Coffee, cashews, and dairy cream are all "natural" in that they were not
synthesized in a lab but an approach I take (I think most on the list would
agree with this) is to weigh the relative cost/benefit of consuming various
"non-paleo" items.

Coffee in my mind is the easiest to accept as we co-evolved with multitudes
of plants which contained stimulants such as caffeine, ephedrine,
pseudoephedrine etc.  Ethnobotany seems to indicate that cultures with
access to consciousness altering substances used them.  What becomes
important is the setting in which they were used.  Typically this was
infrequent and coincided with spiritual/social events.  These stimulants
were not being consumed in a state which typifies modern life:  overworked,
underslpet, poorly nourished.  Stress in HG societies appears to have been
very low by our standards and intermitant in nature.

Cashews are not a legume but they do cantain lectins which can have
deliterious effects in susceptable individuals.  If i remember correctly
they have much more n-6 than n-3 fatty acids...that is doing no one any
favors!  Finally Cashews have an irritating substance in their outer shell
which is similar to that found in poison ivy, oak, sumak and others.  it is
impossible to remove all of this irritant and again susceptable individuals
can experience varring degrees of GI upset and  I think an increased risk of
permeable gut syndrome.

Cream (dairy) is as neolithic a food as one can find!  Dairys' problems in
general are lactose intolerance, high insulin response  (significant amounts
of fats and carbs consumed together) and finally molecular mimicary/lectin
issues.  Beyond this grain fed dairy has a horrible n-3/n-6 and is very high
in sat'd fat...(I know there is some debate about the role of sat'd fat and
various diseases but the bottom line is that wild grass fed animals had a
very low % of sat'd fat).

When assessing what is "natural" is is very important to check ones frame of
refferance...consumption of grains, dairy and other items looks natural
because humans have in general been doing it several thousand years...that
seems to be a long time.  When we look back beyond agriculture however we
encounter a lifeway which developed for several million years and it is that
lifeway to which our genes are adapted for.
Robb

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