On Wed, 8 Sep 1999, Oliva wrote:

> When it comes to self, food and health, I am the only study that counts
> anymore.  Eliminate questionable foods for a period of two months and then
> add back, one at a time and watch for negative reaction.  It was interesting
> for me to note that all the non-paleo foods caused negative reactions.
> Some nuts I added back, some I didn't.  Peanuts are a no, as are cashews.

This is the sort of self-experimentation that I have been doing
for almost two years now.  The results are interesting, and only
partly consistent with the paleo hypothesis.  As I mentioned in
the previous post, I seem to be able to eat certain cheeses with
no discernible negative effects.  I have no trouble eating lots
of animal fats, but doing so does reliably send my cholesterol
soaring.  It's an open question whether this counts as a negative
effect.

Peanuts don't bother me at all, raw or roasted.  Soy doesn't
bother me.  Small amounts of grain foods don't bother me, but I
can no longer tolerate any substantial amount, such as a serving
of pasta.  In fact, for some reason pasta seems especially likely
to cause indigestion.

As for legumes in general, some don't seem to bother me at all;
others cause gas.  Examples: lentils seem to digest well;
garbanzos don't.

I've done blind experiments and I absolutely cannot tell whether
a food has MSG added to it.  In general, I seem to have far fewer
*overt* food sensitivities than do many people on this list.
This is perhaps why I get more involved in *principles* of food
selection than in my subjective reactions to foods.  Before
paleo, I did the Zone diet for several months, making use of all
manner of non-paleo foods: low-fat cheese, Balance Bars, soy
burgers, brown rice, etc.  I lost weight and felt great.  The
moderate caloric and carb restriction seemed to make all the
difference.  When I switched to paleo, I still felt fine, but I
didn't feel any *better*.  For me, the difference between the
Zone and paleo is philosophical, not experiential.

And that keeps it interesting.

Todd Moody
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