tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1030220433025894048.post4616271688728844302..comments2023-11-03T08:02:25.369-04:00Comments on AmericanScience: A Team Blog: The Curious History of the Paleo-Diet, and its Relationship to Science & ModernityDavid Roth Singermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12841041983824755867noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1030220433025894048.post-802439683648262722015-09-18T11:51:54.679-04:002015-09-18T11:51:54.679-04:00Another broader historical note: the "inventi...Another broader historical note: the "invention of agriculture" in Eurasia (rice, barley. wheat, etc) and the Americas (corn, chia, quinoa) was not the start of our relationship with grains as food, just a major inflection point. Antique versions of these grains grew wild and could be and were nurtured and encouraged without formal plowing-planting-weeding (or flooding/paddying, etc) agriculture. Grains were part of pre-ag diets for a long time and across the globe, one category of the things gathered by hunter/gatherers.<br /><br />Love the blog!John Burkenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1030220433025894048.post-17452013245171881172015-08-01T04:45:16.560-04:002015-08-01T04:45:16.560-04:00I came onto your blog while focusing just slightly...I came onto your blog while focusing just slightly submits. Nice strategy for next, I will be bookmarking at once seize your complete rises<br /><a href="http://paleorecipebook.biz/" rel="nofollow">paleo diet</a><br />johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12082316803460663093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1030220433025894048.post-87521964521951408962015-01-13T11:08:08.317-05:002015-01-13T11:08:08.317-05:00Looking at the history of the last 100 years or so...Looking at the history of the last 100 years or so is fun. It is relevant to the issue of people being silly when they assume too much and know too little. But the scientific data regarding the evolution of Homo sapiens do suggest that our modern alimentary canal was an adaptation to a diet that was very different. So "paleo-dieters" have the right impulse. A M.D. I know who researches diabetes mentioned that fermented vegetables may have been a significant food source in the Paleolithic. Have some sauerkraut, kimchi, or Polish pickles! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1030220433025894048.post-48969731306244925762014-05-21T11:29:03.344-04:002014-05-21T11:29:03.344-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Phen375http://www.phen375acheter.net/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1030220433025894048.post-80898159245530770802013-11-07T11:02:53.209-05:002013-11-07T11:02:53.209-05:00Fascinating piece!
It's always interesting to...Fascinating piece!<br /><br />It's always interesting to see yet another example of the cyclical nature of human behaviour. One could interpret these anti-modernity fads such as the Paleo diet as some kind of instinctual psychological defense mechanismAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00402537974660413592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1030220433025894048.post-21618504664766656472013-11-04T10:02:36.884-05:002013-11-04T10:02:36.884-05:00I like this post, thanks!I like this post, thanks!Dieta perfectahttp://www.tudietadisociada.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1030220433025894048.post-33660377309988644382013-05-12T15:55:29.280-04:002013-05-12T15:55:29.280-04:00Thanks for this post, Lukas! I love the historical...Thanks for this post, Lukas! I love the historical context within which you've situated this modern interest in the paleo diet. You've put into words some unformed ideas I'd been mulling over as I encountered the evolutionary justifications for this decidedly non-modern diet. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18445688693296690667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1030220433025894048.post-52235526179718492732013-05-10T10:45:52.690-04:002013-05-10T10:45:52.690-04:00I was hoping that someone who is actually trying t...I was hoping that someone who is actually trying the paleo-diet might find their way to this blog, so I am really glad that you left this comment, Jeremy. Let me just say, right away, that I don't meant to be putting words in the mouths of paleo-dieters everywhere. At the same time, I do find it interesting that you seem to equate modernity, or at least modern foods, with danger. I would guess that most historians of medicine agree that foods eaten in the past were far more dangerous than what we usually consume today. The reason, of course, has to do with sanitation and infectious disease. <br /><br />But there is a larger point to be made here. As I mentioned above, I think everyone agrees on the basic principle that eating heavily processed foods that are high in fat, sugar, and salt is not good for your health. Similarly, I think we can all agree that the modern system of factory farming, and the routine overuse of antibiotics attendant upon it, are terrible, not just for humans, but, even more so, for domesticated animals like chickens, pigs, and cows. <br /><br />Avoiding these kinds of foods and getting plenty of exercise does not, however, a paleo-diet make. As I understand it, the paleo-diet also tells us to avoid grains such as rice and wheat. And beyond that, it counsels us to engage in an exercise regimen that is somehow supposed to simulate the hunter-gatherer lifestyle. In his <a href="http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/263270/february-03-2010/john-durant" rel="nofollow">interview</a> with Stephen Colbert, John Durant describes a fitness regimen called <a href="http://www.movnat.com/" rel="nofollow">MoveNat</a> that consists of doing things like climbing trees, jumping, balancing on logs, throwing heavy objects, etc. Again, no doubt any exercise is good for you. But why add this dimension of trying to recreate life in the Pleistocene into the mix? How does *that*, rather than just having the good sense to get plenty of exercise and avoid certain kinds of processed and factory farmed foods, help us avoid danger? And why on earth would anyone think that the Pleistocene was in any way *less* dangerous than our own, modern world?Lukashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05686764806913124506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1030220433025894048.post-50446995006678299762013-05-10T10:22:52.695-04:002013-05-10T10:22:52.695-04:00Thanks for this comment, Sarah! Of course you are ...Thanks for this comment, Sarah! Of course you are exactly right, there is *plenty* to say about (cave)manliness here. I think the quote from the Boy Scouts handbook, criticizing modern society for having "turned such a large proportion of our robust, manly, self-reliant boyhood into a lot of flat-chested cigarette smokers, with shaky nerves and doubtful vitality" says it all. Now I obviously don't want to speak for all the paleo-dieters out there (including Jaremy, below), but I suspect that, yes, a lot of this has carried forward into our present day. Just check out the <a href="http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/263270/february-03-2010/john-durant" rel="nofollow">interview</a> John Durant did with Stephen Colbert a few years back, especially their conversation about Durant's idea for a perfect mate. He's on the lookout for a lady with celiac's disease who also happens to be lactose intolerant, because that way she would not miss eating grains and dairy. The point, of course, being that he would never expect her to actually *join* him in fully adopting a Pleistocene lifestyle (and all the rigors that come with it)!Lukashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05686764806913124506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1030220433025894048.post-86924165539791461402013-05-09T08:59:13.169-04:002013-05-09T08:59:13.169-04:00Is this an adequate summary of your argument?
1. ...Is this an adequate summary of your argument?<br /><br />1. Modern paleo fads stem from turn-of-the-century anti-modern sentiments.<br />2. Modern paleo fads rely on modern science for information.<br />3. Therefore, it is contradictory (or, curious, as you say) that paleo dieters, who have anti-modern sentiments, would rely on modern science for information.<br /><br />That seems to be a fair summary. Let me suggest an alternative interpretation that will eleviate your contradiction and keep you from implying equivalence between modernity and safety.<br /><br />When my wife and I started our own casual version of paleo dieting, we did not feel any broad explicit anti-modern sentiment. Rather, our sentiment was anti-danger. We felt like the paleo diet would help us avoid (perceived or actual) dangers associated with modern processed foods and chemicals associated with them. We certainly are not broadly anti-modern, considering that I am typing this on an Apple laptop using my home wifi network within site of my HD TV while being cooled by my central air conditioning system and relieving myself through the convenience of indoor plumbing. I see an important distinction between anti-danger and anti-modern sentiments. <br /><br />Without such a distinction, your argument risks implicitly equating modernity with safety. I do not think you would commit yourself to that equivalence. It seems perfectly plausible, and in my case actual, that a person would engage in paleo dieting to achieve certain levels of safety and health without also trying to achieve some degree of broad pre-modernity-ness in their life.<br /><br />Thus, there is no contradiction in a person relying on modern science in order to meet these personal safety and health objectives (via paleo dieting) because these objectives are not necessarily anti-modern. These objectives may be misinformed or the dieter's engagement with science may be pedestrian, but these are different issues.Jeremy Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00753230516034020811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1030220433025894048.post-12689846149107224682013-05-08T22:36:34.345-04:002013-05-08T22:36:34.345-04:00Anything to say about (cave)manliness here? It see...Anything to say about (cave)manliness here? It seems to me that paleo, crossfit, TRX, and that other fad that Paul Ryan did seem to rely on backward-looking, phallo-forward notions of gender. Do you see nineteenth century gender imaginaries in these 21st century fads? Or does the fact that paleo is so connected with dietING (rather than diet) give it a different, more womanly valence? <br /><br />Sarah Milovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09175426523029168148noreply@blogger.com