Hi Marilyn, 
Thanks for the response. I'm not sure that "what we really should be eating"
is as clear a concept as you suggest. For instance, many HG tribes relished
eating certain bugs. In fact, the thought of eating some of the foods that
were highly prized in some cultures starts my stomach churning (ex: The
brain matter from dead relatives/loved ones). Even your comments about raw
meats and raw organ meats suggest a revulsion that is the result of your
having been socialized into a set of cultural values. Your wariness of a
high fat diet is similarly a response to your socialization. There is a huge
religious component in this socialization process.  

I have eaten, and enjoy, raw meats, but it was a difficult adjustment at
first.  Prior to that I found the prospect quite revolting. I don't eat raw
meat any more. My wife would probably kill me :-) but I have no problem with
the idea. 

However, one of the greatest benefits of cooked meats is that they take much
longer to spoil than raw meats, so HGs would be able to eat for longer
periods between kills. I doubt that particular advantage escaped the notice
of our intelligent ancient progenitors for very long, so I suspect that
cooking has long been a part of our dietary heritage/evolution. Thus, I'm
not entrenched on either side of the raw food perspective, but I strongly
suspect that your response to raw meats is a reflection of your
socialization. This latter is largely driven by religious beliefs and
practices.    

Best Wishes, 
Ron


> Hi Ron;
> 
> I'm sorry I don't quite see what you are getting at.  To me, any neolithic
> concepts (religious or otherwise - eg. food guides) of what represents the
> right foods for human consumption, are irrelevant to our undertstanding of
> what we really should be eating to attain optimum health. I agree that
> they
> colour our acceptance of certain foods and not others, but so what? I
> think
> everyone realizes that. The problem, as I see it, is the adaptation to a
> new
> way of eating (raw meats for instance, organ foods etc. .. yech!! :-) I'm
> not sure if I could ever eat raw heart for instance! :-)  The latest
> "advancement", for me, is that I am simply boiling my chicken  (skinless,
> boneless thighs), mixing it up in spices and throwing it into my salad...
> quite good actually....  and I'm still wary of a high fat diet and eat a
> lot
> of veggies with much of my fat coming from avocados and nuts..... I tend
> to
> think monosaturates are very good for you (which make up a large
> percentage
> of the fat in the eskimo diet).
> 
> Marilyn
> 
> > Hi Marilyn,
> > Like it or not, religion often shapes or influences many of our
> decisions
> > about food and behaviors related to food. In the context of Catholicism,
> > for
> > instance, I was told to eat fish on Fridays. At the time, I thought it
> was
> > silly. Now, looking back, it was one piece of very good dietary advice.
> > Similarly, I was encouraged to take communion each week. That was very
> bad
> > dietary advice, as I have since learned that I have celiac disease.
> > Although
> > I have long since lost touch with Catholic dogma, I do realize that my
> > upbringing has influenced my current thinking and behavior. I can
> envision
> > discussions on this list that would benefit from bringing religious
> tenets
> > into the discussion. I believe that the Jewish faith and several
> branches
> > of
> > Christianity incorporate bread into some of their religious observances.
> > Discussions of such issues in the context of this list seem perfectly
> > appropriate to me. For
> >
> > I'm talking about calm, polite discussions, not the rude in-your-face
> kind
> > of rhetoric we've seen crop up from time to time.  Here and elsewhere,
> > such
> > quietly reasoned discussions provoke me to think about, re-evaluate, and
> > sometimes change my behaviors and choices. For the most part, this
> latter
> > is
> > what I get from this list.
> >
> > Best Wishes,
> > Ron
> >
> > Marilyn Harris said:
> >
> >> Hi Ron;
> >>
> >> Of what possible use would discussing religion at all in this group be,
> >> other than about it being a negative influence on the understanding of
> >> the
> >> concept of the paleolithic diet, or is that what you mean?
> >>
> >> Marilyn
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >>
> >> This is an unfortunate and divisive topic. While evolution underlies
> many
> >> of
> >> the assumptions that drive this discussion list, it need not preclude
> >> most
> >> religious perspectives, Christian or otherwise. Thanks in advance,
> >> Ron