I cut this out from a sci.med.nutrition post I made on the paleo thread. I'm
still torturing John Gohde and the thread looks about 30 messages long now.

There is no single paleolithic diet- just as there is no single Standard
Western Diet. Some people have their favourites. The fact is that true
hunter gatherers are at the mercy of the seasons and the environment.
Therefore their diet varies greatly with geography, with time of year and
with unpredictable variables.

Man has the  rare ability to live in all types of climate and live on the
food available. We eat the widest range of foods of any animal. The advent
of cooking
opened up a whole new world of other food sources as it made the inedible
become edible (Ref: Irvin Liener : Toxic Constituents of Plant Foodstuffs
2nd Ed 1980 CH1). Man is also unique in actively seeking out new foods
simply for the pleasure of different tastes.

Ben Balzer

"The ideal diet for any animal is that which it eats in the wild. Humans are
no exception."
"Ask a dietitian how to lose weight and you'll be told to eat bread, corn,
soy, cereals etc.. Ask a farmer how to fatten a pig and you'll be told to
feed it bread, corn, soy, cereals etc. There is a discrepancy that needs
explanation."