On Fri, 1 Dec 2000, Ray Audette wrote:
> As pointed out in the article "Hominid Dietary Selection Before Fire" ( see
> Stahl in bibliography on my web site) no Primates in the Old World or the
> New World eat grass seeds, legumes, potatoes, the milk of another species or
> refined sugars in Nature.
This is a very interesting article, and it contains a wealth of
information about antinutrients in plant foods, including those
that we regard as paleo. In particular, however, Stahl does
*not* assert that no Old World primates eat the foods listed.
As Amadeus pointed out, it's obvious that they don't eat potatoes
or refined sugars. But Stahl does note that some populations of
chimpanzees eat certain legumes during certain times of the year.
Suzuki (1969) has reported that large quantities of hard
seeds from leguminous trees aer incorporated into the
diet of chimpanzees inhabiting a savanna woodland
environment in Tanzania. Reliance on these legumes is
restricted to the dry season (mid-July to September).
Analyses of the seeds indicated a high nutrient content
(protein, fat, sugar) and a low proportion of structural
carbohydrates. Suzuki compared their nutritive value to
soybeans.
The article is followed by a number of commentaries, some of
which point out other legume consumption in primates. W.C.
McGrew writes:
With regard to legumes in the diet of wild chimpanzees,
Suzuki's data from Tanzania (East Africa) can be
supplemented by comparable data from Senegal (West
Africa). At Mt. Assirik, 4 of the top 12 plant genera in
the diet of chimpanzees came from this superfamily
(Baldwin 1979).
The point is not to argue for a blanket acceptance of legumes as
paleo foods, but to argue against a blanket rejection of them.
Stahl and her commentators recognize that the edibility of
legumes must be considered on a case by case basis, not
generically, and that the mere presence of antinutrients does not
make a food inedible for humans or other primates.
Todd Moody
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