I have a thought for all of you concerned about sugar. Sugar, in its
processed state, is definitely not the type of food that our paleolithic
ancestors would have eaten. But, they definitely ate sugar. Well, actually
sucrose. Every plant uses sucrose as its transport vehicle for moving
energy captured by photosynthesis in the leaves to other parts of the
plant, particularly the roots. Thus, every single veggie or fruit that we
consume will have sucrose in it, although most fruits use fructose (grapes,
glucose) as their primary storage sugar (and fructose is half a sucrose).
The more sucrose, the "sweeter" the flavor of the veggie. We see this most
clearly in sugar cane, which is just a really tall grass with lots of
sucrose in its stem. Thus, we will invariable eat sugar if we consume
veggies at all.

Now, my point with this discussion is to offer a piece of advice. As a
former follower of about a dozen different types of diets, from raw foods
to Pritikin to sprouts and seeds, I can tell that extremism in any area of
life is not good. If we follow the Paleolithic diet with the same religious
fervor that middle age monks used in their self-flagellations, then we too
will end up beaten and sore and really not much happier. And living a
happier, fuller, richer life is what it is all about. Our bodies are tools
to be used, a means to an end, not ends unto themselves.

So, since you will inevitably consume a little sugar on this diet, then, if
one, for instance, wants bacon, and can only find it with sugar (or even
nitrites), then have a little bacon every now and then. Or ham. Or even ice
cream. Just have a little, enjoy, and then move on. Although a diet such as
Neanderthin definitely helps, our attitude matters, too, in our quest for
health. Enjoy and be happy.

I hope this helps in some small way.

Tom Stine