On Sun, 11 Mar 2001 13:40:46 -0700 Dianne Heins <[log in to unmask]> writes: > At 03:12 PM 3/11/01 -0500, Stacie Tolen wrote: > >Chocolate is from the cocoa bean, which is a legume. > Ardeith writes: Legumes are the pea or pulse family of plants....some of which are viny and climb up other things....... Cacoa or chocolate is the seed of a tree.....and so is coffee.......both are dried and roasted before being used as a beverage.......both were used as beverages by the natives of Central and South America long before Columbus sailed the seas........they might be considered non-paleo because they require roasting and because they are not native to the Old World.....but not because they are legumes.....which they are not........both coffee and chocolate were used in their naturally bitter state... Europeans added the sugar and milk to make cocoa sweet......... As for acorns.....they must be soaked to remove the tannins which taste too bitter to eat.....but they are nutritious......native peoples have used the acorn wherever oak trees grow.... Our Paleo ancestors could certainly have soaked acorns, and roasted coffee or cacoa seeds.....it must be the addition of sugar and milk that makes chocolate non-paleo.......... Natives of North America roasted the leaves of the holly tree to make a drink that contains as much caffiene as coffee......too strong a solution causes vomiting....which is why it was called the "Black Drink" and used to purge before ritual events...... [log in to unmask] Walk The Path With Practical Feet! ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.