According to http://nikkisblogspot.com/2009/02/foods-to-avoid-on-the-paleo-
diet/ 

"Legumes have a similar story to grains; they weren’t consumed by the paleo 
hunter-gatherer because they needed to be cooked in order to be edible. 
Legumes also have similar traits to grains in their make-up; they contain 
phytates which inhibit nutrient absorption and cause inflammation. They also 
contain lectins and play with healthy hormonal functions.

Types of legumes to avoid on the paleo diet include lentils, all beans (such as 
kidney beans, pinto beans and broad beans), peanuts (peanuts are a legume 
not a nut), soy beans and chickpeas."

I'm shocked. I thought peanuts were one of the nuts that grows in the wild 
and eaten by man since before we departed from the monkeys.
  
Peanuts don't need to be cooked though so their argument doesn't follow 
there from the reason not to eat legumes. If I felt like eating raw grains and 
they existed to some extent in years past I'd eat them. 

People claim our ancestors never did this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Fkig9VYWS6I ?

On Wed, 1 Jul 2009 06:21:17 -0500, Jim Swayze 
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Peanuts, being a legume, are decidedly un-paleo.  That would imclude
>of course the shell.
>
>Jim Swayze
>www.fireholecanyon.com
>Sent from my iPhone
>
>On Jul 1, 2009, at 5:04 AM, "Stanevich, Ron L"
><[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> I'm somewhat new to the list, but why?  Why eat the shell?
>>
>> Message sent from my Blackberry!
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Paleolithic Eating Support List <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: [log in to unmask] 
<[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Tue Jun 30 18:38:44 2009
>> Subject: Eating the shells of peanuts...
>>
>> Is there any danger in this practice?
>>
>> Perhaps the peanuts are often treated and you're not supposed to eat
>> the
>> shells....?
>>
>> I can't seem to find information about this on the internet. Because
>> they're
>> not explicitly warning people not to then I doubt they are (and hope
>> not).
>>
>> However obviously they don't really care about us tiny percentage
>> who would
>> dream of eating them and if they are treated with things like
>> pesticides
>> without the intention of people eating the shells it seems to me it
>> could be
>> extremely poisonous.