Todd Moody wrote:

>Some legumes are in fact edible raw, and other primates
>actually eat them during part of the year.  Immature ones
>generally have fewer toxins and antinutrients, and are edible.
>Snow peas, for example. (etc.)

>Having said all that, it's pretty clear that legumes were not a
>*staple* food during paleolithic times.  Like nuts and berries,
>and probably certain grains, they would only have been eaten
>during a short period of time of the year, when the beans were at
>just the right stage of immaturity.  So I tend to think of
>legumes as minor "adjunct" foods.

Thanks, Todd; great info!  I see it pretty much the same as you do.  I think
many people can do fine with a smidgen of legumes but others need to avoid
at all costs.  So do what's right for you.  Maybe Ray feels pain in his
joints after a $.99 bag o' peanuts.  I don't, so I eat them every now and
then.  But when I go to a Mexican restaurant to enjoy fajitas without the
tortillas and promise myself just a bite or two of beans, it's very, very
hard to stop.  And I immediately begin to feel bloated.  And we all know
that beans are the musical food.

So yeah, I eat a few peanuts.  Don't keep them in the house, though.  But if
I've got a hankering for a dee-LISH-us Thai dish, I cook up some chicken and
onions, smother 'em in coconut milk and some (gasp!) peanut butter, then add
some curry and I'm a very happy girl.  To each her own.  But I would argue
that since legumes were only available part of the year they should only be
a rare side dish.  It seems to add up.

Dori Zook
Denver, Co

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