> Yes, my doctor wants me on the ADA diet, which is
> completely absurd. 

A recent study by the Wall Street Journal showed no difference in either 
mortality rates or bankruptcy rates for people with or without health insurance.

Doctors take far more credit for the increases in lifespan since about 1850 than 
they statistically deserve.  Perhaps the effects of first the railroad, and then 
refrigeration, in converting our agrarian diet into something far more 
Paleolithic had a greater effect.  As these advances reduced the cost of animal  
fat, lifespan increased in mathematical lockstep.  Texas cattle and Midwestern 
pigs made affordable by railroads were joined by the proverbial "chicken in 
every pot" made possible by refrigeration.  Soon trucks made a wide variety 
fresh fruits and vegetables available to everyone.  In recent years, fresh fruit 
from both northern and southern hemispheres are made available, year round, by 
airplanes as well as fast ocean freighters. 

It always seemed absurd to me that people would seek to eliminate these 
advantages of these advances by emulating the neolithic dietary patterns found 
in the Third World Countries.  That these countries also have a long history in 
dealing with the problems produced by these dietary practices is also held in 
high esteem even though these medical traditions have as abysmal a record as our 
medical science in producing tangible results in increasing lifespan.

But profitability produces marketing funds.  "Popular" science  ( like the 
magazine) is pure marketing.  The most profitable food consumers are vegans.  At 
McDonald's, the grass fed imported beef is sold as a loss leader to sell 
government subsidized potatoes fries and corn fructose drinks.  An 80 lb bushel 
of wheat ( $4.95 ) produces 90 loaves of bread.  Is anything more profitable 
than that?

As politics are always driven by money, a paleolithic diet will always be 
politically incorrect!


[ end of rant] 
Ray Audette
Author NeanderThin