----- Original Message -----
> I'm curious how much of modern hunter/gatherer diets include starchy
>tubers; most of the ones I am familiar with in the Amazon basin cultivate
>some variety of cassava or manioc...

"In the Amazon jungle some tribal people eat as much as one kg of cooked
fresh cassava per person per day and consume up to three litres of fermented
cassava beer, but there have been no reported eases of either goitre or
ataxic neuropathy. These tribes also consume a considerable amount of animal
and fish protein and thus have high levels of sulphur-amino acids and iodine
in their diet."
http://www.fao.org/inpho/vlibrary/t0207e/T0207E00.htm#Contents

The site deals mostly with Africa, not the Amazon, but there's a lot of info
here about the most prevalent starches in the diet....and problems that
can/do result.   Sufficient meat in the diet (something many Africans do not
have) protects against cassava toxicity.

Theola