From: "Marianne Fuller" <[log in to unmask]>
> I find this mailing list really interesting but I must say I am totally
> confused by the amount of information, much of it conflicting, that I read
> here. I thought I was confused when I read Cordain's and Audette's books
at
> the same time, because they disagree on a few points, but that was nothing
> compared to my current confusion. How does one figure out how much protein
> to eat per day? how many vegetables? how many fruits?

There are some guidelines that work for most people, and there are some
people who need to tailor the guidelines to their specific body's issues.

Here is what I tell people when discussing paleo, and I think it is
generally in line with Audette and mostly in line with Cordain although I
haven't his book yet. This is what works for me and it may not work for
others.

My simple recipe is "eat anything you want except no beans, white potatoes,
corn, wheat, rice or other grains, and no dairy." I explain the principle of
eating foods we are genetically designed to eat, and the "naked with a sharp
stick" dogma, and it *is* simple.

For people who want to delve deeper, it gets a little more complicated
(though not much):

1. eat all the veggies you want, especially leafy green and cruciferous
veggies. Veggies are very good for you.

2. limit fruit to one "serving" per day. Fruit is good for you but in
limited quantities.

3. eat meat, fish, poultry. Grass-fed is better than grain-fed, wild is
better than domestic, but eat what you can afford. I eat bacon and sausage
(nitrite free) but some choose to not eat cured meats

4. limit your carbs during the day but make sure you get a good meal at
night including tubers or root, protein, fat, veggies. You don't want to go
into ketosis.

4. eat nuts but watch your consumption. They cause allergies in some people
and weight-loss stalls in others, and they are generally very heavy in omega
6 fatty acids.  Some people will not want to eat many nuts.

5. use animal fats in cooking in preference to vegetable fats. I use
clarified butter quite a bit now -- it's not paleo but I think it is healthy

6. (non paleo) I take flaxseed oil or cod liver oil, along with mixed
natural tocopherols (vitamin E), 3 grams of vitamin C, and hydroxyapetite
(calcium and other minerals from processed bones). The flaxseed oil, cod
liver oil, and vitamin E is perhaps most important, as I believe we need to
improve our fatty acid ratios and this is a good way to do that.

7. watch food intolerances. I discovered I am intolerant or allergic to
tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant, so I avoid these. Many people have problems
with certain foods but the problems are masked because they are eating so
many foods that cause problems (e.g. wheat, corn), so when they start paleo
it becomes easier to isolate other foods to which they are intolerant.

HTH

--Richard