The Paleo Diet: Rich in Irony & Vitamins

I know I've mentioned before how this particular diet makes me laugh, but now there is a shiny magazine available at a subscription rate of $30 a year (6 issues) devoted to "The Paleo/Primal Lifestyle and Ancestral Health."  In it, there are lots of ads for things like fish oil supplements and snack packs of paleo trail mix that cost $3.50 for each 2.3 oz. pack.

It's good to avoid processed foods. I get that.  But there is something hilarious about the idea that it costs a lot of money to emulate the lifestyle of our paleolithic ancestors, particularly when it's because the dieter wants the same convenience his Cheetos eating neighbor enjoys -- and that the neighbor will probably live longer than the average person in the paleolithic despite his Cheetos eating ways.

Makes Me Want To Primal Scream

Gentle readers, this has been bugging me ever since I came across The Primal Blueprint one afternoon at Barnes & Noble, so you are going to have to humor me while I rant.

The premise of the book is that for optimal health, we should go back to eating the way our hunter-gatherer ancestors did. The author talks about how Paleolithic people ate a wider variety of foods than we do now, and so lived longer, healthier lives.

Now I am no expert in Paleolithic history, but even I know that while our ancestors would have foraged a wide variety of plants and fruits in the warm months, they would have subsisted on very little over the winter and gone hungry during times of drought. They ate a great deal of something like large game when it was available, and a lot of something else like berries when they were available. They did not necessarily have much day-to-day variety. And they certainly did not buy expensive dietary supplements over the internet.

Here's another thing I know: I've lived quite a bit longer than the average person in the Paleolithic, and I've subsisted mostly on chocolate.