On Mon, 29 Nov 1999, Wally Day wrote:

> > But for
> > various
> > reasons, other proteins resist complete proteolysis
> > and thus
> > leave polypeptide residues, and these cause the
> > mischief.
>
> This begs a couple more questions. Why would the body
> not just discard these? Is it because it can't
> recognize them? I find it hard to believe that a
> process capable of breaking a complex protein molecule
> down into individual amino acids would not have a
> mechanism to eliminate what I would consider "waste".
> Unless it is unable to determine that is is, in fact,
> waste.

Wade gave a more detailed explanation than mine, but I think it's
correct to say that the digestive system is supposed to succeed
in breaking down proteins into individual aminos or very short
polypeptides.  The question is: Why does this sometimes fail,
resulting in polypeptides that the body is not really equipped to
cope with?  I suppose there are many possible answers to that,
but the "paleo" answer would be that the body is only equipped to
handle those proteins that it "expects" to encounter in its food
supply.  So, when we introduce proteins that are, from its point
of view, novel, we increase the probability that it won't know
how to handle them.

> > This is a tougher one.  It is *possible*, I suppose,
> > that if an
> > animal is grain-fed, some of the grain protein is
> > not fully
> > digested,
>
> The presupposes that the animal's digestive system
> would not properly handle the grain protein. Is there
> evidence that this is so?

Not that I am aware of.  I can't think of any reason why a
ruminant animal such as a cow should have a problem with grain
protein.

Todd Moody
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