A reader writes:
I'm SO excited that you can let your readership know about this! I started Paleo last August, and I've lost 25 pounds and NEVER felt better. The best part is that I have so much more energy – so much so that I now enjoy working out. I was tested for celiac but came back negative. I just decided to go wheat- and sugar-free anyway so I would have better control of my appetite. Little did I expect so much more energy and feeling of control over what I put in my mouth. My favorite "Paleo" blogs are here, here and here. I'm making a post-workout steak and sweet potatoes right now.
Another writes:
I won't pretend to speak for the whole paleosphere, but in those circles, Taubes is both revered and reviled. Many, many people discover the Paleo diet via his recommending a low-carb diet. And he is entirely correct in saying that most grains are unhealthy for us (but not for the reasons he usually lists). But the thing is, Paleo diets are not necessarily low-carb.
One's Paleo diet could be low-carb, but "low-carb" and "Paleo" shouldn't be conflated. One's Paleo diet could be just as easily high-carb. For a modern-day hunter-gatherer example, one need only look to the Kitavans of Papua New Guinea, for whom carbohydrates make up nearly 70% of their energy intake, yet exhibit no sign of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, or any other disease of modernity. As for Taubes' central argument – the Carbohydrate-Insulin Hypothesis of obesity – it has been thoroughly debunked.
Another:
At this point it seems to be a truism that refined sugars and starches – the highly processed foods – are bad for us. On the other hand, there seems to be considerable confusion about what a "hunter-gatherer" diet is and whether one is really on one. The evidence suggests that humans evolved on a largely plant-based diet, with some animal products mixed in. Our anatomy supports this belief – our long digestive tracks, our low level of HDL ("good") cholesterol, our retinas geared more to detect color than movement, and many other characteristics.
The big problem is that the type of meat available to us today has very little in common with the wild meat that made up a minority of our ancient ancestors' diets. Experts have called factory-farmed meat "fat disguised as meat." Selective breeding, very unnatural diets, hormones, antibiotics, and limited ability to move have led to a meat that is very unhealthy. Further, 99% of the meat available today is from factory farms, even the meat that is marketed to suggest otherwise (don't believe the labels and sales materials; do your own research). For almost all Americans, it is close to impossible to obtain more than a trivial amount of non-factory-farmed meat.
Another:
I understand that you probably do not want to start a vegan vs. omnivore threat (again), but when you publish something like this, we really don't have much of a choice: "Ethical arguments against meat-eating are always valid; health arguments against it can no longer be defended." Let's look at just one disease, cancer.
1) The American Institute for Cancer Research last year released a meta-study in which it found that there is a "definite" link between consumption of red meat and processed meta and colorectal cancer, the nation's third-biggest cancer killer. Their recommendation? Limit red meat (beef, lamb, and pork) to less than 4 ounces a day, and give up processed meat (including bacon, some cold cuts, and, of course, hot dogs) altogether.
2) Red meat consumption has also been linked to kidney cancer. In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition earlier this year, researchers found that those who eat the most meat, around 4.5 ounces of red meat per day (the size of an average burger, had a higher risk of kidney cancer.
3) In October 2011, a National Institutes of Health-funded study found that men who consumed just 2.5 eggs per week increased their risk for a deadly form of prostate cancer by 81 percent – compared with men who ate less than half an egg per week.
These are just a few examples of the negative health impact of meat consumption – to say nothing of the effect of meat production on the health of Americans in the form of bacteria like E Coli and Salmonella, which always originate with farmed animals. As a fan of your work, I urge you to ditch this diet and try something with less meat. Vegetables have all the antioxidants, and beans can give you enough protein. Do it for your fans. We want you to be here for a long time.
The Dish 