The global paleo conversion movement idea is a joke

Even though I have been pretty busy in the last couple of weeks, I still managed to stay updated on most paleo matters (read : read my favourite blogs/authors). One thing that really pissed me off was the idea that we need a world wide paleo movement to convert (not educate on nutrition matters)  people to the paleo way of life. There is no doubt that such an idea would benefits the three or four book writers in the paleo sphere. But, would it really benefit the entire population?

One thing that really bothers me about governmental dietary recommendations, religious dietary rules, the fake food producers, politics and various ”health-oriented” organization is their self proclaimed authority (read : ”expertise”). In the face of this so called expertise, we lose our food traditions, our dietary freedom and, even more important, our love for foods. A global paleo movement that seek to convert ignorant fools is no different that this.

Actually, I have been concerned about such an endeavor for a great while. In a long post that was published at Darwin’s table a while ago(link here) that most people most likely did not read (let’s face it folks : long blog posts don’t get read), I explained that science has to lead the nutrition debate if we seek to better our health. Science – like everything on this planet- evolve. It’s not a never ending quest to better our understanding of this world.

Now, there is bad science and there is good science. Everyone that don’t understand science (due to lack of knowledge) most likely think that all science is bad. Everyone that somewhat -or totally- understand science most likely think that all science is good. The whole problem arise when one camp tries to convert the other side and therefore, ignore the most important thing about scientific nutrition : we know too little. It’s no different that the majority of people that don’t understand politics and their hate of every politicians (Really guys, don’t blame the politicians…blame the whole system!).

So, it becomes a politic game. Indeed, it’s no different than the democrats versus the republicans (or in my case,  the liberals versus the conservative party). Each side likes to blame the other side for everything that is wrong in our society. Each side obsessively tries to prove that the other side is wrong. Each side likes to use propaganda against the other side. It’s all about the public opinion, the trends and a few others things. What both side don’t do is this : they don’t try to show how their idea really is better (it’s easier to prove an argument wrong than it is to come up with one than can’t be proven wrong). No, I know they can do it… Or do they really do it?

You might think so… But they don’t. The ideas that they focus on are either irrelevant (read : no body is going to disagree with them) or work some on some kind of human values that are collectively shared. A good example of the first point is this : ”Support our soldier”. Really, who will disagree with that? A good example of the second point is this : ”Enemies will invade our country”. It works because people will fear danger which is totally normal (Evolution is about surviving….).  Wait, Wait, I have a better example : If you eat some carbs, your insulin will sky rocket and you will automatically become diabetic, fat and socially rejected. So, it comes down to the fact that the good of the population is not as important as looking good in the media and making money.

Okay, JP, what’s up with all that political talk? you might ask. ”As far as I know, the paleo diet has no direct political ties, so will you please get to the point?”. Okay, Okay, I’m getting there, I’m getting there…

The point is that if we try to convert people (read : act as we know the universal truth about nutrition), refuse to acknowledge that we don’t know that much about nutrition (I would argue that we definitely don’t know enough about it to make any kind of diet rules for a whole population), omit the facts that contradict our theories (’cause, that’s what we have : theories), and refuse to acknowledge that we are sometimes wrong, we are left with a pseudo-scientific approach to nutrition that is no better than anything else on the market.

If we get rid of the objectivity that is required to do science and focus on converting people, we are left with nothing else than a bible. A paleo bible, if you will. Hey, it might even have another 30 days transformation program (’cause, you can really reverse a life of unhealthy habits in 30 days). On the plus side, it might become as popular as the christian bible and sell a few millions copies. That’s super cool if your goal is to make money (’cause, paleo is now a business and a trademark is a bias). Plus, considering there is about 3 or 4 authors, that means the profit will be quite high (the market is not that divided…).On the down side, we just lost what made us so strong : the possibility to go back and change our stance in the light of new evidence even if it contradicts our theories(Ever seen the Pope change his stance and acknowledge that the scientific data is at least interesting to consider?) Most importantly, you lose the possibility to state that you were wrong on some issues.

And…Really… this is the reason politicians blame every other parties. They lost their freedom of speech. They are now biased. They have ties to something bigger than them : A party. Allow me to borrow an expression from our communist friends that fits the bill here : ”Remember, the party is always right, comrade”.

If low carbs really was the way to go for everyone, we would not have data to prove that very healthy individuals living in uncivilized societies can enjoy a very large amount of carbs without any ill effect. If running a few miles really was that bad, some of the fastest runners wouldn’t come from uncivilized societies. If fruits were evil, no healthy primal societies would be eating them (like they don’t eat a large amount of dangerous plant foods).If feasting was evil, it wouldn’t be an animal characteristic. The only thing we know for sure is that they don’t have access to fake foods. We can speculate that this is the reason they are free of modern illness, but that’s about it.

I guess the point I really want to get across is that what we really need is an unbiased debate with experts from all kind of fields. We need to acknowledge the limitation of what we know. Don’t worry, I know it will never happen. First, because humans have huge egos and refuse to acknowledge of their limitations. Second, because the political system prevents this. The best way to make people healthier is to use every data we have access to. I think that it has to be done with an evolutionary basis because nutrition is applied biology and biology can’t be understood without evolution. But, I am not willing to push my ideas someone else throat and spread it like it’s the gospel. If paleo becomes a religion, you can forget about improving our understanding of nutrition. The irony of this is that this post is biased to start with.