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......

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Walk The Path With Practical Feet!

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