On Apr 25, 2004, at 2:02 pm, Lynnet Bannion wrote:

> So I think she is on the right track now.  If she starts eating wisely
> at 21, she can have a lifetime of good health.  Many of us came to this
> diet in our
> 40s or 50s, with a lifetime of eating junk and the health problems that
> it caused.
>
>    Lynnet

Sorry to change the subject, but this has brought up something I've
thought about before.  I'm 21 and started eating paleo about 2-3 months
ago.  I've noticed a lot of improvement to my health but obviously my
whole development was under a neolithic diet.

The men in my family are generally tall and thin, and both me and my
mum share long thin bones, large hands/feet and quite weak wrists (and
both began puberty early, come to think of it).  I know of another
family where the women are unusually stocky, and the youngest male is
exceptionally tall.  I suspect all of these are due to hormonal
imbalance caused by a childhood eating starch.  I know humans show
great variation in height etc, but I'm not aware of any other species
where the *proportions* are so wildly out.  I certainly couldn't
wrestle a wild boar to the ground with my arms (not that I'd want to
try).

So here are three four I'd be interested to hear comments on:
- can you say to what extent a paleo diet benefits you with regard to
your age? (obviously if you have misshapen teeth it's too late to
change that by diet in adulthood, but what about things like arthritis
and varicose veins- do they benefit from a switch to paleo even after
years of your insides wearing away?)
- if eating a paleo diet in childhood is the most important time to
start, how could you manage it seeing as children teach each other to
eat junk and are bombarded by advertising and other pressure to eat
junk, even the "good for you" kind of junk (whole-wheat bread and
cereal, milk, cheese, beans etc)? (I have no kids yet so I'm planning
well in advance here)
- and speaking of children's diet, is there any reason to believe that
a diet richer in essential fatty acids would make children cleverer? I
have met so many people who lack the most basic common sense I fail to
see how they could survive in the wild
- and (somewhat tenuously related to the last two points-) do mothers
get morning sickness on a paleo diet?