On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 14:54, Theola wrote:

>Since going paleo, nearly 2 yrs ago, my arthritis has
>worsened.  I think this is more coincidence than
>any causality, but I really, really do need
>help/advice on managing this.

<snip>

>Any other recommendations at all?  If this
>pain is what I have to look forward to
>every morning for the rest of my life,
>then.............

Theola - don't get too hung up on Paleo.  Theoretically, Paleo food should
be the best solution, but none of us eat like our ancestors, exercise like
our ancestors, sleep like our ancestors, have the parasites and diseases
of our ancestors or live in social situations anything like our ancestors.

And the food we eat is rarely paleo - meat has hormones, water has
oestrogen, even fresh fruit and vegetables (bought) have insecticides,
fertilizers, ripeners, retardants etc.  Our food is not all grown locally
and we keep it in refrigetators.  It is far older by the time we eat it
than the food eaten in the Paleolithic.

We can approach Paleo in food, sleep or exercise, but just when we feel we
are getting close we realize that the pollution in our environment, our
denatured soils, urban living, television, the internet, air conditioning,
transport, even sitting - all these prevent us from becoming anything
approaching Paleo.

I have no specific advice for your arthritis, other than to keep an open
mind, don't reject anything on the basis of prejudice; don't assume that
your problems are related to your present food intake.  [For example, do a
Google search on <"indoor air quality" "arthritis"> or any other
combinations with arthritis and you'll come across alternative
explanations.]  Perhaps the biggest problem with many of the the posts to
this list is that they ignore the complexity of mammalian life in the 21st
century and seek comfort in an over-simplified, linear model of the world
that attributes far more than is reasonable to food intake alone.

So far as food intake is concerned, just bear in mind that it may well be
that there is more than one thing you are missing which contributes to
your condition and more than one thing you are eating now which you'd be
better to drop.

Best wishes in your quest.

Keith