Hi Wally, 
I have a great deal of respect for Dr. Cordain and his work. I am
particularly impressed with his work on cereal grains. That said, there are
a number of stark examples where pre-conceived notions, based on scientific
principles and findings, just did not stand up when put to the test in
humans. Stefansson and Andersen's one-year trial of an all meat diet comes
immediately to mind. Given the principles of human nutrition, then and now,
the medical pundits were sure that both subjects would become very sick on
an all meat diet. Yet they didn't. 

Similarly, Elaine Morgan, in "The Scars of Evolution," describes the
scientific evidence proffered to refute the aquatic ape theory. Someone
immersed in arctic waters should only last a matter of a few minutes before
succumbing to hypothermia and then cardiac arrest due to cooling of core
body temperature. Yet Morgan points to Lynn Cox who swam from Alaska to the
USSR, in 1987, in those frigid waters at temperatures of 3 to 7 degrees
Centigrade, without lanolin coating or a wet suit, and survived. In theory,
because of heat losses, she could not have survived. But she did. 

There are many more such stories. My point is that anecdotal reports or
clinical trials can tell me what real people experience - such as the Inuit
who had robust bones until they started eating European foods. Theories
about how the Inuit diet would destroy our bones just don't mean very much
in the face of clear evidence that the theory just isn't true. 

I understand that Cordain is doing the best he can in a difficult situation,
but some of the conclusions he draws just don't stand up to scrutiny - such
as the current issue under discussion/debate. 

I also disagree with your idea that Cordain's approach is more scientific
than anecdotal reports. An integral part of the scientific method is
observation. With anecdotal reports, assuming they are accurate, we have a
single observation. Such single observations have traditionally been the
starting point for many scientific discoveries. 
 

Best Wishes, 
Ron
               




-----Original Message-----
From: Paleolithic Eating Support List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Day, Wally
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2009 9:32 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Another Paleo list?

>> [Ron] Are there any clinical trials or anecdotal reports to support that
claim?

Hi Ron. 

I think one knock against Cordain is that he is essentially a researcher and
statistician, and not a clinician. He gathers research from all over, and
then makes conclusions based on statistical analysis.

Some would say this is a bad approach.

Others would argue that, considering the nature of the beast (cave-diet in a
modern world), he is doing the best he can under the circumstances.

I would argue that his research methods are a bit more scientific than
anecdotal methods, and a bit less scientific than clinical trials.=