On Mar 05, 2007, at 10:31 pm, Paleo Phil wrote:

> If nightshades were selectively bred to reduce toxin content, that  
> indicates
> to me they were probably not eaten much, if at all, during the  
> Paleolithic.

Not at all, I thought?  Aren't (virtually) all nightshades new world  
foods?  (I stand to be corrected...)


> Do you know why Cordain and Audette consider nightshades Paleo?

I think Audette goes more by the principle "if you can eat it with  
nothing but a sharp stick" than by working out which plants were  
actually available to us.  I kinda go along with this... I'm sure  
paleo man came across a lot of plants at one point or another that  
were new.  As for Cordain, didn't he say that Canola oil is paleo?

I'm no botanist, but it seems that a lot of plants share similar  
toxins (oxalic acid springs to mind), so it's not like our species  
has to evolve in the face of every new vegetable.  Solanine is a new  
one to me and apparently is something the human body doesn't like too  
much.  I imagine there are species of wild tomato and pepper that are  
edible raw in reasonable quantities.  Also, new world settlers would  
have eaten *ripe* nightshade fruits, not ones picked green a week  
before they hit the supermarket shelves.

I don't think the presence of toxins alone is a reason to discount a  
food entirely.  Elderberries are mildly poisonous raw (I didn't know  
this when I first ate them - just like I didn't know taro is  
poisonous raw until I'd already had a piece!), but I think they're  
nice cooked.  But they only grow for a month or two of the year so  
there's no real risk eating them.  Out-of-season vegetables have a  
lot to answer for!

Ashley