>From: freebyrd Are sunflower seeds ok to eat?  And I am a bit confused
>about the bean issue
>    What makes them unedible?

>Sincerely,
>
>Lynn

The way I understand it is this.  Beans and legumes have anti-nutrients that
make them somewhat poisonous or at least hard to digest while raw.  Cooking
neutralizes these compounds so that they are edible once they are cooked.
One of the tenets of paleo eating is that what ever we eat has to be edible
while raw.  What we eat might get cooked before we eat it  but it had to be
ok to eat while still raw.  Seeds and tree nuts are edible raw so are ok to
eat on this diet. Grains and beans have been manipulated by agriculture and
are not a food we would have eaten as paleo people.
Sunflower seeds are considered seeds and not grains and are ok.  For much
more info please refer to Neanderthin book where it is explained much better
than I'm going to be able to.
Good luck on your mission, Cas