Todd:
> Pemmican is considered acceptable on this diet, even though it
> cannot be made by people who are naked with a sharp stick. It is
> a fire-dependent food.
>
> At least some beans are edible after soaking, and soaking is
> something that can be accomplished by people who are naked with a
> sharp stick, since they could use gourds or animal bladders as
> soaking vessels.
As far as I understand, it is considered in Neanderthin that cooking is not
harmful per se, i.e. the chemical compounds that are created are not hazardous
to your health. Although that assumption is not justified, I think it makes
sense, since, except possibly the Eskimos, modern hunter-gatherers cook their
food and are not particularly sick.
On the other hand, if you cook to make "edible the inedible", you will introduce
some "alien proteins" that humans are not genetically adapted to. Potatoes, for
instance, are toxic in their raw state and couldn't have been consumed by early
hominids.
Pemmican shouldn't be toxic, since the raw components it is made of are edible
in their raw state, so eating pemmican doesn't introduce alien proteins. On the
other hand, cooked potatoes are considered as toxic since they contain som alien
proteins.
No, concerning the question of beans, it has been discussed on the Paleodiet
list: you can make a search with the keywords "!Kung AND bean". It has been said
that the !Kung Bushmen, as well as other primitive societies, consume beans,
either cooked, or raw when in the form of young sprouts. Legumes contain a wide
variety of antinutrient compounds which influence multiple tissues and systems
and normal cooking procedures do not always eliminate these.
In my opinion, beans couldn't have been consumed in large quantities anyway.
From my experience as a raw-fooder, I can say however that some young sprouts
(the root being approximately of the same size as the seed) are perfecty edible,
and even taste not bad, like mung beans and lentils. Green peas, chickpeas and
adzukis are a staple for some raw-fooders, but I don't like them. Soybeans,
limas, kidney beans and other large beans are inedible raw, even when sprouted.
I think that beans, at least the edible short sprouts, are not harmful when
ingested in small quantities. Obviously, a paleo-fooder shouldn't consume them
every day.
Then, there is the question of peanuts, that are a legume. Peanuts are a no-no
on Neanderthin, but the fresh ones (should still be moist, and sprouted inside
the shell) are delicious raw. I know that peanut allergy is one of the
commonest, and sometimes can induce a life-threatening anaphylactic shock; but
other foods are frequently allergenic as well, and are not forbidden on
Neanderthin, like fish, tree nuts (like hazelnuts), eggs (and in particular egg
whites).
Finally, cashews are also forbidden, since they are a legume. Clearly, they are
not easy to crack, but so are macadamias. The cashew "nut" grows on the 12 m
tall tree, whose fruits are edible raw. See
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Anacardium_occidentale
for information about cashews.
Cashew are also allergenic.
Side remark: My personal experience with ordinary cashews has been negative
(each time I eat them, I have diarrhea). Commercial cashew, even sold under the
label "raw", have in fact been heated during the shelling process. The only raw
cashew supplier I know is Orkos, which sells high-quality organic raw food in
France. I tried them once, and digested them well. My experience with pistachios
is, by the way, pretty similar ("raw" pistachios are usually heated during the
shelling process). Pistachios have a distant affinity with cashews (thus the
explanation?)
Jean-Louis
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