Hi,

No doubt that I have a biased sample of viewpoints, but it seems to me
that most archeologists claim that humans did not eat cereals during the
paleolithic age because the storage pits and processing tools necessary
for significant consumption of cereals did not appear until the
Neolithic. (Washburn & Lnacaster,1968, The evolution of hunting, in Lee,
R. B&DeVore, I., eds, Man the hunter, Aldine, Chicago)

Before i heard of the concept of a Paleolithic diet being healthy, i
experimented with grains.  I found that i had more energy and my skin
was clearer when i avoided them totally.  I even tried rice, wheat, and
oats one at a time with bad health results.

I am still looking for my healthy diet.  My question is how should one
evaluate whether a regimen is healthy?  I presently use energy level,
skin condition, and pain level as my guides.  I am looking into
monitoring my pulse rate.  Weight is not a factor for me--i can maintain
any weight between 160 and 220 by altering my diet.  Another
consideration is that there is a chance that one will get worse before
better as the body detoxifies.  How long should that take?

IMO one should avoid using short term emotional contentment as his
criterion.  Greg Wadley in his paper "The Origin of Agriculture"
proposes that cereals and milk contain psychoactive substances which
cause a chemical reward in humans.  We become "addicted" to the very
foods that are causing us problems.

Still searching,
mark