I read daily. Blogs, books, websites. I am trying to learn what it really means to be "paleo" It's a word I throw around now because I am at a loss for what else to call my new eating habits or my desire to have more natural foods (grass fed organic etc). In order to be healthier and earn my Cavewoman status - must I also cut out anything and everything that is "conventional wisdom"? Am I a bad wanna be cavewoman if I continue to see my psychiatrist and take my medication? (I have general anxiety disorder that went undiagnosed for years - and which I finally have under control with the help of a wonderful doctor and minimal medication) Or perhaps I am bad for using my sonic toothbrush? I know this sounds silly but it is something that I think about as I read and learn more about the world of the modern day caveman movement.
Here is one of my biggest concerns. According to some sadly written sites - all doctors and scientists are quacks and that if the caveman didn't eat it, use it, or love it neither should we. One even went on to say that all science is biased and funded by the government (which is a puppet of big pharma). As a scientist I will give you that we can be biased. We form our experiments around a hypothesis and yes we use the tools we have at hand to try to prove that hypothesis. But let me tell you, more often than not we don't find what we are looking for. More often than not we end up with "neagative" data. But even negative data will help us understand what we are studying. It makes us look at things from a new view point. I have seen in my 20 years in the field of genetics/biochemistry so many things change. For example - in college we were taught that there was no neurogenesis in the adult brain. Yet 15 years after college here I am studying neurogenesis in the adult brain and the pathways that control it. As a scientist I have to admit that conventional wisdom is only right until we prove it wrong with the next experiment. That's what has always fascinated me about science - it is not stagnant, black and white, right or wrong. I also don't think it is inherently evil and get rubbed the wrong way when people try to tell me it is.
I am not sure I like the "doctors, science, conventional wisdom is pure evil" view some people take and demand others believe as well. It turns me off and makes me think twice about the "paleo" thing. Maybe this is just my inner demons fighting to believe what I have always believed. But proof is in the pudding as I heard for many years. Eating higher protein, no refined carbs, and better fats makes me feel better. But I am just not sure I am ready to shed my my daily shower, scientific mind, and "chill pills" just yet. It's almost a moral dilemma. Perhaps I should just stick to the blogs, podasts, etc that come from a less wacky point of view and focus just on the eating part for now. The rest just makes my head hurt.
Allow me to add my extremely biased, non-objective input; Those who claim we need to revert to our cave dwelling days are complete morons. You know I am very much a fan of the simple life. I could live comfortably without a TV. I don't need the latest gadgets or the trendiest toys to keep me happy. But even I do not think these items are unnatural. If you follow the logic of the "back to nature" idiots then we would have to do away with even stone tools. After all, anything our ancestors didn't use must be evil. Our simian ancestors swung through the trees, ate fruit, and flung poo at each other. Unless these neo Luddites are willing to do the same they need to shut up about technology.
ReplyDeleteThe logic behind the paleo lifestyle is that physical evolution cannot keep pace with technological evolution. We need to eat like Neanderthals because that is the way our bodies are built to eat. There is no logic to the notion that we should not have television because our bodies are not adapted to it. And if you subscribe to the Aquatic Ape theory, as I do, then there is definitely no logic to the idea that we shouldn't bathe regularly. "Paleo" is strictly about giving your body what it needs and protecting it from those things that harm it. Anything outside those very simple criteria is irrelevant.