Related to the grain article I just wanted to say that I’ve met many people who have made their life easier by minimizing grain foods in their diet. On the other hand I’ve also met some “lucky” people who thrive with grain based diet without any problem.

“This paper does call into question my earlier ASSUMPTION AND GUESS that man did not eat grains earlier than 23k years ago. More research/data is necessary to establish a better idea of when grain consumption began. I will be revising my earlier materials about history of human grain consumption in light of these findings. I still BELIEVE that this grain consumption must have been minor 105k years ago, because I don’t THINK they had the technology to get much nutrition out of the grass seeds yet.”

You’re not allowed to only look for ways to discount pretty solid evidence just because it contradicts your earlier assumptions.

Pray tel what adaptations to Doritos, etc. would have to occur. The problem is eating TOO MUCH food in the face of TOO LITTLE ACTIVITY. Not the fact that Doritos are refined grains. It’s simply too calorically dense for a culture that sits on its ass all day.”

Durr hurr, how about an adaptive increase in BMR? Durka durka?

Cmon Lyle.

I always appreciate your writings and analysis. However, you missed one important issue. Modern grains grown in 2010 bear only a passing resemblance to grains from 10,000, 5,000, 2,000 and even 200 years ago. A good example of this are some of the heritage wheat varieties grown south of the SF bay by some small outfits. They are thought to be descended from the varieties brought by Spanish missionaries 2-300 years ago. They are only a small fraction of the size and have a much smaller % of gluten/protein content in comparison to standard 2010 varieties. In fact, the standard 2010 wheat is a whole lot different than what was commonly grown throughout the US as recently as the 1940′s and 50′s. The same can be said for other grain types.

You correctly point out that evolution has not stopped and may even have sped up in the last 10,000 years (lower levels of sexual dimorphism etc..). But we have to remember that when we talk about modern grains we are talking about a food that has not even been around for a century in its current forms.

This also goes against your general bent against the all-or-nothing philosophy. Yes, paleo man probably ate everything, including grains when he could get them. But because he didn’t farm starch, it’s highly unlikely that he ate wheat/rice/sorghum etc. in the sorts of ratios that we moderns do.

Obviously, the world couldn’t sustain 6 billion people living on a paleo diet, but if you’re looking from a selfish perspective of your own health, then (starting from a baseline of the average/mainstream diet) fewer grains are probably a good thing.

I eat bread, cakes (it’s Christmas, after all!), dumplings when I’m with my Slovak family, beer with my friends, rice with my sushi, etc — I just eat less of them all, more steak, more veggies. The paleo idea is good. Fanaticism of all sorts is usually a refuge of the stupid.