Page 62 - Fall2013

All Thumbs Book Reviews

few bites of very lean meat, let alone over 200 grams. be able to convert carotenes to vitamin A once
Wolf describes a typical client named Charlie―who has a great job, we clear up gut inflammation. Who cares? The
lovely wife, is fit and attractive―he's seen hundreds of Charlies, he says. research of Dr. Price shows us that vitamins A,
Charlie's diet is "good," which must mean something along the lines de- D and K are key to restoring our health, whether
scribed above. He gets up early every morning to go to the gym, to keep in or not our diet contains grains, legumes, tubers
shape. But lately, Charlie is beginning to feel tired all the time, his muscles or dairy foods. We need to care; we need to care
are getting flabby in spite of the exercise, and he is losing his six-pack. He very much.
has wicked sugar cravings in the afternoons and evenings, has developed More concerns: Wolf is big on fish oil, rec-
difficulty concentrating, and his interest in sex has waned. Worst of all, he ommending up to 30 grams per day―that's two
has trouble sleeping at night―he wakes up wired and tired, needing large tablespoons! All those oxidized polyunsaturates
doses of coffee to get him going. At age thirty-five, Charlie feels like he (fish oil is boiled for hours at 230 degrees) are
is eighty. bound to cause problems, not solve them. And
Wolf's suggestion: get blackout curtains so he can sleep better. This then there is the very dangerous suggestion to
may help (although we doubt paleolithic man used blackout curtains to keep bring total cholesterol levels down to 120-140
out the moonlight), but it sounds like Charlie's real problem is that he is mg/dL―cholesterol levels this low are strongly
suffering from a form of rabbit starvation. The truth is, his diet is terrible. associated with increased rates of depression,
Desperate for fats, his body craves sugar. His paleodiet has depleted him of stroke, violent behavior, suicide, intestinal dis-
vitamin A, needed for mental function and the formation of stress and sex eases and reduced libido (we make sex and stress
hormones. Poor Charlie needs more than blackout curtains―he needs rich, hormones out of cholesterol). No wonder Charlie
nourishing foods including butter, cream, bone broths, properly prepared has lost his interest in sex.
grains, organ meats and cod liver oil. Raw whole milk before bedtime is a The fact is, while The Paleo Solution diet
wonderful, soothing food to induce sleep. Calcium and tryptophan in milk contains plenty of meat, it is just another version
help the body manufacture sleep-inducing melatonin―but Wolf insists we of food puritanism―a diet so lean, dry and de-
can get all the calcium we need from vegetables and fruit. ficient that it is impossible to follow and bound
Wolf claims that his diet also provides 6386 IU RE (retinol equivalents) to lead to health problems. No "paleolithic" or
from vegetables and fruits, but how can the body convert these carotenes traditional culture ever ate this way, and we
into true vitamin A without fat? In a blog entitled "Vitamins A, D and K: shouldn't either. Review by Sally Fallon Morell
Who Cares?" he claims that we have no need to take cod liver oil and should

KEEPING A FAMILY COW, Revised and Updated Edition
by Joann S. Grohman
We are delighted to announce this revised and updated edition of Keeping a Family Cow, a vital reference book
for the many homesteaders out there who seek food self-sufficiency by purchasing a family cow. The book covers such
topics as choosing a dairy breed, milking your cow, drying off, calving and breeding; hay quality, proper feeding, fencing
and pasture management, treating bovine diseases and making butter, yogurt and cheese. Well written, inspiring and
informative, this book is an obvious Thumbs Up.
With a publication date of November 1, 2013, Keeping a Family Cow will be available at our conference in Atlanta;
and we are proud to announce that the author, the venerable Joann S. Grohman, will be a speaker.
Review by Sally Fallon Morell
60 Wise Traditions FALL 2013 FALL 2013 Wise Traditions

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