Against the Grain: The case for eating like a caveman

WSJ.com OpinionJournal ^ | Sunday, July 14, 2002 | LIONEL TIGER

[sourcery]

Let's face it, America's weight problem is out of control. A summer stroll down any airport corridor reveals a family of five resembling spin dryers in easy-fit clothes. Youngsters are showing diabetes at 15 and obesity is a national health issue. Book stores feature hundreds of diet books facing their enemy cookbooks across the aisle. Virtually everyone is on a diet, and people who still dare to produce dinner parties for their friends have to negotiate a perilous rapids of choice of foods that are certifiably low-cal, low-salt, low-chol, low-fat and low-whatever.

[sourcery]

• What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?
• The Cholesterol Myths
• Diabetics Improve Health With Very High-Fat, Low Carb Diet
• Replacement of carbohydrate by protein in a conventional-fat diet reduces cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in healthy normolipidemic subjects
• Why high carbohydrate diets are NOT the best way to lose fat...
• Does a high fat diet really make you fat?
• The Mediterranean Diet

[Dialup Llama]

Males decline no more! Pavel will give you a soviet style special forces workout you'll never forget.
http://www.dragondoor.com

The Russian Kettlebell Challenge: Xtreme Fitness for Hard Living Comrades

Both the Soviet Special Forces and numerous world-champion Soviet Olympic athletes used the ancient Russian Kettlebells as their secret weapon for xtreme fitness. Thanks to the kettlebell's astonishing ability to turbocharge physical performance, these Soviet supermen creamed their opponents time-and-time-again, with inhuman displays of raw power and explosive strength.

Now, former Spetznaz trainer, international fitness author and nationally ranked kettlebell lifter, Pavel Tsatsouline, delivers this secret Soviet weapon into your own hands.

Watch in amazement as high-rep kettlebells let you hack the fat off your meat -- without the dishonor of aerobics and dieting.

[Dog Gone]

When they come up with a diet that promises eternal life, I'll be interested. In the meantime, I'm calling for pizza to be delivered.

[concerned about politics]

Mush. These diet dictrocrats have been force feeding us diet garbage for years, and that's why America is fat. They paid attention to these guys!

[liberallarry]

Finally! A sensible article on diet. I've stuck to fresh, unprocessed foods as much as possible. It's worked.

[bert]

There are two issues important to me, and perhaps there is dietary conflict involved.

The first is Cholesterol levels and the incidence of heart and vascular disease.There is a correlation between high levels and the diseases. Many of the flagged articles point out that there is not really a correlation between eating and choledterol levels. The emerging truth seems to be that Cholesterol in diet is not really a contributing factor to the disease.

The second is Type II diabetes which apeared in me at age 58. Diagnosis is statistical...sugar level>126=disease.There is apparently a relation between blood sugar levels and various vascular diseases, and it is called Diabetes myletis. The relationship is known, but the mechanism is not understood.

I have begun a process of reducing my sugar number and simultaneously seeking an adjustment in the varios cholesterol levels.

My own study on me pertains mostly to the diabetes control. Lower the number and control the disease. It works. Loose some weight, decrease carbohydrates (I'm a nonjock and don't believe in "carbs"), resume a program of exercise.

It works. Diet has an influence on the numbers, but weight loss and exercise seem to be more important to maintain a specified level. All three together though must be controlled to reduce the sugar level. If i don't exercise the number will go up more than if I overindulge on eating.

Thanks for posting this article and the references. The more you read the better you develop a feeling for the complexity of the problem. The emerging concensus seems to be that life is complex and must be lived fully, including getting off your butt and on the trail or there will be penalties.

This all has to do with the margin. We as Americans live longer than most in history and our current efforts are about marginal increase.

[Drango]

Two bacon burgers a day is insane.

Damm.... How about just one a day and I super size it?

[Lessismore]

http://www.paleodiet.com/

[A Navy Vet]

The scientific community now believe that every time a cell divides the new cells have shorter telemeres and is a main cause of aging, and are close to preventing or slowing that shrinkage. As for now, there are numerous studies which indicate low caloric intake prolongs life. Doesn't matter so much what you eat, just eat a lot less...almost to the point of being constantly hungry. Also, don't forget your glass of red wine a day...seems to help the Italians who live on carbs.

[sourcery]

The Carbohydrate Addict's Official Website

[sourcery]

The scientific community now believe that every time a cell divides the new cells have shorter telemeres and is a main cause of aging

That's not the only theory, and no general consensus has been formed. Also, the only thing that has been proven to extend maximum lifespan among a group of individuals is to lessen caloric intake without sacrificing essential nutrition. Of course, maximum lifespan is not the same as average lifespan, and neither is the same as your own personal lifespan. These are all related, yet different.

Theories of Aging

[Dog Gone]

I am one of those people who is blessed with a small appetite. If I don't eat, I don't care, although I may notice a decrease in energy if I haven't eaten anything by evening.

However, if and when I get hungry, I can easily pound down 2000 calories in a single meal. I'm not sure how healthy that is, but I've stayed at the optimum weight for my height for my entire adult life.

[A Navy Vet]

I didn't mean that was the only theory...there are a lot of variables. It seems to be gaining in prominence, though. And yes, don't sacrifice nutrition. A low calorie protein diet with either veggies or equivalent supplements is being touted by nutritionists and bodybuilders everywhere. And of course, spreading your caloric intake over several meals is good, as well as, not eating about 4 hours prior to bedtime. Wish I could stick to my own advice...:o}.

[mewzilla]

Tour a cardiac intensive care ward sometime. This is about a lot more than a marginal increase. It's about dying earlier than you have to, and having a lousy quality of life while you are among the living. And it's about money, too. Lots and lots of money to treat the folks who think that the miracles of modern medicine will save them from themselves and their rotten choices.

[fineright]

I was watching a show about food last evening on the History Channel. They had a few interviews with this same guy.

I`s pretty inane but the first thing I noticed about this guy was his name, "Loinel Tiger". I wonder if he changed his name.

[bert]

I understand your excellant points. The visits have been made.

My marginal reference is to the fact that on a historical basis we have increased our average life span from say 50 some to 70 some. The efforts to make further average increases by various large scale dieting will yield marginal change in the average life span.

[palmer]

Another thread like this had a post about eating a well prepared fish and rice dinner with a little wine and feeling just fine afterwards. Maybe it was the wine, or maybe the sugar going to the brain, but the body may be an unreliable indicator of whether you just ate something healthy or not. After all, as cavemen it would not be wise to pass up rancid meat or spoiled fruit.

Some authors take the view that because cavemen couldn't produce a dinner like the one described, our bodies are not prepared to handle it and it must be therefore be unhealthy. I don't buy that view, but I do recognize that health is a complex feedback loop based on what you ate, thought and did for all the recent days of your life and one unhealthy meal is not going to change that equation very much. But part of our makeup may be that the body responds to quantity rather than quality.