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unhealthy things can cause trouble.
    What about cravings for meat? Are such cravings natural, or are they artificial? And if they are natural, does this mean that we should honor them?
    Cravings for meat are, for the most part, artificial. To some degree this is because often people don’t even crave meat when they think they do. For example, they may say they crave barbecued ribs, but those ribs have been ingeniously prepared with extra fat (oil, butter), salt, spices, and sugary sauce. When they say they crave chicken, they don’t cravea piece of a bird. They crave something that has been fried in oil, and spiced up with salt or maybe a sugary sauce. In other words, most people’s meat cravings aren’t really for meat, but for a whole package of food that has been doctored up to become an artificial, high-sugar, high-fat, high-salt product. No wonder they crave it! Most meat is about as artificial as a donut or candy bar!
    Is there any part of this meat craving that is real? I believe the answer is “no.” Here’s what my friend, eminent evolutionary psychologist Doug Lisle, says:
    Our ancient ancestors lived in a world where food was difficult to find. As a result, at some point in the distant past they evolved from a diet of plant foods to a diet that could accommodate some animal foods. Humans weren’t designed to eat animal foods, but because of the threat of starvation, we adapted the capacity to use them. Think of cars that were designed to run on gasoline, but could also use alcohol. It wasn’t a perfect fit, but it could work.
    When our ancestors started using animal foods, it caused problems because it wasn’t the best fuel. It was
dirty
fuel. It clogged arteries, and it fed cancer. But at the time, this was better than starvation.
    Likewise, if you are dangerously dehydrated, you are not going to be very fussy about the cleanliness of any water you find. Even if it contains dangerous microbes, you will drink it. If you don’t, you die.
    Similarly, it was a better move for our ancestors to include a dirty fuel, meat, into their diets than to starve. Better to live to sixty and die of a heart attack by eating some meat than to forgo all animal foods and have perfectly clean arteries but to die of starvation at forty.
    So our ancestors developed a modest craving for meat, not because they needed it, but because they needed to be forced to eat it if they were seriously hungry.
    Fortunately, we don’t face starvation today. So, if we’re smart, we don’t have to honor any cravings that encourage us to eat the dirty fuel.In order to live long, live healthy, and prosper, we need to keep our diets clean and eat green.
    Fact: Once you give up meat, you will stop craving it. People who’ve gone on the Engine 2 diet tell me that they couldn’t believe that they would ever
not
want to have a burger. Today, just the thought of one makes them feel sick!

11
The Problem with Paleo
    Y ou’ve probably heard of the Paleo diet, in which people are encouraged to eat like a he-man or a she-woman cave dweller from Paleolithic times.
    Here’s what Jeff Novick has to say about this diet: If you are trying to eat as though you were a meat-eating cave person, then you’re not following the best approach for optimal health through diet. Who’s Jeff Novick? He’s not just a good friend of mine, he’s one of the country’s leading dieticians and nutritionists.
    So what’s wrong with all the Paleo diets being promoted today? For one thing, our early ancestors didn’t eat just meat. Up to 80 percent of their diet was actually plants. And it was these plants and the ability to cook starches and root vegetables that caused the great explosion in human growth and brain size.
    The reality is the people in the Paleolithic Era ate more than 75 grams of fiber per day, or double that of the average plant eater today.
    Next, it’s estimated that the animal that would most resemble those consumed by Paleo types would be the