Modern Caveman: The Complete Paleo Lifestyle Handbook

The best book ever for learning about the Paleo diet and lifestyle. It is full of facts backed up by studies and research. It explains not only the diet but also the exercise of people from the Paleolithic era. If you are interested in knowing why the Paleo diet is good for you, this book will tell you why. It is also very well-written and edited. It is full of many facts, which can be a bit overwhelming and technical, but the read is well worth it if you are interested in learning about why the Paleo diet works. Highly recommended.

ok but not great.

Thanks!

informative.

Do it and don't look back

A Collection of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories  Brett: Nice book, lots of good information on the Paleo Lifestyle, and you are a nice guy and quite intelligent, and I also recommend this book for those who have a desire to improve their diet, but I have this caveat--smart people are not always wise. What do I mean by that? Simply that you have swallowed the old, antiquated, decidedly unscientific theory of evolution hook, line and sinker. Evolution, and by this I mean Darwinian or macro-evolution, is about as scientific as the old Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. It is a fairy tale for adults. Do humans and animals adapt to their environment? Yes, of course they do. But that is correctly understood as micro-evolution, such as where wolves adapted to human companionship and became dogs. And this adaptation is quite remarkable--witness Great Danes and Chihuahuas, quite different from each other but still 100% dogs, and both are examples of human-induced selective breeding. But dogs are still wolves genetically and will always remain so. The finches on Galapagos Island naturally selected for larger beaks to allow them to break larger seeds, but they were still finches. Macro-evolution postulates that species change over time into other species with other body types altogether, and this is where magical thinking intrudes into reality. There is simply no coercive evidence that macro-evolution exists at all. Just because two sets of bones look somewhat similar does not mean they are related. To assume this is to assume facts not in evidence. Darwinian evolution rest entirely on the power of suggestion. Suggest a conclusion from the allowed evidence and the human mind will fill in the blanks. But that is not science, that is belief. And belief is powerful and we need belief, but that is properly in the arena of faith and religion, not science. Yet humanistic religion is allowed to masquerade as real science and get away with it. It is junk science and farce and not worth the esteem you appear to have for it. In fact many scientists are aware of the hollowness of Darwinian theory and are turning to Genesis 1; John 3:3-5; and Hebrews 11:1-2 (NIV), "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." In other words, energy converts to matter and matter converts to energy, just as Einstein observed. In conclusion, did cave-dwelling humans consume variations of the Paleo diet? Doubtless. And can we be healthier if we copy them? The answer is also yes. But let us keep it in the realm of provable micro-evolution and simple adaptation to the environment and not muck it up with fanciful, laughable, unproven stuff and nonsense. Therefore I regret I can only give it 3 stars, but you as an author have a lot to offer and I appreciate the other things you say.

I very much liked this book and appreciated that there were many footnotes and an attempt to ground everything scientifically. In general I find the argument convincing. I am however a bit dismayed at some of the things cited as support for recommended actions. Most notes are cited from reputable scientific journals (such as Biochemical Journal, Journal of Food Lipids, European Journal of Cancer ,etc.) and although there can also be problems with the way experiments are designed and reported at least these articles have been professionally (scientifically) vetted. On the other hand, when it comes to the section on our brains, I think Mr. Markham does not use good science, as he and or researchers may be confusing cause and effect. That watching television may be a predictor of depression, for example, does not address the possibility that people who tend to be depressive may be more likely (even as children) to spend more time away from others and in front of the television. (In general I agree that children are probably better off playing outside with others than sitting in front of the TV, but the assumed causality bothers me.) The citations in the brain section are wildly divergent coming from reputable journals, but also citing HuffingtonPost, Newsweek and Psychology Today (as well as a a book that criticizes "Misguided Feminism"'s effect on boys.) In my opinion the latter sources throw what might have been a good argument into question. It seems a bit sloppy to cite popular press journals instead of searching out the (assumedly scientific) articles that these "news stories" are based upon.Certainly the book gives us lots of "food for thought", but it should be read carefully and taken with more than a grain of salt (which Markham does an excellent job (BTW) of showing is not bad for us and in fact should be eaten in greater quantity by many people.Pros:This book is great if you are looking for exercises and a good understanding of what foods are best for the caveman diet and which to avoid. It is very good for explaining the principles and the whys with good documentation (with a few notable exceptions).Cons:The book will bother vegans (as it suggests a vegan can only follow a healthy caveman diet by exerting great time and energy to make grains and beans edible (through heating and fermenting). Neityher does it not offer a lot of help in terms of the specifics of the diet (suggesting that one go elsewhere to look at charts of glycemic load, for example that could have easily been included in an appendix.) There are approximately 75 pages of physical exercises, but only about 36 pages on food with a good portion of it being on hormones and antibiotics in meat. While the author wants this to be freeing (and goes through whether certain foods are paleo or not), a few meal plans might have been helpful, especially in terms of staying within the glycemic load levels that he suggests are important to pay attention to.I recommend this as a good starting point for those considering following the paleo diet and feel it is worth the money expended.