On Thu, 3 Sep 1998,
>
> On Thu, 3 Sep 1998, Wade Reeser wrote:
> A purely animal flesh diet provides all the necessary vitamins and minerals
> for a long and healthy life.  Period.

This is an outlandish statement that does not fit our basic knowledge of
diet, nutrition, and health.  Doubly so when Wade adds that muscle meat
from domesticated animals is all that we need.  An all muscle-meat diet is
indeed rich in potassium, phosphorus, copper, zinc, and vits. B1, B2, B6,
and B12.  But at the same time it is either completely devoid or grossly
lacking in calcium, selenium, vits. A, C, E, K, and fiber, as well as a
new class of nutrients that have been identified for opitmal health and
resistance to disease called "phytochemicals."  Todd also brings up the
important point of the variable and often questionable quality of modern
domestic flesh, especially its deficiencies in omega-3 essential fatty
acids.  No version of the caveman diet (from its rather strict definition
in Neanderthin . . . to its more liberal variants such as The Omega Plan)
advises against eating a rich variety of plant foods (which, among other
things, gives us vits. A/C/E/K, fiber, and phytochemicals).  All advise to
elminate or keep to a relatively small proportion of the diet "grains."
[BTW-- although we are still sorting through the gluten issue, the key
reason why grain reduction seems to help dieters is that it keeps
insulin levels in check . . . a hormone implicated in fat storage; it
also effects a more favorable ratio of omega-3s to omega-6s, as grains
tend to be high in omega-6s.]

Cheers!

Gregg C
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