of certain nutrients is typically
quite low.

Anyway, I'm not endorsing this program, but I think it makes
interesting reading.

Todd Moody
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