On Tue, 11 Apr 2000 19:21:51 -0600, Snowlight <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

>I have been on this list for 2 years now.  At times it can be very enlightening, unfortunately most of the time
> it digresses into scientific muscle flexing.  It seems that Ray's book embraces simple eating
> and yet this list often discusses refined products like brewers yeast, cod liver oil capsules and supplementation.
> These items can't be hunted or gathered as found in nature.

Ray's book does point out that we no longer live in the Paleolithic Era.

Thus, we can do one of two things:

- Eat exactly according to the "sharpened stick" method and ignore that millions
of years have passed.

OR

- Try to use our intelligence to compensate for the inherent differences between
now and then.

For example, most of us have been eating the Standard American Diet for decades
now.   As a result, our bodies have undergone many unfortunate processes that
would not have occurred in the Paleolithic Era.

For years, we have been consuming primarily Omega-6 fatty acids and hardly any
Omega-3 fatty acids.   This contributes to many health problems (such as asthma,
arthritis, CHD, etc.).   Paleolithic Diets were relatively balanced in fatty
acids.   Udo Erasmus, PhD, in his analysis, claims that months of Omega-3
supplementation is necessary to return the cells to a natural Paleolithic era
balance.

Thus, consumption of cold water fish or fish oil capsules is beneficial to our
health for most of us.

Interestingly, one of the major differences between natural human milk and
bottled formula is that the latter is relatively deficient in Omega-3 fatty
acids, such as EPA and DHA.

Even if one takes the step of eating more meat and avoiding grains, in our
current era, most meat - due to the diet of farmed animals - has much less
Omega-3 fatty acids than the same meat would have had in the Paleolithic Era.

Also, research brought to light by Drs. Eades shows that Paleolithic man ate a
much higher percentage of fat than previously thought.   Originally, people
thought that the Paleo diet had less fat, since a Choice Rib Eye has more fat
than Venison.   But, it turns out that "caveman" ate all the edible parts,
including the organs and brains that were high in fat, especially Omega-3 fats.

So, since brains, rich in EPA and DHA, are not part of my usual daily menus, I
prefer to get the same Omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil capsules.

Similar reasoning may (or may not) apply to other supplementation.

Remember that the concept of the diet is to eat like Paleolithic Man, not to
"eat simply".   After all, being a fruitarian (or breatharian!) is pretty
simple....


--
Cheers,

Ken
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