On Fri, 12 Feb 1999, Michael Audette wrote:

>   I can't agree. Most vitamins are used up by the body to combat the effects
> of a SAD diet. On a Paleo diet, the vitamins are used for their real intent,
> rather than combating what you eat. If the body isn't fighting what you eat,
> it has more resources to fight what invades it.

That may be true if your paleo diet is in fact modeled on an
actual paleo diet known to be nutritionally sound.
Unfortunately, what counts as a paleo diet according to
Neanderthin is *any* diet whose foods are drawn from a certain
list, with little regard for whether any healthy human population
ever depended upon that particular combination of foods.  Thus,
the resemblance of what some of us are calling a paleo diet to
any actual paleo diet may be only superficial.

For example, I consider my own diet to be paleo; it is at least
Neanderthin-compliant.  Recently I have been experiencing dryness
of the eyes, and this impression was objectively verified by a
tear-output test during an eye exam.  I did a bit of reading and
learned that this can be the result of vitamin A deficiency.  I
did an analysis of my diet and discovered that indeed my intake
of vitamin A is well below RDA.  I don't like the taste of liver
and don't eat it.  I supplemented with vitamin A and solved the
problem within a couple of weeks.

Add to this the fact that most of us are eating foods that are
stored and then cooked -- both of which cause nutrient
degradation and are different from the "initial conditions" of
ancient humans -- and you have more reason to suspect that an
allegedly paleo diet could have nutritional shortcomings.

Todd Moody
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