> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paleolithic Eating Support List
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Robert Kesterson
> Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 2:59 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Cooking Fats - was Re: Christmas Pudding
...
> too.  I think much of the evil in the modern diet is
> attributable to the  
> processing the food goes through -- probably even more so 
> than to the  
> ingredients themselves.
> 
> -- 
>    Robert Kesterson
>    [log in to unmask]
> 

It would be nice if that turned out to be the case. A lot more people could
be fed on an unprocessed diet than can be fed on a purely Paleo diet. There
would still be downsides (the environmental effects of grain agriculture,
the excessive population that agriculture allows, etc.), but they would be
less than the problems that the SAD creates.

Unfortunately, numerous facts convince me otherwise. For example, celiac and
gluten intolerant patients don't do well on any gluten grains, regardless of
whether they are processed or not. Accumulating research indicates that the
reason they don't do well on gluten grains is that the human race has not
had time to fully adapt biologically to consuming grain, with some people
(who reportedly tend to be those with more recent hunter-gatherer ancestry)
being especially sensitive. I think processing worsens the problems, but I
don't think it's the only culprit.