Nutrition science is quite complex and much of the published literature is simply junk. A lot of what we thought we knew a few decades ago turned out to be wrong. So it's not entirely unreasonable to ignore the science altogether and just eat the same foods that your ancestors ate before agriculture. It might not be optimal from a nutrition standpoint, but it's unlikely to be too far wrong.

Of course most "paleo" nutritionists are scammers pushing cookbooks and dubious nutritional supplements.

> Of course most "paleo" nutritionists are scammers pushing cookbooks and dubious nutritional supplements.

You're right: most of the protein in the diets of our paleolithic ancestors came from insects and leftover carrion from the kills of more optimized carnivores. I've never seen these recommended in a Paleo diet.

I don't agree it's dumb (perhaps fashionable incarnations are dumb, but not the general idea of being inspired by an ancestral diet). We evolved in that setting and our bodies were optimized for our ancestors' diet. This doesn't mean we should commit the naturalistic fallacy but as a first approximation it's a good rule of thumb.

The other thing is our understanding of nutritional science is so, so bad. It's just such a difficult area to attack with the scientific method. We've made good progress for sure but there's still so many unknowns.

For the majority of human existencr the diet which helped survival the most was high calorie because it meant they weren't starving.

Paleo is dumb because it ignores all other greater selective factors. It would be like judging wearing kevlar vests as good protection from cancer and heart disease because after you empty a revolver of hollow points into every fifty year old subject's chests the ones wearing kevlar lived the longest.

  "For the majority of human existencr the diet which helped survival the most was high calorie because it meant they weren't starving."

So? That doesn't change the fact that our bodies were optimized around the macro and micro nutrients inside the foods that our ancestors ate.

Just like how our bodies were optimized to extract vitamin D from the abundant sunlignt, and to get benefits from physical activity.

  "Paleo is dumb because it ignores all other greater selective factors"

What does this mean? What other selective factors?

  "It would be like judging wearing kevlar vests as good protection from cancer and heart disease because after you empty a revolver of hollow points into every fifty year old subject's chests the ones wearing kevlar lived the longest."

Just explain the reason itself. I don't understand this analogy.