On Wed, 3 Jul 2002, Phosphor wrote:

> > Too much omega 6 is not the only issue.
> well its the only issue you have raised.

That's inaccurate.  It's the only issue *you've* raised.  I've
not said anything about excess omega-6.  Cordain raises other
issues.

> > Too little omega 3, in
> > absolute terms, is a separate issue.
> we've solved this one.
>
> >I agree that they are
> > good sources of omega 3 oil.
> basically the only source.

No.  For actual paleolithic people, brains and ALA were basically
the only source.  Cold water fish weren't a staple until the
mesolithic.

> >Nets and fishhooks weren't invented until
> > about 40,000 years ago.
> a very long time ago, man invented something called "sharp stick." also
> called "spear."  With this he hunted fish. he also used fish poison from any
> local saponin-containing plant. any saponin will do. i agree they did not
> have long-liners.

The point is that for a very long time any fish they caught would
have been from lakes and streams.  These fish are not a
significant source of om-3.  The first evidence of fishing comes
at the end of the Paleolithic, and is a defining characteristic
of the Mesolithic, after the human brain had reached its present
size.  Cordain argues that the evolutionary growth of the brain
required access to liberal amounts of om-3.  That growth took
place during the lower and middle Paleolithic, when cold water
marine oils were not a significant part of the paleolithic diet.
So they had to be getting their om-3 from somewhere else: brains,
mostly, and ALA.

Todd Moody
[log in to unmask]