> Anyone have info re: Knox Gelatin and whether or not it is paleo
compliant? My understanding is that gelatin is made from hooves, cartalidge,
etc., but am not certain if any soy by-products are added as well.  Knox did
not respond to my product inquiries.  I'm would like to add 2 oz per day
dissolved in water to see if it eases my knee pain.  I eat daily sardines +
salmon and tuna several times per week and am not certain that I would like
to start mega doses of fish oil (I have in the past using Eskimo-3 brand,
but am concerned about the lipid peroxidation factor).

Since you are having knee problems, I will recommend a book that is a bit
far afield from paleo eating but that I am sure could really help a lot.

Clair Davies is the author, the book is called Trigger Point Therapy
Workbook. Available from amazon
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1572242507/qid=1022258814/sr=8-1/ref=
sr_8_1/002-2696652-1809650

Trigger points are tiny parts of a muscle, usually located in the center of
the muscle, that are in continual spasm.

Trigger points cause "referred pain", so they activate pain in other parts
of the body. Massage on the problem areas does nothing to take care of
trigger points as with a few exceptions they are *away* from the body part
that is having problems.

By getting rid of trigger points, you can clear up all manner of physical
symptoms. Documented evidence exists for getting rid of knee problems, back
trouble, shoulder trouble, and all sorts of aches, pains and joint problems,
but also for things like headache, allergies and tooth pain, even menstrual
cramps.

You get rid of a trigger point by finding it, then massaging it for a minute
or so. It is very painful when you massage one, and often the referred pain
gets instantly worse during the massage. But afterwards, the pain disappears
fairly rapidly.

The book I am recommending is by far the best I have read on the subject. It
gives chapter by chapter, muscle group by muscle group descriptions of the
pain, locations of the trigger points, and treatment, and you can do it on
yourself.

I have gotten rid of my headaches after just one day. I have had bad
headaches for years, almost every week or so, that I attributed to
allergies. I discovered that I have trigger points in the
sternocleidomastoid (sp?) that I never knew about and massaging these
stopped my headache cold. It is really incredible as I have also had
backaches and knee problems and those are much clearer now even after a day
or two.

As an example, I had to sit for about 8 hours yesterday and I have had
backaches from that in my lower back. I looked through the appropriate
chapter in the book and discovered the trigger points I need to work on are
in the gluteus medius and gluteus maximus. I used the "tennis ball massage"
technique and the backache is completely gone. This is the sort of backache
that always used to get much worse, spasming up and down, and causing me
great pain for days. Now I understand that I am sitting literally on those
trigger points, and that those refer pain to my lower back. I know how to
get rid of it, and am doing so in a completely natural, drug free way.

I think trigger point therapy goes with paleo lifestyle as a completely
natural way of getting rid of so-called bone, joint, muscle and tendon
problems. Lots of tendon problems apparently are results from trigger points
and can be easily gotten rid of. There are even trigger points that you can
reach inside the bowel if you are so inclined and that can help prostate and
bowel problems.

Janet Travell was an MD who wrote a two volume magnus opus on trigger
points, directed towards the medical profession, extensively painstakingly
:-) researched over 40 years.

The Big Mystery is why every doctor does not know about trigger points
intimately and apply that knowledge with patients. But then again, the Big
Mystery about paleo is why the entire medical profession is so "wrong"
advocating high carb, high grain diets, so we are used to Big Mysteries here
:-)

--Richard