Kimberly Rogers
> I'd like to chip in this conversation... I Amadeus a vegetarian?
>
> K
>


I find it helpful to chime in with Amadeus's position, to make sure I get it
right (hope you don't mind Amadeus if I talk about you in third person, it
will help me get a better understanding of your position.)

Amadeus feels that today's cows, pigs, chickens etc. are industrialized,
non-paleo versions of what we used to eat. So Amadeus does not eat any meat.
He eats fresh vegetables and fruit and things like yams, amaranth, spelt,
oats, nuts, etc. Few on this list are as learned as Amadeus, I learn a lot
from his posts.

What makes it interesting is that Amadeus feels that what he eats is a paleo
diet. A few problems have never been resolved to my satisfaction:

1. sources of omega 3 fatty acids EPA, DHA, and things like CLA etc.. It
seems hard to get the w3/w6 right eating this way. Too much w6.

2. sources of certain trace nutrients, esp. B12. Others on this list have
suggested that vegetarians inevitably eat small amounts of insect and this
supplies the B12. Could be.

3. perhaps the biggest objection: this is inevitably a high carb diet. Nuts
are especially w3 poor. To eat this way, you must eat high carb, low protein
and even low fat; if you eat high fat plant products you are going to have
completely off w3/w6 ratios.

Amadeus feels that excessive carb consumption this way is not a problem as
long as you are talking about consumption of unrefined plant products.
Although he has admitted it is a problem if you are susceptible to "syndrome
X", diabetes, obesity, etc.

I have no problem with anyone's food choices, of course, but if it were me,
I would eat things like grass fed cows and lambs, which arereadily
obtainable, and even free range eggs if was from a trusted source. My point
is that there are "nearly perfectly paleo" animal protein sources if you
have the money to pay for them and feel strongly about this point.

Any diet that forgoes animal products completely is by definition non-paleo
and since it is quite possible to avoid today's "industrial" cows, pigs,
lambs and chickens, and to eat nearly paleo ones, I don't see how this
vegetarian diet is in any way as close to paleo as one that includes animal
products.

--Richard