On Tue, 20 Nov 2001 08:53:02 -0700, toni mettler <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:


>1. what are tubers exactly?  examples beyond carrots and turnips?

Very good reading of paleo theory is at
http://www.naturalhub.com/natural_food_guide_vegetables.htm
also see articles on meat/fruit/seeds
accessible via the backlinks or my links at
http://www.geocities.com/paleolix/

>2. what do you mean by "basic" being in parenthesis?  (sometimes its hard
>to decipher connotations via e-mail.)
 * * is ment to be a slight emphasis of the word inside.
In contrast to BIG letters which are more like shouting ;-)

If you think farer back than only a few 1000 years, I mean 1 mio years into
the paleolithicum then various tubers constitute a very probable
paleolithic staple food.
Some info on this at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/16/science/16FIRE.html
There's a Dr.Wrangham's theory about tubers and fire
the very good article isn't available for free anymore on the net.
"Lucy at the fireplace with tubers" :-)
Of some 40 different tubers in africa the half are edible raw and the other
half only cooked.
But cooking enhances the availability of their carb energy.
I don't refer on tubers in the botanical sense only.
Any underground storage organ of plants are a food niche for humans with a
(digging) stick. Including roots.

Ray is a diabetic. He has to hate everything containing carbs.

>3. Ray says cashews are not paleo because they are not able to be eaten
>raw.  what am i eating then when i buy raw cashews at the health food
>store?

They are edible raw, provided that the very aggressive skin is removed.
I think the bought cashews are usually heat processed (boiled a little).
However legumes could have stronger lectins or toxins as they are so
nutritive.
Ray hates all kind of legumes and cashews are a kind of legume.
But read
http://www.naturalhub.com/natural_food_guide_grains_beans_seeds.htm#Domestic
ation of Legumes
The guy is informed.

Amadeus