Enough of the trite trashing of Cordain.  He is a first-rate scientist who
publishes in peer-reviewed scholarly journals.  His book is thoughtful and
well-referenced and is a good antidote to some of the early subcribers'
thoughts on this list (who, reading Audette, felt, for example, that eating
3 lbs of bacon a day and little else was A.O.K.).  Cordain's basic
recommendation that we eat several times a day, and that each meal be
balanced -- with lean protein (or less lean if the source is cold-water
ocean fish or grass-fed stock), nonstarchy vegetables, fruit, nuts, and
water -- should ring sound to most of the people on this list.  As for
canola oil, all the benefits of increasing LNA (the omega-3 fatty acid that
it is rich in) in one's diet are reaped by using it. For a very readable
account of its effects on health, see Artemis P. Simopoulos and Jo
Robinson's _The Omega Plan_. For example, as reported by Simopoulos and
Robinson: "In a carefully designed study known as the Lyon Diet Heart Study,
Benaud and de Lorgeril assigned 302 heart attack survivors to a traditional
heart diet, the 'prudent' heart diet recommended by the American Heart
Association (AHA).  A similar group was assigned to a slightly modified
version of the Crete diet.  This new diet was based on CANOLA OIL and olive
oil, and it had a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids of 4 to 1, much
lower than the AHA diet and the traditional Western diet.  The diet was also
lower in red meat and deli meats, but higher in fish, grains, fruits, and
vegetables.  Overall, it contained 35% fat, whereas the AHA diet is 30%.
The results of this study made medical history.  Just 4 months into the
clinical trial, the researchers discovered there had been significantly
fewer deaths in the group on the modified Crete diet than on the AHA diet.
This in itself is remarkable because no other heart diet or drug has ever
shown a lifesaving benefit until patients have been treated for at least 6
months.  The survival gap widened with each passing month.  When the
patients had been followed for about two years, the study was halted
abruptly because the diet was proving so superior it would have been
unethical to continue the research."   Simopoulos and Robinson go on to
interpret the key to the findings of this study as being the increased LNA
because of the consumption of CANOLA oil.

Finally, the mean-spirited nature of how Cordain has been trashed (e.g.,
calling him a "liar:), really should not be tolerated on this list.  The
norms that have arisen over the past few years call for contributors to do
their best to ground their comments in the research and phrase their
disagreements politely.  As others have pointed out on this list, not all
the scholarly writing on canola oil is positive-- so each of us will have to
make up his or her mind on whether to use it.  But to sidestep and ignore
the research showing positive benefits, and then to trash Cordain for not
doing this, is really unacceptable.

Gregg