On Mon, 20 May 2002 12:42:20 -0400, Marianne Fuller
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I'm not "worrying," I'm trying to "figure out what to do." You've
>obviously made choices - good for you, but what are they based on? Some
>expert probably thinks what you eat is awful and will kill you. How do you
>filter that out?

When you have read a lot of the opinions on nutrition, then you have to
filter them based on your own rational thought processes.   To the
extent that you can separate out your own personal likes/dislikes, it is
helpful, but that is hard to do.   Often it is helpful to observe others
applying their own likes/dislikes to the process (eg about 5 minutes of
any discussion with a vegan:) ).

So, how do we know that the Paleo diet is better than the Twinkie Diet ?

(1) Well, the thought "The diseases of civilization are caused by
civilization" seems to be pretty solid to me.    The farther a food is
from paleo, the more that we find that it is eaten for the pleasure of
eating it (eg Twinkies).   Even the medical establishment cites "fruits
and vegetables" as examples of healthy food.

(2) Nutritional theories tend to be based on one of three things:
clinical studies, population studies, and human physiology.    It is
almost impossible for a clinical study to have sufficient controls when
broad food groups are concerned like "fats" or even "polyunsaturated
fats".   And we find that such studies are influenced by economics and
peer pressure (see http://www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm for many
examples).  Even worse are population studies -- when they say things
like "The inhabitants of Tierra Del Fuego have 2% less heart disease due
to the fact that they eat 10% less beef than the people of the USA",
this  ignores all of the other factors like differences in quantity of
exercise, smoking, alcohol consumption, stress, etc. etc.   Thus, in
addition to (1) above, I rely on nutritional information that is based
on what is known about the human physiology, including:

- While protein and fat are both essential to human life,  carbohydrates
are only utilized for their energy content.

- Many aspects of human physiology, especially those relevant to
consuming food, are more similar to carnivores than herbivores.  See
www.beyondveg.com for specifics (an excellent site with a wealth of good
information on diet and nutrition).

- Many, if not most, diseases of civilization are linked to excessive
insulin (the book "The Age-Free Zone" (formerly "The Anti-Aging Zone")
by Dr. Barry Sears describes this in detail).

- Many, if not most, of the foods that are unique to civilization
stimulate insulin production to excessive levels (as explained in detail
in the books by Drs. Eades "Protein Power" and "Protein Power
Lifeplan").

- Modern man eats a very different balance of Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty
acids than did paleo man (as explained in "Fats that Heal Fats that
Kill" by Dr. Udo Erasmus).

- The balance of Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids can have very strong
effects on human physiology (as explained in "Fats that Heal Fats that
Kill" by Dr. Udo Erasmus, and "The Age-Free Zone" (formerly "The
Anti-Aging Zone") by Dr. Barry Sears).


--
Cheers,

Ken
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