Question: Are the moral arguments for veganism (and vegetarianism) rational? People often argue for vegetarianism on the grounds that a person can (and perhaps should) regard the lives of animals to be a higher value than the advantages to eating meat such as taste or nutrition. Is this a rational moral outlook, consistent with rational egoism?

Tags: Animals, Diet, Environment, Ethics, Health, Nutrition, Paleo, Science, Veganism, Vegetarianism

Question: How can a person deal with overzealous ideologues? Suppose that an overzealous follower of a particular belief system constantly monitors and polices the behavior of other followers. When he sees what he believes to be a failure by someone to live up to their ideals, he attacks that person publicly, trying to shame him into proper behavior. What is the proper response if I am attacked by this overzealous follower in public? What if the attacks are private? Should I respond if my friends and acquaintances are attacked?

Tags: Activism, Communication, Friendship, Integrity, Justice, Objectivist Movement, Paleo, Rationality, Relationships

Summary: What is the paleo diet? How can athletes and others benefit from it? What kind of training and nutrition is required for endurance competition? What's wrong with the standard methods of training and nutrition for athletes?

Tags: Diet, Fitness, Health, Nutrition, Paleo, Sports

Summary: Most people suppose that fitness requires long "cardio" sessions of running, biking, stair-climbing, or the like. In contrast, Dr. Doug McGuff advocates brief, infrequent, and high-intensity weight training using slow movements. Does this approach work? What are its benefits and costs compared to other fitness regimens?

Tags: Diet, Evolution, Fitness, Health, Paleo, Science, Sports

Question: Should a person allow his ideology to set his default positions? When people adopt a religion, philosophy, or politics as their own, they often don't think through every issue - or they've not done so yet. Does accepting the various positions of that ideology as a kind of default amount to accepting them on faith? What should a person do when he hasn't thought through the issue for himself?

Tags: Conservatism, Epistemology, Ethics, Honesty, Independence, Paleo, Philosophy, Psycho-Epistemology, Rationalism, Rationality

Summary: What is the paleo diet? How can it help you improve your health and look better? Why does it work?

Tags: Animals, Diet, Ethics, Health, Medicine, Nutrition, Paleo, Politics

Question: Is it moral to smoke, drink, or eat unhealthy foods if one recognizes the costs of doing so? Suppose a friend makes a deliberate decision to eat foods he know to be unhealthy (such as frequent sugary desserts). He knows that it might harm his health, but he says that the personal enjoyment and satisfaction outweigh the risk of shortened lifespan and possible future harmful health effects. In other words, he claims he is making a rational choice to maximize his overall happiness. Is that moral?

Tags: Diet, Ethics, Health, Nutrition, Nutrition, Paleo, Pleasure, Risk

Question: How can I stop my spouse from sabotaging my self-improvement? Over the course of my 15 years of marriage, I'd gained over 100 pounds. After feeling disgusted with myself for too long, I decided to change my habits. So I switched to a paleo-type diet and started lifting weights. So far, I've lost 40 pounds, as well as shed some health problems. My husband still eats what he pleases, and I don't pester him about that, although he needs to eat better too. However, he's constantly attempting to undermine my efforts – for example, by bringing home and encouraging me to eat doughnuts. I want him to celebrate and support my new-found success, but he seems to want me to be fat, unhealthy, and miserable. What should I do?

Tags: Communication, Diet, Ethics, Food, Habits, Health, Marriage, Nutrition, Paleo, Psychology

Summary: Do you struggle with the temptation of "guilty pleasures"? How can you overcome them – or should you indulge them?

Tags: Christianity, Diet, Egoism, Emotions, Ethics, Food, Guilt, Mind-Body Connection, Nutrition, Paleo, Parenting, Pleasure, Religion, Self-Control, Self-Interest, Temptation, Willpower

Question: Is it immoral to give away food that you regard as unhealthy? Assuming that one believes (as I do) that candy and sweets are harmful to health (especially in quantity), is it immoral to participate in trick-or-treat by giving children candy when they come to your door? Or, is it immoral to "dispose" of an unwanted gift of, say, a rich chocolate cake by leaving it by the coffee machine at work to be quickly scarfed up by one's co-workers (as an alternative to simply discarding it)? Is the morality of these two cases different because in one case the recipients are children while in the other case they are adults?

Tags: Diet, Ethics, Health, Integrity, Nutrition, Paleo, Responsibility

Question: Is "sustainable agriculture" a legitimate concept? Many advocates of a paleo diet also advocate "sustainable agriculture," including Robb Wolf and Mat Lelonde. Is sustainable agriculture a valid concept? What does (or should) it entail? Should consumers be concerned that their food producers practice "sustainable agriculture"?

Tags: Diet, Egalitarianism, Environmentalism, Ethics, Nutrition, Paleo, Philosophy, Politics

Question: Since eating wheat is purported to be unhealthy due to gluten (and other stuff), is it immoral to eat bread? (Analogous to smoking being purportedly bad for you.) Since one has to eat something, it would be better to ask, "Is eating bread immoral when other food sources are available?"

Tags: Diet, Ethics, Evasion, Health, Honesty, Integrity, Nutrition, Paleo

Question: I have a friend who is pretty hardcore paleo and is often very critical of other people's diets. Food is really important to her and I don't think she means to sound so disparaging. How do I kindly tell her to butt out of mine and my friends' eating habits?

Tags: Conflict, Diet, Friendship, Health, Nutrition, Paleo, Relationships