> Maybe cheese and alcohol pass this test.  I don't think they do, but 
> I'm willing to admit the possibility. 

Just to summarize why I think modest consumption of alcohol is paleo:

1) We have genes that encode for its metabolism. These genes did not evolve
recently; they were inherited from our primate ancestors (according to Dr.
Cordain). Furthermore these genes are present in all mammals. 

2) The majority of epidemiological studies into the subject show positive
health benefits in modern humans from modest consumption of 1 or 2 drinks
per day (increased longevity, lower risk of heart disease), but ill effects
from consumption of large obviously non-paleo quantities (alcoholism,
cirrhosis). These outcomes are exactly as they should be if small but not
large amounts of alcohol are paleo.

3) We can observe other animals in nature eating fermented fruits and
berries and even becoming intoxicated by them. Early humans probably learned
what to eat largely by watching other animals.

4) Alcohol is produced in non-negligible amounts in the human gut whether we
drink it or not. 


If modest alcohol consumption is *not* paleo then the facts above are
inconsistent with paleodiet theory. 

If on the other hand modest consumption is paleo then paleodiet theory
remains whole and is proven to be more robust than otherwise. I vote in
favor of paleodiet theory.

Obviously this is not to say that paleo people operated full-scale wineries
or distilleries. They did not drink wine by the bottle. It is only to say
that there was a modest amount of alcohol in their diets. The source may
have been seasonal consumption of fermenting fruits and berries, or,
perhaps, as Todd surmises, it may have been from the deliberate making of
simple ciders in bowls as might have come about through experimentation with
soaking foods in general.

Cheese is in a completely different category, in terms of the evidence
for/against, and for that reason I think it is misleading and unfair to
consider cheese together with alcohol in the same argument. It is pure
speculation that humans should be genetically adapted to cheese consumption.
There is no empirical evidence to support that conjecture. By contrast there
are at least four solid items of empirical evidence, as listed above, which
support the theory that humans are adapted to modest alcohol consumption.

This idea that modest alcohol consumption is paleo draws some criticism
because of the modern social stigma attached to alcohol abuse. However abuse
of alcohol would have been almost impossible in paleo times; they did not
have large-scale wineries and breweries and distilleries. No one here is
suggesting that alcohol abuse is paleo.

-gts