Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Paleo Diet Author Says Potatoes “Punch Holes Into The Membranes Of The Intestines"

I saw that Loren Cordain, professor at Colorado State University and author of the original 2002 meat-based "Paleo Diet" has a new book, "The Paleo Answer."

Browsing the comments led me to one by Jimmy Moore (Livin' La Vida Low-Carb), who recently interviewed Cordain for his site:

The LLVLC Show (Episode 556): Professor Loren Cordain Introduces Antinutrient Foods In ‘The Paleo Answer', Jimmy Moore, March 7, 2012

Moore lists points covered in the interview. This apparent quote by Cordain popped out for me:
- Potatoes will “punch holes into the membranes of the intestines."
I thought this was an unusual way to describe a mechanism. What is getting punched? A membrane transport protein? How does a potato punch? What part of a potato does the punching? Does everyone who ever ate a potato have holes in their intestines? Do the holes heal? Why doesn't someone who eats lots of potatoes, say Chris Voigt, get peritonitis?

Chris Voigt ate 20 potatoes a day for 60 days:



Perhaps I'm being as cheeky as Cordain. But ... why single out potatoes? When you look at any food up close, there's some particle that's harmful, whether naturally present or put there by humans. Tomatoes and eggplant have glycoalkaloids too, sometimes more than potatoes. There's arsenic in chicken, mercury in tuna, endocrine disruptors in cow fat, oxalate in spinach, coumarins in celery and parsley, aflatoxin in peanuts, hydrazines in mushrooms, phenolic compounds in fruits and vegetables that destroy B vitamins, and on. Even the Drs. Jaminet in their grain- and bean-free, carb-restricted "Perfect Health Diet" endorse potatoes. It really is a matter of picking your poison in life.
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2 comments:

Angela and Melinda said...

Bix, that's a rather shocking & somewhat irresponsible thing for Cordain to toss out there w/ no explanation (except "buy my book"). Hence it really surprises me that he teaches at Colorado State, which has always been known for the excellence of its biology, medical, and veterinary schools.

Claudia said...

That's outrageous. He only said it to drum up talk about his book. It's all about selling his book like Dr. Mel said. You're giving him free publicity by talking about it!

I watched that video of him on the link. Don't bother. It was 15 minutes of him talking about how great he was and how people think he's great. Why do diet doctors always have to draw attention to themselves? Why are they always right and everyone else is wrong? Big egos! Then they sell you their book. Atkins, Eades, Hyman, Weil, even Marion Nestle. It's always about them.