Evolve Your Diet, for Crying Out Loud

If I read one more internet recipe claiming to be “paleo” I’m going to reanimate the corpse of Julia Child so she and I can seek out and destroy whoever posted it. The paleo diet is bologna. If you have not searched for a recipe on the internet in the last two years or so, here is a website that describes this latest fad diet.

You can totally trust this guy(*sarcasm*). Look at his qualifications.  He’s a real expert …on the diet he’s selling you. Now, in this guy’s defense, limiting dietary sodium is always a good idea. Eating lots of fruit and vegetables is always a very good idea. Dietary fiber is notoriously lacking in the modern USA diet. However, dependence on animal protein and exclusion of legumes (which are high in fiber, last time I checked)? That is not what Mainstream Nutrition recommends. Oh, but he’s bucking the main stream because he knows things they don’t. That’s a quack trait right there, folks; be very suspicious of people claiming exclusive knowledge.

Secondary to that, a paleo dieter’s fat intake should be dominated by poly- and mono-unsaturated fats. The fat in meat, last time I checked, is predominantly saturated. Are you seeing a problem here? I am. Also, the diet requires you to maintain a “net dietary alkaline load”. But meat and fish cause acidity in the body our amazing expert says (even if your lungs and kidneys work…don’t get me started.) I don’t understand what I’m supposed to eat and why! I have to buy a book. The website author’s book, to be specific. If it’s all about making money, it’s probably all about quackery.

Nutrition is a new specialty in the scientific diaspora. What is “best” is still being investigated and debated by experts. Maybe current My Plate recommendations need a good tweak, maybe they don’t. Time will tell. However, quackery will never take the place of real scientific work. Unfortunately quacks have a big internet presence.  If you want more help finding and fighting the nutrition quacksters you find- here are some helpful rules:

• The aptly named Quack Watch website has 26 top tips for identifying quacks.
• University of California, Berkley’s Wellness blog has this guide.
• Medicine Net has a quick list, too.

In the meantime, Julia and I will be going after all those ducking quacksters promoting cauliflower “rice” and decrying the awesomeness of humus.