"Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)"

But did you know that in the 1980s, health activists actually promoted oils containing trans fats? They considered such oils a healthy alternative to the saturated fats found in palm oil, coconut oil, or beef fat. In 1986, for instance, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), described Burger King's switch to partially hydrogenated oils as "a great boon to Americans' arteries."

Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI): Now that is a mouthful for a vegan policy outlet advising for politically motived unhealthy advise.

The male stereotype in the media

A couple of days ago, a feminist site posted a quick little rant that used Erwan Le Corre as a segue to talk about how this whole "paleo" trend was promoting some hyper-patriarchal masculine past, comparing it to the modern Republican conservatism. It was pretty clear that the author didn't know much about the Paleolithic (her citation to how bad the Paleolithic was for women linked to the author of The Clan of the Cave Bear, which is fiction) and after significant negative feedback, the piece was pulled (but lives on thanks to the internet).

I commented that I really don't think that the Paleolithic diet/lifestyle thing is a man thing. But I think it seems that way to outsiders because that's how the media portrays it. It's the media that's selling the caveman hunter-barbarian stereotype, not the movement.

I've experienced this first hand, but I really haven't said much about it because it brings up so many personal insecurities. After the NYtimes article I was featured in, the NY Paleo Meetup and I interacted with a large number of media outlets, both television and print. We even managed two glorious comped dinners at Takashi that were filmed for various TV programs in the US and Europe. Overall, I probably spent hours and hours talking to reporters and being filmed or photographed. But I honestly don't have much to show for it except the original article. I was cut out of almost all of the things I was involved with.

Funny that Erwan Le Corre attacks the media's steoreotypical portrayal of the Paleo movement, while thinking it is the Paleo movement that is at fault.

Having fun with industrial strength pressure cooking

This guy really loves to experiment with cooking, while trying to follow the scientific method :-)

Dietary consensuses that will be overturned

Just a quick and dirty list. The supporting evidence are left as an exercise for the reader.

1. Dietary cholesterol causes (heart-)disease
2. A high blood cholesterol level causes (heart-)disease
3. Dietary saturated fatty acids cause (heart-)disease
4. All dietary fatty acids cause (heart-)disease
5. Omega-6 fatty acids are essential and therefor healthy [notice the contradiction to the previous point]
6. (Red) meat is unhealthy
7. Grains are healthy

An comment to the above

1. This theory is no longer supported by the scientific community but still lingers on in the public and is repeated by the media.
2. A high blood cholesterol level is one marker (and not even a good one), not a cause
3. Studies either show that partially hydrogenated fatty acids (e.g. vegetable margarine) or sugar have to be added to a diet to cause disease. There are different saturated fatty acids, to show its "unhealthyness" in the lab only one saturated fatty acid is predominantly given – giving a composition of saturated fatty acids found in animals does not cause disease (by itself).
4. Omega-3 and Omega-6 are essential fatty acids. Too little of them is unhealthy. Too much of them is unhealthy. A wrong ratio between them and/or other nutrients is unhealthy. The banal commonplace hat all fatty acids are unhealthy is bullshit. Your vegetable oil will kill you.
5. The Omega-6 fatty acids become unhealthy when the ratio to Omega-3 gets high (higher than 2 to 1)
6. Processed meat is unhealthy. Grain-fed beef is unhealthy. Grass-fed beef is healthy.
7. Studies show that wheat is unhealthy. Studies show that whole grain is healthier than wheat, same as studies would show that heroin is healthier than meth.

Work in progress.