A fitting summary


1.  That's because the "experts" mostly aren't and they are making it up as they go along.
2.  A true paleolithic diet would not be very individual
3.  See #1.

Comments

river rance said…
LOL! Paleo Experts. What are the requirements to become a Paleo Expert? That tweet pretty much says it all. "Dem experts are paddling canoes in all different directions, and with 48,000 e-mails in Robb Wolf's inbox, he needs to go ashore and save those helpless souls. Good day to start Robb, its Easter.
DFW360 said…
Is the solution is to throw the baby out with the bathwater? I went to paleo fx in austin, although only to visit the vendor exhibit area on Friday. I didn't pay the mega bucks for the "full" experience. I agree that none of the experts have all the answers, and plenty of them are in it to grab their piece of the pie, but the low carb frenzy had the same issues. prehistoric paleo would have included foods grown and acquired locally, variable from region to region. In the modern world, it could be individualized because there are several types of people with different needs who have come to paleo for answers, the fitness folks, those with health issues, those who want to lose weight, and some who just want to run with the crowd.
CarbSane said…
I think a good start would be to at least define a core of paleo. There were people at FX who are not eating a paleo diet, even by a long shot. Then you get the nonsense chocolate bacon but god forbid you eat some rice and beans, right?

I followed the Twitter stream which was pretty inane at times. As a woman I'm appalled by several things -- and no, I'm not talking misogyny or bad behavior.
Diana said…
Gravity is very individual. I've read about people who jump out of 10-story windows and made a soft easy landing with no problems.
Karen said…
Lol Diana!!! You made me spit coffee
BigWhiskey said…
32ft per sec per sec.....but for you, a discount!!!
Walkitout said…
When your using the "paleo framework" there's no limit to the things you can rationalize through diet.

"were trying to replicate the health of healthy hunter gatherers" while saying "low cholesterol kills" Besides the fact they hunter gatherers generally have very low cholesterol levels.

"Grains are a neolithic invention not meant for humans, they have also been linked to autoimmune disorders".
Oh, but grassfed dairy is great if you tolerate it.

"Sure we might have ate some sugar during the paleoithic but we didn't drink 300 calories of it regularly". "Hey man have you tried bulletproof coffee, it's awesome?"

"Grains are just empty cheap calories". "have you tried adding spoonfuls of coconut oil to your coffee?"
CarbSane said…
Well said. At PaleoFX Paul Jaminet actually mused (according to tweets) that Julia Child would have been paleo if she were born later.

All of this recent controversy with me boils down to Robb Wolf not wanting to tell me WHAT the paleo diet that is being used with Reno law enforcement entails. According to him in comments on his blog, I was the only one who has ever even bothered to ask. I find that pretty pathetic.
CarbSane said…
LOL!

Raw vegans have been known to bounce the highest.
CarbSane said…
Mat Lalonde had to back out of PaleoFX at the last minute. But Robb Wolf selflessly stepped up to the plate to fill Mat's speaking slot on Saturday! The lengths he'll go to to help people amaze me. {/sarcasm}
Unknown said…
My version of Paleo requires that you eat nothing but citrus. Citrus for breakfast, lunch and dinner except on Wednesday when we fast until 2 p.m.

It is based on the diet of a tribe of nomadic citrus farmers that thrived in western Sweden from 9700 b.c. to 9200 b.c.

Before their civilization collapsed due to an invasion of fruit flies they enjoyed perfect health and the average life span was 124 years.

/Don't even think about trying to steal my idea because my lawyers are savage bastards who will rip your flesh like a pack of rabid honey badgers
Susanne said…
I'm surprised he didn't make the claim that she WAS paleo. Given how loosely it's defined, and all the different Paleo schismatic sects, I think *I* could make a strong argument that I am "Paleo," as a home-cooking grain and bean eater. Stack my diet up against an 80/20, whey-protein slurping, potatoes are OK, this-brownie-is-primal-because-it's-made-with-coconut-and-honey, "I try to be Paleo but sometimes I fall for a chick-fil-A" one and I think calorie for calorie we'd be pretty close in our "sins". Enough to call out the Inquisitors for a close inspection.

(I would insert the appropriate Monty Python youtube video here, but look up your favorite instead.)

I am surprised that he has not published the Reno PD diet anywhere. But it occurs to me now, Is he maybe copyrighting it/considering it proprietary and that's why he doesn't want it out there?


Susanne said…
I just had a fantasy of Julia's response to being asked her opinion on long, slow cardio. Ha! Definitely Paleo.
Walkitout said…
I vote Unknown as the best commentator in paleo arena. He should start his own blog.
Diana said…
I'm glad I did that, Karen. Coffee is poison. But it's good for your gums, so a swish a day keeps the dentist away.

But seriously folks, I can't help laughing at the whole spectacle. Permit me to brag about my latest bloods.

Blood sugar: 86. This after eating a pretty heavy carb diet for months. And not always good carbs. Some really bad carbs in there. Use your obscene imaginations.

Cholesterol ratio: 2.86

Trigs: 86. This is higher than my usual range of 55-65, and believe it or not, I'm happy they are higher. I think the 55-65 was an abnormal function of low-carbing.

I wonder what Low Carb Man's blood work will look like when he is 57.
Diana said…
I'm a huge Julia fan. She'd have laughed in his face. You know she was 6'2"? (Somehow it sounds even taller in cms: 188.)
marksuave25 said…
Disagreement is healthy. There is a video on YouTube. The title is "healthiest diet". Dr. Fuhrman and Dr. McDougall argued over fat and carbs in a vegan diet. The only person who agrees with you all the time is......yourself. And I get your point that not all of these "experts" hold a degree in anything remotely close to nutrition. But, take from the conference what you want and leave what you don't agree with. agree or disagree?
Susanne said…
I don't know as much about her as I should -- never delved into her cookbooks, but grew up with her on TV, especially the programs she did with Jacque Pepin. But she seems like she was a really cool lady, and I always feel like I should look into her stuff, but am timid about her reputation for elaborate recipes. If I had to pick a food guru it would be someone like Mark Bittman with his Minimalist approach. They share a focus on "real food", and the idea that if you can cook even a little, you end up not turning as much to industrialized junk foods. Which is the real strength of the ancestral diets, but apparently not gimmicky enough by itself. Or profitable.
Nigel Kinbrum said…
I think that a good definition would be:-

Base your diet on produce, not products. If "X" has bad effects on you, don't eat "X".
Vaclav K. said…
And here I was about to stop reading Paleo drama for a while, boring.

Now Carole Sampson has teamed up with Razzwell. LMAO
Tsimblist said…
I don't know what you are defining, but I like your definition anyway.
marksuave25 said…
Couldn't agree more
This could be deemed to be secondary cherry picking, you cherry pick from those who have already cherry picked and then you think you have come to a rational decision.
When you take on quackery and pseudoscience the response from it's supporters is nearly always shrill and rabid. Take a look around some of the skeptic websites - they are used to it.
Nigel Kinbrum said…
I'm defining what I consider to be a Healthy Diet.
Jane said…
Unknown has a theory that drinking water is dangerous because the water doesn't want to be drunk and it protects itself with antinutrients.
marksuave25 said…
Possibly. But there is no one diet for everyone. If low carb works for you, and your fbs doesn't go, and your cholesterol doesn't go up then do it. If you like the vegan or low fat lifestyle and you aren't suffering from fatigue or wild blood sugar swings, then do it. This is the problem with nutrition. It is not like physical sciences. meaning if you do "x" you will always get "z". Everyone from carbsane to myself should be more concerned about what works for them than what a rct says. For example, I can't eat a lot of eggs, it raised my cholesterol. Now, if I listened to Ancel keys, web md, and most PubMed articles I would I'd been led to believe that dietary cholesterol has little to no impact on blood cholesterol. Boy was I hoodwinked! Raised mine's by 45m/dl. My wife can eat like 12 eggs a week and has normal cholesterol. Why would I keep eating them if it doesn't work for me? Call it cherry picking if you want but I call it "doing what works for me".
CarbSane said…
I agree, but some things that can have bad effects on you are not immediately evident -- e.g. transfats. Also, there are many for whom eliminating X yields benefits for a while but then it stops working and more and more foods become problematic that never were before. I see this in the paleo and low carb communities both, quite frequently.
CarbSane said…
I am ignoring it, but these people know when they are crossing the line. Razwell? Sigh.
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