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Plant Positive Video Series Speaks Out Against Low-Carb Diet Advocates

In June of 2010 a friend told me about the Paleo diet. What she said felt like a revelation. The idea that I was meant to eat like my ancient ancestors seemed to make perfect sense and the timing of our conversation was perfect. The preceding months had felt like the beginning of some sort of decline for me. Through Paleo I believed I could realize a fresh new version of myself that was fitter, stronger, and more “primal.”

But then I began to read about the “science” of Paleo and my personal Paleo dream started to fade. It became apparent that the Paleo gurus don’t really understand evolution, heart disease, or nutrition. They represent their ad hoc conjectures as facts while ignoring or contradicting well-established science. There was no denying it; Paleo is a fad.

My flirtation with caveman dieting introduced me to a strange hypermasculine subculture built upon science denialism and a misguided sense of nostalgia. The Paleo gurus had reimagined and rebranded the Atkins diet, targeting it directly at the male ego. Their sales pitch was so brilliant that even medical doctors and academics were being seduced. Paleo was on the verge of respectability. It was all too dangerous, too dishonest, and frankly, too obnoxious for me to simply stand idly by as the fad spread. I began the Primitive Nutrition project early in 2011.

My current circumstances dictate that I remain anonymous. Don’t let that deter you from learning from my videos. By providing you this project for free I have tried to distinguish myself from the fad diet promoters whom I criticize. For every claim I make you’ll see a direct image of a scientific reference to support it. Many of the sources you’ll see were selected by the low carb promoters themselves and are quite hard to find. Indeed, I believe many of them were chosen primarily for their obscurity. Perhaps they thought, “Who would ever go to the trouble to verify all those old references?” Well, I did, and therein lies one of the unique assets of this project – many of the old studies that prop up the version of history told by low-carb apologists like Gary Taubes at last see the light of day. Nutrition Past and Future starts by correcting that history. Their false narrative must now dissolve.