-or French Artichokes


>Happy holidays everyone.  I've gotten my friend interested in starting a
>paleo-type diet.  He primarily wants to lose weight (45 pounds)and increase
>his energy.  I gave him my copy of Neanderthin which states only eat
>veggies that could be eaten raw.  The problem is -- he loves artichokes and
>insists that they shouldn't hurt.  My feeling is that artichokes are
>relatively high in carbs, can cause bloating and will certainly not help
>his weight-loss efforts.  Anyone have opinions on artichokes?

I have an oipinion on artichoke i love them and allways did. My subjective
impression is that they make my liver sing the same way dandelion or
chicorees do ( those plants  are known to enhance the secretion of bile) i
eat them raw like many other peoples around the mediterranee and used to eat
them cooked .(steamed a short time so they are still firm).
It is a great medicinal plant like many of its wild relatives ( thisles )
In the pyrennees there is a wild thisle on high elevation,  growing very
close to the ground ( no stem) which have a heart double size of a big
artichoke.
those are gowing right on top of famous paleolithic caves showing paintings
of wild animals of the time ( wholly rhino and alike )...
There are so abondant  big , tasty raw and easy to harvest that it is
unlikely that paleo hunters of the time did not eat them .
I have yet to see a raw food eater maintaining obesity for a very long time
despite their generally high carbonhydrate intake . Carbohydrates in their
raw states don't contibute to excessive fatty deposits
I doubt than artichoke even cooked will stop weight loss i will believe the
contrary because of its action on liver function.

and may be artickoke is the responsible for "the french paradoxe "
concerning cardiovascular diseases. ( olive oil or wine consomption have
been proposed in the past .)
A famous french comic was considering artichoke as the vegetable for the
poor .
It is the only food that you end up having more in your plate after you ate
it than before.
jean-claude