paleo diet

[Guest guest]

Dear Christophe and All,I totally agree with you - shifting balance to local vegetables/fruit with small amounts of quality meat and fish is the answer. However, I have a problem with making grains "bad guys" responsible for all the health problems of Western society. First of all, there is some evidence that it was the grains that propelled the human civilisations forward (more glucose available to brain, more spare time, possible evolutionary changes...). Secondly, paleo men did not live very long, and the evidence of their health is scanty, and common sense tells me that they would eat any seeds they could collect, including various grasses (as the nomadic Mongolians still do).Thirdly, population studies in China (and

we are talking huge numbers of people) revealed that the healthiest populations eat least meat (so perhaps rice and vegetables are not that bad for you), the same is roughly true of the long-living Japanese (they have lots of fish). Fourthly, looking back at my childhood we all lived on rye bread (sourdough) and there was no obesity, eczema, asthma, IBS etc - so perhaps the changes in the agricultural methods and bread production are more of a culprit here.Lastly, people always look for a silver bullet to cure everything, whilst in fact there are usually multiple and complex reason why some people become ill. Not that long ago all digestive problems (and other problems) were blamed on Candida, then all was supposed to be cured by Omega 3, then the low carb was the solution, and now it is a paleo diet...All of these provide useful insights and therapeutic

options, no doubt, but I am always sceptical about any blanket solutions...Well, just my two pennies worth of musings, no offence meant to anybody, would love to hear more views on the paleo diet.. To: ukherbal-list Sent: Tuesday, 12 June 2012, 10:06 Subject: Re: Re: treating lupus without tinctures

We are getting into a complex discussion that is now completely non-herbal. But I have to jump back in to disagree with those blanket statements. It is just not that simple.First, industrialisation of foods is bad for the environment, period. Grains included. Replace animal fats with vegetable fats for instance, and watch what is happening with palm trees in south east asia. Go visit some "canola farms" in the US. Also watch the deforestation created by the over-extension of mono-cultures (mostly grains) in certain countries. All pretty ugly.

Second, there are many types of nutritional programs that could fall under paleo. You could eat only meat, and yes that is problematic. But that is a caricature too. Mine is this : lots of fresh local veggetables and fruits, a small amount of animal meats emphasizing quality (local grass fed) rather than quantity, and some good fats from butter, eggs and the like. This is paleo too. In terms of proportions, animal fats are a small portion of the plates I recommend, most of the plate is composed of vegetables. But there is some meat, and no grains.

Traditional tribes around the world could raise a small cattle for a whole village, with no impact on land and the environment. The real issue, to me, is going back to local foods, be it meat, grains, or whatever else. And we have lots of work to do to achieve this.

And third, my favorite. It relieves my clients, sometimes in a very dramatic way.I will stop the discussion here, and apologize to the moderators for going off track.

I agree with you entirely, the world cannot support its current population and certianly not on a hunter gather (paleo) diet even if it is more natural. It is something only very few can do for themselves, urban society dewellers certainly can't.

Dore