>I haven't been following this list, and am
>curious why these two items would arouse doubt.
>Both are natural foods; cashews obviously

Although I personally have no issues with these two items (I drink
coffee frequently and I do enjoy cashews without side effects), I do
not believe either can be proclaimed 'paleo'. One word. Technology.

Do not make the mistake of confusing a 'natural' diet with a 'paleo'
diet. 'Natural' can mean just about anything (and is quite often
used to justify questionable choices - like veganism :), whereas
'paleo' specifically refers to items that can be consumed without
using, or using a bare minumum of, technology.

Coffee is of course very dependent on technology. Even  growing
your own beans and grinding them yourself is using technology not
likely available to our paleo ancestors.

We have discussed cashews considerably on the Paleo food list,
and the general conclusion is that to make cashews edible, which I
believe consisted of finding a way to remove the outer shell
(which nowadays is done using a chemical bath) and somehow
defeating the caustic oils protecting the 'nut', would have not been
easy, or calorically profitable, for our ancestors.

That said, I will continue to drink coffee, and will still enjoy an
occasional cashew or two.

One issue I have with the 'generic' definition of paleo is the ban on
foods labeled as legumes. I would like to point out that not all
legumes are 'beans', and some ARE edible in their raw state.

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