Hi Anna! I've quite enjoyed your luncheon series this week, although it did come across rather, as my AP history teacher put it, "a valentine" to Mr. Barbee and his ideas on nutrition. (I got that particular comment myself when I turned in a paper on Eugene Debs where, despite having done thorough research, I chose to focus on only the ideas that I agreed with, was impressed by, etc. Not good history, or good science, heh!) So I was very glad that at the end you did note that, as we're all individuals, no one diet is going to be perfect for every person. After all, even the foods which seem so healthy that everyone MUST need them, can cause problems in large quantities. For instance, my father has a genetic predisposition for forming kidney stones; he has to be very mindful of the amounts of vegetables and fruits which he eats - especially things like broccoli and spinach - because they are good sources for calcium which is usually the main component in a kidney stone.

Also, it's important to remember that not only are we individuals with different genetic backgrounds of different ages growing in different environments - all of which can have an effect, whether small or large, on how our bodies use the food we give them. But the food we have access to is also very different. Eggs, for instance, are in many ways a wonderful food full of vitamins, protein and some healthy fats. But the amount of those components varies vastly between, for instance, the eggs laid by your pastured chickens and those laid by factory farm chickens who live their entire lives indoors. And while I agree that one needs fat in one's diet and that too many carbs can cause problems, I think that you're making things a little too simple, especially since carbohydrates are an important component in helping one's body to regulate blood sugar.

Certainly the modern American diet is messed up in all kinds of ways, whether one is strictly following the USDA guidelines, or following the path of the far-too-busy and eating lots of processed, pre-packaged foods, or following the path of the must-fit-the-current-image-of-beauty-at-all-costs and eating no fats and no carbs. We, as a stereotype, have a bad tendency to take diet advice and run with it: "carbs are bad? I'll never eat another one," "eggs are good? I'll eat 10 a day!" So it's a bad plan to make any kind of blanket statements when it comes to food, because people will generally assume that if the statement applies at all, it applies all of the time and they'll end up eating too much or too little of whatever the food is and, one way or another, hurt their health.

I also must say that I agree with Mr. Antrobus that paleolithic man's diet is probably not the best starting place for trying to figure out the best diet for modern man: we don't have his lifestyle, we've probably lost many of the enzymes he had for processing the food he ate, and frankly, his diet wasn't all that great for him (it wasn't all that bad either, but it certainly wasn't a model of "how to eat for the best health and longest life possible").

Anyway, I guess what I've been trying to say through this overly long and meandering post is that I believe one's best bet in diet, as in many things, is moderation. Eat a varied diet filled with fruits, vegetables, protein, whole grains, fats - some of each, but not overly much of any. Try to cook from scratch and stay away from processed foods full of stuff that isn't really food. Try to get your meat, eggs and dairy from animals who are raised organically and have pasture access (ideally raise them yourself or get them from someone you know and trust, but not all of us can do that). I don't think it's really all that difficult as long as you don't go overboard on any one thing and pay close attention to what you're putting in your mouth!

At any rate, you seem to have found a menu that works well for the two of you, and that's great - thanks again for a very interesting luncheon series!

I think all of my lunchtime series are "valentines." I don't pretend that I've done exhaustive research on the topics (though I do throw in my two cents when I have related experience.) Instead, they're just brief summaries of the books for those who don't have time to read them (and so that I can go back and look at my notes later.) I certainly don't have time to research all of the topics I toss out there --- these are just eye-openers for each of you to take into your own lives or not as you see fit.

Of course everyone should tweak their diet to match what makes them feel good and what suits their body, but the purpose of this series (and the book it was based on) is to debunk some commonly held myths about nutrition, many of which were started by various agricultural lobbies. The "fat makes you fat" belief is one of the beliefs many of us pick up along the way which isn't born out by the facts.

I do agree with you about moderation, though. And, of course, cooking with real food goes without saying (or I hope it does!)

I've been eating in a way similar to this myself for about two months now. I feel so much better, have lost 20 pounds and have had almost NO seasonal allergy symptoms. In the past (since moving to the South in particular, about a decade ago) I would have 24 hour periods where I would sneeze 6-10 times in succession every half hour or so, with my nose dripping like a leaky faucet in between. Those days would come once or twice a week from March through October. We're further south than you so our trees and plants have been blooming and folks have been sneezing for about 6 weeks now. I have probably sneezed a dozen times in those six weeks.

My husband and kids are still eating some grains but less than in the past and I'm weaning them off sugar too (without the kids really even noticing). We've never been huge sugar consumers but I've done a lot of baking in the past (whole grains, etc) and am not doing that any more. Everyone seems to be thriving and we're all learning to like foods we've never eaten much in the past.

I just finished (and highly recommend) Gary Taubes "Why We Get Fat and What to do About It" for a better understanding of WHY carbohydrates make us fat. I had already adjusted my diet before I started the book but it really helps me to make sense of why what I am doing is working and helping me feel so much better. It's a much easier read than his earlier book "Good Calories, Bad Calories" but has a lot of the same information. That one is next on my list.