Losing My Religion

No, I'm not stuffing myself with pizza. In fact, it's pretty clear to me now that I will be paleo for the rest of my life. I see and feel very profoundly the benefits of my current diet, and I truly enjoy what I eat. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything, and really, I'm exploring new foods that I had barely even considered until now. That said, I am very cautious of having this become a religion. Raw foodists, vegans, and paleo people alike all feel the need to proselytize when they first fully switch over to their way of living. However, what has drawn me to paleo in the first place is the overall lack of ideology. Everything I originally read aimed to be rooted primarily in the latest science rather than some philosophical, ethical debate. There is a weird, disconcerting crossover between primal living and libertarian/Objectivist thought, but I would say that's a small sub-sect of paleo.

Overall, paleo is a pretty diverse and flexible clan - some avoid white potatoes, some don't, some avoid olive oil, some don't, and there is a constant re-tinkering and re-evaluating based on science and anthropology. I do not believe how I eat is morally or ideologically superior to the way anyone else eats. In fact, I think on the most part, veganism is 100% an intellectual choice whereas paleo, at least for me, is 100% a physiological, biological choice.

I try to eat locally and I try to eat well-raised grass-fed animals because I think that's the best way to get the best quality and most dense sources of nutrients possible. I don't deceive myself into thinking I'm saving the world. I don't deceive myself that all those animals march happily into the family-run abattoir and offer up their throats to be cut in return for the farmers' kindness. But I also don't have a moral objection to killing for food. I'm saving myself, pure and simple, and I'm making choices according to my biology. This is not to say that I don't want our food system to be as ethical as possible, I just don't think that denying our biology in favor of subjective ethics is ultimately sustainable. As I progress and learn more, I'm continuing to tinker with my diet to make sure that I stay healthy for as long as possible, and eating meat is a huge part of that process. I am not seeking moral purity. I'm not trying to tell other people how to live. However, if you have questions for me, I can relay information as I come across it.

The indisputable facts for me are that humans are evolved to be omnivores, grains and legumes are relatively new to the human diet evolutionarily speaking, and that sugar and gluten are bad for us. I believe that processed foods, including industrial seed oils such as canola and corn, are unhealthy, especially in the amounts that we consume them. I think there is a lot of wisdom in our ancient traditions, and I try to learn from them. There's really nothing revolutionary or radical about my approach to food. I'm just trying to be healthy, and I would like to help the people I love be healthy.