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Sheryl Canter wrote:
<snip>
> - What about beans you can eat raw, like sugar snap peas?  Why are these
> not okay?

Perhaps they are. If you can eat them raw, they are paleo according to Ray.
This includes immature legumes, perhaps.


> - There is much evidence that paleolithic people cooked their food 200,000
> years ago or even longer ago, so why the rule that we can only eat food
> that is edible raw?

it's a test. If you *could* eat it raw, chances are it has few
anti-nutrients and has been part of the human diet for eons.

>
> - What about sprouts?  You can eat any kind of sprout raw--wheat berry
> sprouts, bean sprouts?  Why are these "forbidden fruit"?  I believe that
> paleolithic people ate SOME beans and grains, just not very much.  Most
> literature I've read disagrees with Audette on this point.

perhaps so.


> - What about nuts and seeds?  Why are these so different from grains?
> Aren't these as difficult as grains to gather in quantity?  Did are
> paleolithic ancestors really eat large quantities of almonds and other
nuts
> and seeds?  Flax seeds are teeny weeny.

grains are seeds of grasses which would have been a small part of a paleo
diet due to the difficulty in gathering them, the fact that most require
processing, etc. Flax seeds are considered paleo, you can eat them raw
(although not too many of them)

> Any insight or experience anyone can offer on these questions would be
much
> appreciated.  I would love to improve my health--and also would love to
> lose weight.  I don't have much to lose (15 pounds), but it seems
> impossible to take it off.

people tend to have problems with grains, legumes, dairy, new world foods
(tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, white potatoes, chocolate) and
sugar/processsed foods. Try eliminating them for a while and see how you do.
Don't go too low carb unless that works for you. Paleo does not always mean
low carb, though it usually means moderate carb compared to SAD. Welcome to
the list and best of luck

--Richard



> - Sheryl