>> Does this mean we should not eat macadamias, or just not the oil? I don't
>> eat macadamia oil, anyway.
>
>I don't know the answer.  If the idea is to avoid all erucic
>acid, then don't eat them.  But I doubt that paleolithic people
>avoided all erucic acid.

Yes i hope that paleo eating doesn't go in the direction of raw vegans
trying to avoid all potential toxines ( you end up with nothing in your
plate ). I think eating is necessarely a risky
business, because it means integrating a part of our environment so
necessarely there is some "sort out"  to do . it is just question of
quantity and this is valid for any food, (  grains and pulses included.) the
domestication disturbed the naturel regulation of eating by allowing us to
eat in bigger quantity what was once available to us in smaller ones.

the main point in paleo eating IMO is diversity not a reductive diet. In
other words add foods , don't eliminate foods because such and such,  it
will all fall into place.
When i opened myself to the diversity of fruits , grains became
insignificant in my diet.

the best criterias of selection of food that i know is the availability of
food in a naturel environment ( without artifices), and the senses of taste
and smell.
Mustard seeds are easy to find in quantities in the wild but you will get
very much regulated if you were eating it unprocessed ( they get spicy if
you force the dose).
In fact i suspect having more problems with plants that have been selected
to become" easy " to eat which don't contain any nutrients that have been
recognised as toxic ( like  "organic" californian grapes ) than eating a
plant that have recognised toxines ( like mustard greens or cocoa beans)
because thoses toxines have often a very strong flavor that will  clearly
let you know when enough is enough. When the body needs thoses plants the
bitterness,  acridity , of whatever unpleasant flavor is just simply
neutralised by the saliva .( the most striking experience of that is with
onion , for me , they taste sweet and very pleasant when needed and burning
when not.
did somebody got ever curious of the changing composition of saliva in
accordance of the expected food? any scientific articles in that direction?
>
jean-claude