The New Evolution Diet - Art Devany page 5

[Kaeden]

I browsed the review, but I don’t need to rely on it. I actually read the book. It seems no different in essence from the primal blue print or robb wolf’s recent book.

[gordo]

I read Wolf's book. I thought it was pretty weak but entertaining. I guess I need to reread PB to remind myself of the PB stance on protein. I can't remember whether it's considered to be the main calorie source. I didn't think so, but it would have to be if you limit both carbs and fat. That seems like a risky strategy since excess protein causes all kinds of problems.

Gordo

[Kaeden]

Define excess and problems.

[cerebelumsdayoff]

I read Wolf's book. I thought it was pretty weak but entertaining. I guess I need to reread PB to remind myself of the PB stance on protein. I can't remember whether it's considered to be the main calorie source. I didn't think so, but it would have to be if you limit both carbs and fat. That seems like a risky strategy since excess protein causes all kinds of problems.

Gordo

From my understanding, protein is not really a source of calories per se, but rather, a source of structure. Humans, as animals, are made of fat and protein, and we eat protein to facilitate cell reproduction and maintenance. It may actually have been in the PB (or in Wolf's book), but thinking of eating protein for calories is like using the wood that your house's walls are made out of for your fireplace.

I'm glad I didn't buy DeVany's book, as I did think about it. There seems to be plenty of sources out there that have some things down validly, but still lack validity in other areas (like saturated fats). On the other hand, many people discover the primal/paleo lifestyle through these "gateway books." I can personally testify that if it wasn't for the "Warrior Diet" book, I would have found MDA. In hindsight, the warrior diet book is pretty silly with all of the claims it made. In it, the author (Ori) claimed that we must eat things like beans because the Roman soliders at them, and they were strong. He also encouraged carb days once a week (similar to carb refeeds), although he said that eating things like grains was fine. I did blindly follow it for a while, but soon enough discovered MDA and lived happily since.

[gordo]

Define excess and problems.

Ammonia poisoning. Threshold for ammonia production can be as low as 600-800 calories per day.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4...t=AbstractPlus

Some ammonia is converted to urea, which can cause gout. Conversion peaks at around 900 calories per day. Go higher, and ammonia levels have to rise.

Protein levels above 45% of calories cause nausea and diarrhea in days and death in weeks. I'd call death a problem.

Mothers milk is 7% protein. Babies grow fast and put on lots of muscle. Why would you need more? Specifically: The protein content of muscle is 16.4%. Adding half a pound of muscle per week requires an astonishing 5g of protein per day. On top of that, clinical trial have not shown additional muscle gains in bodybuilders from increased protein intake.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...t=AbstractPlus

The body is only capable of using about 400 calories of protein per day to manufacture glucose and ketones. That's all you can get rid of that way, and you probably need to be close to zero carb to do it.

So, here we have a macronutrient that we need a limited amount of, can only process a limited amount of, that creates toxic byproducts when consumed in high quantity, and results in a rapid death at very achievable levels. Telling people to limit carbs is great. Telling them to limit fat at the same time is dangerous and irresponsible. Fat is the only macronutrient that doesn't cause toxicity at high levels. We should eat only as many carbs and as much protein as we NEED, and get the rest from fat. If we want to be healthy, anyway.

Gordo

[gordo]

More interesting tidbits. Cordain rendered wild game. Very scientific sounding until you realize that humans ate the good parts; the organs, marrow, brain, and high-fat cuts like the tongue, and then fed the muscle meat to their dogs.

Lest we think all fats are good:

http://www.paleonu.com/panu-weblog/2...rt-i-fats.html

Looks like saturated is where it's at.

Gordo

[gordo]

In the interest of fairness, Masterjohn today goes through the ideas in the book that aren't crap.

http://www.cholesterol-and-health.co...erol-blog.html

Gordo