Date:         Tue, 21 Jan 2003 14:16:34 -0700

Theola asked:

>>>Did anyone notice the side-by-side in Newsweek
>>>about Boyd Eaton's *The Paleolithic Prescription*
>>>compared to other "diet" books by Atkins,
>>>Sears, and Ornish?


and Thersa commented:
>>I currently have _The Paleolithic Prescription_ out
>>from the library.  It wants us to eat whole grains
>>and dairy and almost no fat. There isn't
>>much correlation between the diet it says our
>>HG ancestors ate and what it
>>recommends for modern humans.

and Theola came back with:
>Right.  Much of the information is believed to be outdated
>based on more current resear
ch.

 and then Jim asked on 21 January:
Which begs the question... In your opinion (anyone on the list,
that is), who is the most "current" author on paleo diets?
That is, who's writings and general diet philosophies are most
in line with the latest nutritional (and, dare I say,
anthropological) research studies?

Good question. If you go to amazon.com and search on <Paleo> <diet> and an
assortment of other terms, there must be 20 or 30 books in print on this
general topic.

Can I say a word in defence of Boyd Eaton?  His 'The Paleolithic
Prescription' could never have been published if he did not make the
concessions to contemporaneous orthodoxy which we find it easy to
criticize from our armchairs.  Cordain's recent book is also similarly
criticized by many who (like me) prefer to approach the topic from a
paleontological approach rather than one of moder
n nutritional science.
Eaton's recommendations on grains are similiar to those of Enig and Fallon
and Weston Price.  Eaton has, however, make a fantastic recompense, in his
chapter contributed to the Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Hunter Gatherers.
The chapter is entitled 'Hunter-gatherers and human health' and while it
draws on anthropological research among 20th century HGs, it pulls no
punches at all and is a model of clear writing as well as being a succinct
overview of human health as well as diet.

Keith