>Quoth Todd Moody <[log in to unmask]>
>
>On Sun, 20 Jun 1999, Katie Bretsch wrote:
>
>> While I am ready personally to believe that wine and cheese were in the
>> diet in a minor way for a long time before the dominance of organized
>> agriculture,  I do doubt that foods like wine and cheese made up any
>> _large_ portion of the diet for most individuals, anciently.
>
>That seems reasonable.  We do have a unique metabolic pathway for
>metabolizing alcohol.
>
Huh. To borrow from the old Tonto-Lone Ranger joke,
"What do you mean WE, paleface?" Certain genotypes,
including Australian Aboriginals and probably most
Native Americans and South Sea islanders, did not
possess sufficient enzymes to detoxify alcohol in
the liver, hence the heightened toxicity and problems
with alcoholism after white man invaded their cultures.

Obviously there has been intense Darwinistic pressure
to favor tolerance to alcohol in the alcoholic western
culture -- just look at the high drunk-driving fatality
rate, and you'll conclude that the process continues today.

But alcohol is still a toxic anti-nutrient, not essential
for normal function. Paleo WOLers could definitely spend
their money and health in other more beneficial areas.