On Wed, 3 May 2000, Dr. James Alpigini wrote:

> Ray's contention is that normal glucose levels are maintained in the
> absense of carbohydrates.  This is true, but he did not quite have the
> biochemistry mechanism correct.  A very good book that explains the whole
> blood glucose/carbohydrate/fatty acid/ketone mechanism is The Ketogenic
> Diet: A Complete Guide for the Dieter and Practitioner, by Lyle McDonald.
> You might want to give that a read.

Yes.  Another point is that ketosis is a condition that creates
special nutritional needs, such as more electolyte intake (due to
greater electrolyte loss).  McDonald discusses this and presents
the relevant research; Ray does not.  Ignoring this could be
dangerous.

> As for Neanderthin.  Yes, Ray did prove he was not a biochemist.  But this
> does not change the validity of the paleo approach to eating.  The whole
> idea of using real ingrediants for ingrediants is so simple, logical and
> profound that I have no doubt that Ray will be persecuted by the mainstream
> dietary "authorities" for the rest of his life.

I agree.  The basic idea of Neanderthin is simple and workable.
I still have to insist, however, that the "unlimited amounts"
idea is unsupported and a stumbling block for people with obesity
issues.  I can state with certainty that I *cannot* eat unlimited
amounts of Neanderthin foods and continue to lose weight, or even
maintain a healthy weight.

One of the problems of Neanderthin is that the practical and the
speculative are often mixed together in a way that is difficult
to unravel.  We are advised that obesity is an auto-immune
condition, and that auto-immune conditions are caused by foreign
proteins.  But evidence for this is lacking, especially
considering that removing the neolithic proteins from one's diet
does not necessarily cure obesity.  This is not to deny that
neolithic proteins can contribute to health problems, but there
is really no evidence that this is the explanation of obesity in
general.  On the other hand, the consumption of nutrient-dense
paleo foods is an important step in the direction of increasing
the nutrient-to-calorie ratio, which should help in the control
of caloric intake.

Then there is the problem of New World foods, which entered the
human food supply only recently.  If the idea is to exclude foods
to which we haven't had hundreds of thousands of years to adapt,
then these must be excluded.  But some New World foods, such as
tomatoes and strawberries, are considered paleo and are even used
in Neanderthin recipes.

Finally there is the whole complicated issue of fat consumption.
Neanderthin's main rule on fats is that fats from sources such as
corn and soy should be avoided, as well as hydrogenated fats.
This is good advice.  It is still an open question whether the
muscle fats of feedlot cattle meats are good for us.  On some
implementations of Neanderthin this is an important question,
since this could be a primary source of fat.  In Protein Power
Lifeplan, the Eades, relying mainly on Loren Cordain's work,
point out that while "game meats" are very lean, the entire
carcass may have a good amount of fat, but this is different from
the muscle fat of feedlot animals.  Whether this difference has
implications for health is still unresolved, I think.

I still regard Neanderthin as an excellent overview of the
paleodiet concept, and a good way to get started.  I don't think
the inaccuracies or inconsistencies are so bad -- with the
exception of the "unlimited amounts" advice mentioned above --
but they do offer an easy target to critics.

Todd Moody
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