Marco Benson wrote:

>Since this fall I have been adjusting my eating to the basic ideas of 
>the paleodiet. It strikes me that one of the most relevant factors in this 
>procedure have been a sort of limited deviations, by primarily integrating 
>the main pillars, namely
>*No dairy
>*No grain
>
a good start

>   I have been reasoning in a way which has tended to allow a certain 
>amount of unhealthy substances as well as a certain imbalance in the 
>sources of nutrition. For instance I sometimes come to eat salty 
>charcuteries, smoked game steaks, salted jerky, smoked salmon and salty 
>marinades. 
>
Many of these items have a lot of chemicals in them; and so much salt 
can't be good either.

>I have found it so 
>difficult to shake off the cultural habits in my food intakes that I, for 
>example, through one period ate immoderate amounts of fruit. 
>
I think most of us have done this at one time or another.  Paleo people 
ate fruit, but
(we believe) only in season, 2-3 months in a temperate climate.  They 
probably gorged
themselves when it was available, before the other critters got at it.

>   Now the only foods which to me seem entirely paleolithic are
>*Tender sprouts
>*Game
>*Unpoluted seafood
>
if you can find it :-(

Since we live in the 21st century, most of us believe that pasture-fed meat
and poultry would qualify for a modern Paleo. 

Nuts and fruits in season are certainly paleo.

There is every evidence that paleo people dug and ate roots also.  
Potatoes no,
unless your ancestors were Peruvian, but most common root vegetables are
edible raw and therefore qualify.

>Such a correspondance would in its essence mean various restrictions which, 
>for one thing, would imply no variation in the greens the diet includes. To 
>cope with the nervosity of culture one could simply indulge in unlimited 
>amounts of hot herbal digestion tea in a thermos always close at hand. But 
>is this 'static variation' healthy? 
>
 From modern hunter-gatherers, we can guess that Paleo people ate
dozens if not hundreds of different green plants at different parts of 
the year. 
So you would be better off to eat a lot of variety, including wild greens
which grow in your area (of course you would need to learn to
identify them).  Also, there is no herbal tea that would be good for
you in umlimited quantities every day.  Variety would be wise
(as well as Paleo) here too.

>   It is hardly difficult to imagine that the cavemen were eating, in an 
>extension of time, that which their premisses allowed for, hence let's say 
>a few kilos of shoots and a couple of deers a week per group.
>
Ice age northern paleo people probably ate mostly large mammals during
the winter, for lack of anything else.  But that doesn't hold true for 
all paleos,
or all seasons.  They probably ate a variety of birds, reptiles, 
amphibians,
insects, and small animals, in addition to a wide variety
of vegetables, nuts, mushrooms and fruit.  Most of them ate fish and
amphibians from the rivers and lakes; those near
the ocean certainly ate ocean mammals, fish, and shellfish.

So--the Paleo principle is a wide variety of natural foods, in season, and
from your area (if possible).  If your area is Greenland, of course, you are
in trouble, but in temperate climates, the food you eat should at least
grow in your area.

Good luck,

    Lynnet