>I've been reading some paleo-oriented nutrition literature called
>"The Origin Diet."

If this is the book I'm thinking of, she's not even close to the principals
of Paleolithic nutrition.  As in, 'processed grains bad, whole grains good.'
  Please.  I think all of us would agree even if pre-agricultural revolution
humans DID eat grain, it was next to nil; this author seems to think you
should eat a ton, just a healthy, unprocessed ton.  Next!

>I tend to eat a fair amount of bacon, pork sausage and the like.
>Tastes great, less filling....but years of living in the 'new
>age/whole food zone' leave me quite a feeling of cognitive dissonance when
>I begin munching on some juicy steak.

Tee hee hee!  Move to Denver where steak is cool (not cool, however, in the
nearby People's Republic of Boulder).

>Anyway, what I'm really curious about is the role of saturated fat in
>today's paleo diet that includes range fed beef, pork, lamp or
>whatever versus what hunter-gathers were eating.

Here's the way I see it and something that could easily be documented if I
had the time.  Do wild game meats and free range meats have leaner FLESH
meat than traditional grocery store fare.  Yes, they do.  But here's
something health 'experts' can't seem to remember; many organ meats are
chock full of fat and just a few decades ago, people considered these things
not only deeeeee-lishus but, in many cases, delicacies.

Another point conveeeen-ientley forgotten; animals like the mammoth used to
be eaten left and right, and they were also fatted animals.  Charles Alban
can talk about this, but I've read in several places about Native American
tribes who hunted certain animals for the fat alone, leaving the carcasses
behind for animals to enjoy.

I, at the moment, am sticking with white meats and fish to avoid saturated
fat because this is a place where hormones are stored and I'm trying to
avoid them to see if this helps me get over the weight loss hump.  But a
friend'll be giving me some elk meat and as soon as that comes along, red
meat is back, baby!  If you can afford free range meats and game at a health
food store, suck down all the fat you want, dude!  :)

Dori Zook
Denver, CO

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