what are you reading?

[Raw Kyle]

I'm reading "Young Again!" by John Thomas. Not very paleo, but very raw and alternative medicine-y.

My take on this stuff is always changing. So on the one hand I'm not stubborn or rigid, but it helps to have an even focus sometimes. That's why I decided to try and stick with the Primal Diet for a while and see what happens, because if you're always changing you can never chart results properly.

So I'm trying to be open but at the same time grounded in a raw-based and "natural" idea of health.

For instance, I'm going on vacation with some friends soon, I won't have any access to electricity, so I'm going to modify my diet and probably include some steamed veggies and soups and raw salads when usually I'm just doing raw vegetable juices and meat and dairy. And I'm not going to worry about it, because when it comes down to it even cooked paleo is so much healthier than what most people are eating it's ridiculous.

[Justin]

True, it's all about the experimentation and to see how things work for you. This can be a long process. But hey, nothing ventured nothing gained, eh?

I'm reading Blood and it's Third Element by Antoine Bechamp. A good read so far, about a hundred pages in; explains the microbe theory and just how bunk Louis Pasteur was.

[xylothrill]

I'm not currently reading anything at the moment but I like this thread.
I haven't even heard of either of those books.

Thanks to you both!

Craig

[Satya]

I am rereading the Dune Series of 6 novels by Frank Herbert this summer.  I watched the Dune movie recently and I love this quote, which I don't remember from the 1st book:

"Without change, something sleeps inside us and seldom awakens.  The sleeper must awaken."
Duke Leto Atreides

[TylerDurden]

I am rereading the Dune Series of 6 novels by Frank Herbert this summer.  I watched the Dune movie recently and I love this quote, which I don't remember from the 1st book:

"Without change, something sleeps inside us and seldom awakens.  The sleeper must awaken."
Duke Leto Atreides

Dune is one of my favourite books. I'm an SF genre fan, myself, with a near-encyclopaedic knowledge of SF short stories, and to a lesser extent, SF books, from 1900-1980.

[Satya]

Dune is one of my favourite books. I'm an SF genre fan, myself, with a near-encycloapedic knowledge of SF short stories, and to a lesser extent, SF books, from 1900-1980.

Cool Tyler!  I am a big fan too of SF, but not quite as knowledgeable as yourself.  Did you ever read Larry Niven's Ringworld and/or The Ringworld Engineers?  I rather like those too.  Would you please share some of your SF book recommendations?

[TylerDurden]

I seem to recall reading the ringworld series  as a child. I've also read his stories re organ-transplant etc.

My own suggestion is usually to read H G Wells' SF stories and books as he, along with Jules Verne, basically invented the whole genre of science-fiction. The only genuinely new theme in SF that H G Wells didn't invent was that of robots. Wells invented virtually every other idea in SF.

[mors01]

I'm not currently reading anything diet-related, but this thread inspired me to find something.
I'm considering buying Stefansson's "fat of the land".

Also, could anyone recommend an introductory book about anthropology, with
emphasis on the diet of paleolithic people?

-Mike

[Za]

"Is Science Superstitious?" It's an essay written by Bertrand Russell in the 50s, but still asks pertinent questions. I'm interested in the philosophy of science and scientific methodology, generally.

And a textbook: "Primate Behavioral Ecology" by Karen Strier.

On diet specifically, however, I cannot recommend strongly enough: Bruno Comby's "Maximize Immunity" available in the original French or in the English translation via his website: www.comby.org. He's straightforward and scientific, advocates an instinctive diet and outlines actual scientific research (!) he's overseen on the effect of a raw paleo instinctive diet on people infected with HIV.

-Za

[TheWayCreatesTheWarrior]

im in a reading slump right now(but thats alright it'll balance back out when i snap into my next page turning frenzy!), but i was thinking about reading Fight Club next, since ive heard alot of people say that its much better than the movie, even though the movie was awesome.
it was a pleasant suprise to see Tyler Durden is a forum member here .

I'm reading Blood and it's Third Element by Antoine Bechamp. A good read so far, about a hundred pages in; explains the microbe theory and just how bunk Louis Pasteur was.

this sounds like an intresting book Justin, id love to hear a review when your done.

[Satya]

My own suggestion is usually to read H G Wells' SF stories and books as he, along with Jules Verne, basically invented the whole genre of science-fiction. The only genuinely new theme in SF that H G Wells didn't invent was that of robots. Wells invented virtually every other idea in SF.

I bought War of the Worlds yesterday and another Niven book.  Thanks for the suggestion.  Do you ever read Issac Asimov?  I used his biography of science book (forget the title offhand) for a history of science course this year.  I have heard good things about his work.  I have a collection of his short stories, but haven't read them yet.

[Satya]

Also, could anyone recommend an introductory book about anthropology, with
emphasis on the diet of paleolithic people?

I can't really recommend the anthropology book, Mike.  But there are many out there.  Perhaps read some reviews on amazon.com for idea?  However, I have been looking for a good book on the history of fire on the planet, from natural to human caused.  This guy Stephen J. Pyne has written some, but he has not always gotten the best reviews.  Anyway, if anyone can recommend such a book, I'd be very grateful. 

[TylerDurden]

I bought War of the Worlds yesterday and another Niven book.  Thanks for the suggestion.  Do you ever read Issac Asimov?  I used his biography of science book (forget the title offhand) for a history of science course this year.  I have heard good things about his work.  I have a collection of his short stories, but haven't read them yet.

Isaac Asimov is OK, but I should mention that most of his SF work is more oriented towards children, rather than adults. A lot of his plots are a bit repetitive as well. Still, as a mere intro to SF, they are certainly far better than Arthur C Clarke's stories and books.

[Metallica]

i'm currently reading

Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes
Transdermal Magnesium Therapy by Mirk Sircus
Take Control of your Health by Dr. Mercola

[Satya]

i'm currently reading

Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes

Me too!  I found it at the library and am on chapter 3.  It is a great read, and I am flummoxed that some folks say it reads too scientific in the jargon department.  It is much like The Cholesterol Myths (thus far), yet aimed at the American audience, imo. 

[Raw Kyle]

I failed at my last book "Ulysses" by James Joyce. I could read it but it didn't draw me in at all, I made it about 1/3 of the way through after a couple of months and decided to give it up and find a book that attracts me more. One day I will go back and finish it, the same thing happened in 8th grade when I took on "Crime and Punishment" and I recently went back and tore through that in a couple of weeks.

The last book that enthralled me was "The Secret History" which is about some college students studying Greek studies.

[TylerDurden]

I failed at my last book "Ulysses" by James Joyce. I could read it but it didn't draw me in at all, I made it about 1/3 of the way through after a couple of months and decided to give it up and find a book that attracts me more. One day I will go back and finish it, the same thing happened in 8th grade when I took on "Crime and Punishment" and I recently went back and tore through that in a couple of weeks.

The last book that enthralled me was "The Secret History" which is about some college students studying Greek studies.

You are not alone. I, like many others, found the book "Ulysses" to be a dead-bore- James Joyce has a reputation of being a writers' writer rather than a readers' writer.
I've found a few other famous books to be similiarly unreadable such as Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" which I had to do at school - I struggled
 to get past the first page, because it was so boring.

[Satya]

Has anyone read the book THE 10,000 YEAR EXPLOSION?

http://www.amazon.com/000-Year-Explosion-Civilization-Accelerated/dp/0465002218/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234535001&sr=8-1
"Scientists have long believed that the “great leap forward” that occurred some 40,000 to 50,000 years ago in Europe marked end of significant biological evolution in humans. In this stunningly original account of our evolutionary history, top scholars Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending reject this conventional wisdom and reveal that the human species has undergone a storm of genetic change much more recently. Human evolution in fact accelerated after civilization arose, they contend, and these ongoing changes have played a pivotal role in human history. They argue that biology explains the expansion of the Indo-Europeans, the European conquest of the Americas, and European Jews' rise to intellectual prominence. In each of these cases, the key was recent genetic change: adult milk tolerance in the early Indo-Europeans that allowed for a new way of life, increased disease resistance among the Europeans settling America, and new versions of neurological genes among European Jews."

It looks rather interesting.  I am going to buy it.

[TylerDurden]

The book is a load of nonsense, I'm afraid. Real evolution cannot succeed without 2 conditions:- one is a very harsh environment combined with dangerous predators which weeds out those with undesirable traits( a situation much less likely to occur after the discovery of fire), and the second requirement is a tiny population, isolated from all other populations, thus ensuring a rapid spread of "successful" genes.


Plus, especially nowadays, with ever-increasing survival of those with various genetic handicaps, due to improved medical technology, one can easily argue that evolution has been regressing not going forward.

[Satya]

Good observations, Tyler.  Thanks for the input.

[TylerDurden]

As far as milk-tolerance is concerned, that is a dubious claim as dairy isn't even drunk by animals past infancy - if it were so effective, evolution would have created animals able and willing to drink milk all their lives. It's just absurd for the author to claim that it is some kind of superfood, therefore, especially with plenty of Europeans having problems with dairy after 1,000s of years. As regards the claim re Jews and new versions of neurological genes, it's common knowledge that Jews, like many similiar small ethnic groups which have been genetically-isolated for generations, have developed all sorts of genetic diseases unique to their group, including childhood neurological diseases such as Tay-Sachs etc.:-
http://www.genetichealth.com/BROV_Gen_Dis_in_Ashk_Jews.shtml

, so I would hardly call that an evolutionary  advantage.

[Raw Kyle]

I don't like the terms being used with evolution here such as "progress" and "regress." Evolution is like acceleration, no matter what subjective direction you're going in, or what speed, or whether you're acceleration is zero, you describe it in simple terms of acceleration. Like evolution, all directions in acceleration are relative and subjective, there is no progress or regressions, as there is no ultimate goal in evolution. It is just the sum of changes brought about by a mixture of seemingly random (perhaps nothing is really random in the universe) and directed changes.

[donrad]

I'm not currently reading anything diet-related, but this thread inspired me to find something.
I'm considering buying Stefansson's "fat of the land".

Also, could anyone recommend an introductory book about anthropology, with
emphasis on the diet of paleolithic people?

-Mike

Most of the books I have come across with an emphasis on the diet of paleolithic people incorporate not only anthropology, but also archeology, anatomy, evolution, comparisons to primates, and comparisons to indigenous cultures untouched by civilization.

Some books are:

Ten Thousand Years From Eden

The Paleo Diet

Evolving Health: The Origins of Illness

The Evolution Diet

The Inflammation Syndrome

Nutrition and Physical Degeneration



I would like to see a discussion section on various Paleo diet books.

[TylerDurden]

I think it would be a very good idea if rawpaleodiet.com had a section reviewing the more important books related to a raw palaeolithic diet. However, I would prefer someone else taking on that job!

[Raw Kyle]

I'm reading "Lady Chatterley's Lover." And ya, paleolithic scientific books should be reviewed and cited by those who have read them here.