about   http://www.PaleoDiet.com/losspts.txt:

Thank you Don and Ron for this informative and thorough article.

I'm allowing myself to add a few thoughts and comments, especially

concerning the eating of seeds.

>1.  A diet high in phytic acid, which is found in the bran of whole

grains,
>is likely to interfere with calcium absorption. ... Probably because

grains are a
>relatively new food, from an evolutionary perspective, it appears

that we
>have not yet developed digestive tracts which can break down these

phytates (3).
We, or some of us have developed the phytase enzyme which can break

the
antinutrient phytic acid into phosphor and the vitamin myo-inosit.
But maybe not all and not enough.
So, eating cereals (grass seeds containing phytic acid) may be kind

of an art
which had beed developped in the beginning of its usage and which

ins't
known or mastered anymore.
Today's "bread" and cakes and all the flour stuff is seldom ever

going through
germination processes which have been usual a few years back.

Primary preparing technology of grains is: sprouting or soaking them.
Sprouting multiplies the vitamin contents while the grain
developes to a small plant.
And sprouting and germination activates the plant's own phytases.
If someone remembers the bread-preparing instruction in the Essene

Evangelium --
there the bread has to be soaked... and not cooked.

>2. A high sodium diet may also interfere with calcium absorption.

Some
>researchers believe that dietary sodium levels were extremely low in

the
>past, compared to modern diets (4)..
I've wondered why we sometimes are so much fond of eating salt.
My mother's idea is, that salt has the ability to bring the body more

to the
alcaline or "yang" side. Anyway both, cereals as well as meats seem

to
generate a hunger for salt - at least for me.
On the other hand raw vegetables and fruit don't.

>5. While the modern diet, in the western world, usually contains

ample
>calcium, it may offer inadequate  magnesium. Studies of our

ancestors'
>pre-agricultural diets indicate that magnesium was probably consumed

at
>about a  1:1 ratio with calcium (8). Thus, that would be the

approximate
>ratio our bodies evolved with. As the Ca:Mg ratio is 12:1 in dairy,

those
>consuming this much vaunted source of calcium might only experience

the
>equivocal benefit that is reported in the medical literature(9). The

Ca:Mg
>ratio in post-agricultural diets is about 4:1 (10).  ...
The highest Mg contents again are predominately in cereal grains
and other seeds as nuts. Some green vegetables follow on.
How could we ever reach adequate ratios and amounts of calcium and

magnesium
without supplementing, when avoiding the plants which naturally have

plenty.

>6.  While there is no evidence that high meat consumption is

detrimental,
>as long as there are adequate minerals in the diet,.....
Thats Cordaines proposition: high protein has a high calcium need.
Paleolithic humans had heavy bones so they *must have* eaten adequate

minerals
with the rest of their diet. (Or that it was less protein as

suspected).

I'm fully d'accord with your suggested strategies except that i'd

like to exploit the
seed's vitamin potential by adequate preparation.

regards

Amadeus

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