*********
Hi Fran--

You will have to stay on this list for a while to realize the sources of
information that more, and that are less, trustworthy.  Andrew is a relative
newcomer and relies on ad hominem attacks, doesn't understand much about
science, and shoots his facts out scattergun style (and those that he gets
correct are usually misinterpreted).  Cordain's book is the best of the most
recent ones to come out on the 'caveman diet'; he is a mature scientist,has
vast knowledge of the relevant studies, and makes good use of them.  Ray
Audette's book is also very good, especially in its 4th edition (note, this
listserv was spawned from his book).  The Protein Power books by the Eades,
and the Barry Sears Zone Diet books are also pretty good reads (both sets of
authors, however, are extremely low-fat in their approaches-- unlike Cordain
and most other 'caveman diet' writers).

Cordain's basic thesis fits the caveman-diet model well-- to eat what
humankind did for tens of thousands of years, which is to say what we ate
before the domestication of grains and animals.  These pre-domestication
foods would be game, eggs, vegetables, fruits, roots, tubers, nuts, and
seeds.  The key foods not on the list are grains, legumes, dairy, and
sugar--as well as the condiment salt (sodium chloride).  As Craig mentioned,
where Cordain has been criticized on this list is for a general emphasis on
leaner protein sources and in his advice that saturated fat should be kept
at the low end (this advice flowing directly out of the findings of the 4
largest long-term studies of diet and health, the most famous being the
Framingham Heart Study).  But he is not "low fat" per se-- for example, he
recommends generous amounts of nuts, of cold-water ocean fish, of grass-fed
stock, and of wild game.  He also recommends the use olive oil and canola
oil (the latter, along with the cold-water fish, to achieve a lower ratio of
omega 6 to omega 3 fat intake)-- which some caveman diet enthusiasts also
consider very 'nonpaleo.'  Finally, unlike what Audette preaches (but what
he doesn't practice, as he admits to enjoying rich Hagen Daz ice cream from
time to time), Cordain says we are bound into a complex web of social
relationships ... and many of those are enacted over meals ... and to go
ahead (once, twice, or even three times a week ... but no more) and "cheat"
(enjoy a slice of your sister's birthday cake; enjoy a bowl of your mom's
favorite rice pilaf, and so on).

Gregg
********************