It's all a tempest in a teapot. I'm glad for all the varying opinions (along with the free )time to peruse the pertinent blogs and podcasts, and books). This all allows me a chance to challenge my own understanding and implementation of the info. It's good to check out the alternative hypothesis!

Personal conflict is only offensive if one allows themselves to be offended. Seems everyone involved is a grown up, and this is in no way halting paleo progress as this general information gets out there.

I think we've reached a critical point in Paleo where people have to decide whether this is going to be some movement that is always relegated to the fringes because some of the "luminaries" don't want to associate themselves with the unwashed masses. I was very disappointed in the Emily Deans post where she goes in on Paul Jaminet. I think the post is worth reading as are the comments section. I twice tried to post my comment but it somehow didn't get through so I'll post it here. Funniest part of this post- Paul Jaminet is dangerous. Yeah.

"I don't follow the reasoning as to the disassociation with Jaminet, Sisson or Masterjohn. I read the post a couple of days ago and the subsequent comments last night. I fully understand why those 3 gentleman would go on Mercola, or a Gary Taubes would go on Dr Oz. If you believe in what you're preaching you're going to try to reach as wide of an audience as possible. Those three individuals get decent traffic I'm sure but I'm just as certain that it pales in comparison to a Mercola. What seems to have gotten the short shrift in this discussion is the types of people who make up Mercola's audience. I would imagine that many of them are like myself and many others in the paleosphere who have had many physicians- Ivy league trained and otherwise- fail them miserably. As many of us subsequently found out, in medical school, these physicians get a horrifically miniscule amount of training in nutrition. In the book Death by Prescription, M.D Ray Strand notes

'In medical school I had not received any significant instruction on the subject. I was not alone. Only approximately 6 percent of the graduating physicians in the United States have any training in nutrition. Medical students may take elective courses on the topic, but few actually do… the education of most physicians is disease-oriented with a heavy emphasis on pharmaceuticals — we learn about drugs and why and when to use them.'

With regards to how many of us have been failed by the medical establishment, is it any wonder that some of them end up with the fisherman who casts the widest net? I'm not a Mercola reader or fan but one thing I have noticed during my journey back to health is that when I google specific questions concerning diet in an ancestral eating context, Mercola articles often pop up. From those that I've read, many of them are well written and line up with what I've read on various paleo blogs and sites. As for the woo, I can't speak on it because I haven't gone there looking for it. That type of thing I don't have time for, however, I would caution though, that he who is without sin should cast the first stone. Off the top of my head, just in the past couple of years I've seen many prominent paleo bloggers and the overall zeitgeist change on many issues- from low-carb being the default paleo diet to fish oil calculators to potatoes and rice, to acid balance theories.

I say all of that to support the notion that Paul, Chris and Mark are indeed right to try to reach the widest audience possible. I would look at them cock-eyed if they didn't. Like him or not, Mercola has a wide net and he has people who listen to him and if showing up on his show enriches people's understanding, then it's a net positive.

PS. I found it disheartening that P Jaminet felt the need to defend himself for being too nice. Really? I've only been reading Paul for a few months- prior to that I read Archevore religiously, and still do when KGH posts- but he strikes me as one of the most level-headed and intellectually honest nutrition bloggers out there. He has the type of personality that can, and I predict will, reach many out there who have found Mercola."

It's just a sign of its impending success. Probably paralleling the media blitz it's getting too. It really feels a bit inevitable, doesn't it? There's only so much Paleo grain- and refined-sugar-free pie out there, and the restlessness is becoming apparent.

Whoever's left when the dust settles will be the true Paleo adherents and will get a nice T-Bone.

P.S.- Is anyone making money off all of this Paleo business yet?

If someone believes that somebody like Kruse or Davis or Rosedale or Taubes is a pseudoscientific quack, then I would much rather them say it than just smile politely just because their diet advice is somewhat similar.

There are two different issues to the whole Paleo/diet thing. One is diet strategy. One is science. Hopefully a better understanding of the science will result in better strategy, but the human body is so complex that it might not always be the case for many years. Quite a few things that pharmaceutical companies pursue turn out to be failures.

Even if the diet strategies are similar, some people don’t want bad science and quackery becoming injected into the mix because that will hurt progress in the long run. I think much of the strife is because some of the bloggers getting uncomfortable with the questionable crap and the support it garners. They don’t want pseudocience to become meshed with Paleo. They don’t want homeopaths and HCG diets at the next AHS.

ADDENDUM: It was clear to me that Guyenet and Harris disagreed with Taubes up to a year or so prior to the "showdown", yet many seemed to think they were all really on the same page and were surprised by it. Maybe you have to speak more forcefully sometimes to get your message through.

As of yesterday I deleted a bookmark to a blog I had followed for 2.5 years. I honestly think the guy probably has a drinking problem. He glories in stirring the shit.

Cannabalism is the ultimate paleo feast. 2012 is the year we eat our own.

Although, I still want this bumper sticker:

Go Paleo, Eat a Vegan!

The paleo conversation is important to those who find it so, important enough to argue vociferously about who's right and who's wrong. The paleo conversation is not important to those who do not find it important. Like many intense conversations, the paleo conversation forgets that it is only one conversation taking place in the coffee shop of life, and in a relatively small corner. Not quite the stuff of "We are the world, we are the children..." Eat well, work out, forget about persuading anyone else to adopt "our" ways. In a word, chill. Ya savvy?

The vegans were right: all the red meat has left us stranded in a cesspool of testosterone and aggression! Repent thine eschewing of heart-healthy oatmeal!

Its ridiculous Drama and thats all. Like Jerry Springer on TV. People are trying to make money folks, and where that happens, stuff happens.

I hope they all get how frustrating the minutia of all this could be to a newbie who is just trying to eat well and get healthy. People are looking for something that WORKS so they can live the rest of thier lives without constantly worrying if they've got it all wrong. In fact I'm now more reluctant to discuss "paleo" with friends ect, because it seems to be imlpoding.

It's pretty darn clear that infighting and seeking of alpha status is ancestral and consistent with our evolutionary history. The tribe has expanded to the point where multiple individuals are seeking alpha status and we are now viewing the outcome. As much as HFCS leads to obesity, increased size of group leads to intra-group conflict. It kind of reminds me of high school, it's so refreshing and makes me feel young to watch.

Why do you care what a bunch of gurus do, whose life are you living, the guru's or your own?

It will all blow over and then we will have nothing to talk about...