I'm not sure that would be the best way to put it. I think many people in Paleo community are just more aware of what is going on around them. I would say they question things more, rather than blindly accepting information that is handed to them. This does not mean going Paleo = distrusting everyone. It simply means you have surrounded yourself with people who take the time, thought, and effort to live a healthier lifestyle.

Welcome :)

Interesting question. My answer: yes, and no. I definitely trust the government less and feel like big Pharma is out to get us, but, on the same token, our time and energy is too valuable to worry about a lot of these things. Short of moving out to the wilderness, we just have to make the best of what we can get from modern civilization and spread the word about going Paleo. Even if we're eating conventional meat and veggies, it's still way better than HFCS and a high grain diet, which is what most americans are still consuming anyways. I'm not saying settle for lower quality foods, just that even if we did, we'd be in a lot better shape than most people. So don't worry too much!

I definitely trust doctors, the government, and the like much less than before, but I've never held any authority figures in awe. I don't worry about it though; it's now my responsibility to monitor my own health. In a way, that's very freeing. A doctor can only tell me so much. I know my body better than any doctor does. Doctors are great for some things, don't get me wrong, and their knowledge and skills save many lives. However, most are not schooled in human nutrition and how the mind and body work together. If I need my gall bladder removed, I want to see good doctors. If I need to know what I should be eating, they are not the ones I want to talk to (Dr. Kurt Harris would be an exception to this rule).

Overall, I worry less and focus on living life in a rhythm that's healthy for myself and my family. I've quit stressing over deadlines, most of which are artificially imposed in the first place. In short, I've gotten off the treadmill modern America wants people to stay on: keep eating crappy substandard and subsidized food, spend minimal time in leisure pursuits, and ultimately work one's self to death in the name of faster-faster-faster = progress. True freedom exists if you create it yourself.

I don't worry much - the high SaFA intake has helped that tremendously:p - but I am very skeptical about most...well, most everything. Maintaining doubt and openness does not = worry. It just means that there is no certainty - and that as much as our brains would like certainty, we're better off recognizing and holding on to doubt.

As Bertrand Russell said, "I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong".

Viewing like through an evolutionary lens is helpful, but there is always room for new information.

Regarding the autism spectrum traits, I would not at all be suprised if Cannell's Vitamin D Theory of Autism is proven to be true 10 years down the road. Even if there remain many interconnected causes of autism, it's very plausible that vitamin D deficiency during the fetal period will be one of the main drivers.

I worry less. I feel like I know what I need to do to be healthy now. I don't need to read endless journals (well, I guess I still do for work!), healthy eating tips/workout plans in magazines. I feel at ease. It's as if someone reminded me of something I was born knowing.

But I do feel angry that big pharma and agra corporations have bullied our government and health organizations into spreading "high grain low fat statin" propaganda. I see our population becoming sicker and sicker, and a huge portion of our budget going toward the pharmaceutical and hospital industries with minimal benefit to the population. We could all be so much healthier with less intervention and more common sense, and that money could be so much better spent on things like education.

To quote Mad Magazine: What, me worry?

I have NEVER trusted the government. One of the first things I learned as a young man was that politicians are only interested in reelection, all else pales. Non-elected government employees are only interested in expanding their turf.

An "expert" trying to have his opinion made law is not to be trusted either, re: Ancel Keyes. Anyone drawing politicians into his game is just another politician with a desire to involve himself in our private lives.

The funny part about Ancel Keyes and Congress is that a bunch of politicians, after a few months of studying saturated fat, decided they were experts on nutrition. Funny, man, funny.

I trust doctors only if they are specialists. General practitioners have too much data coming at them to know it all so I usually try to read up on whatever they may be telling me. (Although, since having gone "paleo," I haven't seen a doctor in two years.) This paleo thing is too new for doctors to know a lot about it. Remember, Ancel Keyes and his pets in Congress happened in the 1970s before many doctors of today were even born. Everything they were taught in med school was the truth as the schools knew it. It will take time to get past the damage Ancel Keyes and the experts in Congress created.

My unwavering rules: 1) Never, never, ever, never trust a politician. Never. 2) Listen to a doctor but take his advice with a grain of salt. Try to read up on his advice.

I too have only been paleo since the beginning of February 2011 but I can't honestly say that it has made me trust less. It has always been my nature to be cynical and question things, and having a science/engineering type background has only reinforced it. Therefore, I have never trusted any egotistical, money-grabbing, parasite (sorry, politician!) of any political party.

However, that does not mean that I worry about everything they do. You simply cannot or you'll go mad. Like at work, things have to be delegated and you have to rely on others to do parts of the job. You may not like the way they do it or the result they produce, but you have to use it because you simply don't have the time or requisite skill/training to do it.

If by worry more you mean do I know which foods I'm sensitive to and go out of my way to avoid them yeah. But really all this worry is just so that I feel good on a physical level when I wake up in the morning. The day after a cheat (and by cheat I mean a real cheat as in eating a food that activates my immune system) is always I nice reminder that I eat as conscientiously as I do for a reason.