I'm on quite a few mailing lists, and I don't usually post an intro like
this, but what the heck.  I've got a lot to say, so I might as well start
with an intro.

I've been vegetarian for 11 years, vegan for the last few of those years,
and mostly (75%+) raw for the last year.  Well, up until this month. :)
After a great deal of reading (mostly on-line) over the past maybe 6
months, I've decided to start the transition from mostly raw foods vegan
to something more like paleo.  It is (intentionally) a slow process.
I'm not buying anything non-paleo, slowly introducing meat and eggs into
my diet, and slowly finishing off food stocks that I have (mainly grains).
I figure this will give me some time to adjust, and also means that I
don't throw food away.  Estimating the size of my pantry (compared to my
gut :), it will probably take me several more months before I'm eating
a diet that could reasonably be called paleo.

I am mainly interested in nutrition, with an emphasis on primary research.
I have been through graduate school, and am aiming towards medical school
right now, so I'm comfortable reading the real stuff.  I've joined this
list as well as several other diet related lists mostly for the nutrition
science content.

I tend to lurk on most mailing lists.  I'm often too busy to keep up
reading lists regularly, so by the time I get to it, other people have
usually already written what I would have said.  Also, sometimes my
comments are very specific, so I will generally just reply to the author.
So, you may not hear many replies from me, but I'm still here.

At first I thought I was going to be unique in coming to paleo from
veganism, but from what I've read so far on this list many of you
have done the same.  If people would like to comment about making that
transition I'd love to hear it.  What worked?  What didn't work?

I have a several more questions too:

    Should I purchase the new edition of Neanderthin?  (Ray and Troy,
    obviously, should not be answering this question :) I'm not a big
    fan of buying books, especially when more accurate and up-to-date
    information is typically available on the web.  For those of you that
    read on-line, how helpful do you find your paper copy of Neanderthin
    compared to, say, beyondveg.com, paleofood.com, MEDLINE, the american
    journal of clinical nutrition web site, etc?  The same question
    goes for _Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill_, _Protein Power_, etc.
    There are zillions of books on nutrition.  I'm pretty happy that I
    never bought _Diet for a New America_, and I'm wondering if I won't
    feel the same way about any of these other books.

    Paleo literature tends to advocate paleo diets for cancer prevention.
    How is skin cancer from sunlight explained?  I assume this kind
    of cancer is not common among hunter-gatherers, despite the fact
    that they spend so much time in the sun.  However, I have never seen
    literature in the field of dermatology that challenges the notion that
    prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light increases risk of skin cancer.

    As a long time sufferer of chronic psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis,
    I'm very interested in research -- or even anecdotal accounts --
    of dietary intervention for treatment of psoriasis.  My research has
    turned up nothing really conclusive (fish oil, maybe), but since it
    is now believed that psoriasis is an auto-immune disease, I wonder
    if a paleo diet might help -- or any other diet for that matter.

    A question about fats: I think most sources agree (and recent
    discussion here confirms) that a diet high in saturated fats is
    not healthy (compared to, say, monounsaturated fats).  So, why does
    the paleo diet encourage eating foods such as suet, schmaltz, lard,
    and coconut oil?  A quick poke at the USDA database reveals:

        coconut oil             86.5% saturated (!)
        beef fat, tallow        49.8% saturated
        Fat, mutton tallow      47.3% saturated
        fat, chicken            29.8% saturated
        olive oil               13.5% saturated, 73.7% monounsaturated

    Strangely, the pork fat entries in the USDA database are not 100% fat.
    For 100g servings, I find the following fat content:

        Pork, fresh, backfat, raw 32.21g/88.69g fat         36% saturated
        Pork, fresh, separable fat, raw 23.52g/67.7g fat    34% saturated
        Pork, fresh, separable fat, cooked 24.49g/63.9g fat 38% saturated

    I don't know why cooked pork fat would be only 63% fat, but if
    we believe the USDA information it's still high in saturated fat
    compared to the rest of its fat content.  So, what am I missing here?
    Why wouldn't it be better to eat olive oil instead of lard?

    A related question: how does one acquire coconut oil?  When I open
    a coconut, I see a clear liquid (USDA calls this "coconut water"),
    and a white flesh (USDA calls this "coconut meat, raw").  The flesh
    can be blended, but I've never observed oil to separate out of it
    (like it does with some nuts).  Bottled coconut oil seems wasteful
    and non-paleo to me; I'd rather just eat raw coconuts.

    Is there a better online reference for nutrient information than
    the USDA database?  The USDA listings have many shortcomings (e.g.,
    lack of trans fat info, lack of antinutrient info).  The NDS is a
    little out of my price range ($8500).  I don't know of any other
    nutrient databases.

    Another question on the USDA database.  Has anyone here successfully
    downloaded the raw USDA data (in text or DBF format) and converted
    it into a usable, searchable database?  I have filemaker pro and
    can load the .DBF files, but I'm not skilled enough with database
    programs to convert the data to a usable form.  I want to do more
    complex searches than the USDA web site allows (for example, sort the
    data by a nutrient, or determine the nutrition content of a recipe or
    meal plan), so the limited search tools on the web are insufficient.

    What constitutes a "balanced" variety of meats?   What types or cuts
    of meat should be avoided?  What should be included?

    More generally speaking, is it possible to eat a balanced, healthy
    (paleo) diet without taking supplements?  It's discouraging to hear
    the Troy Gilchrist say that he takes a dried liver supplement _and_
    a DHA supplement.  I would like to get all my nutrition from whole
    natural foods if possible.

    For any of you in the san francisco bay area, what are some good
    places to acquire wild game meats?  I have found organic beef at a
    local health food store, but nothing else.

    Any specific comments about Coleman Natural beef?
    (www.colemannatural.com) According to their web site, their cows
    are fed from feedlot (doesn't say what feed though) for their last
    100-120 days.  I'm guessing this probably destroys any benefit that
    the 12-18 months of grass feeding might have provided.  Am I wrong?
    What is better meat?   (I only mention Coleman because it's easily
    found in local stores.)

    Is maple syrup paleo?  How about carob?  Nutritional yeast?


Whew!   That was just the few questions I had on the top of my head.
I didn't expect this to be quite so long, so I think I'll stop now..

-Bruce
--
Man is a cooking animal.  The beasts have memory, judgement, and all the
faculties and passions of our mind, in a certain degree; but no beast
is a cook. -- James Boswell