On Thu, 13 Jul 2000 18:46:48 -0400 Todd Moody <[log in to unmask]>
writes:
> The more I think about it, the more I am inclined to believe that
> there is merit in the theory that tubers were one nutritional
> factor that allowed humans to disperse widely over the planet.

Ardeith writes:
So......we started out eating much like the other great apes....
leaves, twigs, fruit, maybe nuts, bugs, bird eggs........chimps
have been seen to hunt and kill monkeys......maybe our
ancestors did too.......gorillas have been filmed wading in
a bai, pulling up tubers from the mud, sitting in the water
munching away..............maybe our ancestors did too.......
it has been written that our first tools were a rock to smash
nuts with, and a stick to dig out a tuber with.........that
pointy digging stick probably became a weapon the first
time we poked it at a jackal who was scavenging a lion's
kill to drive him off the meat we wanted........or maybe when
we poked it at some predator who wanted to make a lunch
of us.......after all, we were legitimate prey for lions, leopards,
hyenas, wild dogs, jackals........

Todd wrote:
> Tubers, as well as rhizomes, are available in many climates,
> including cool dry climates.  At the same time, the quest for fat
> calories would also lure humans into cooler regions, in pursuit
> of the fattier animals there.  For survival in these cool
> regions, controlled use of fire would be important.  I therefore
> think it likely that the use of tubers as a significant source of
> calories was contemporaneous with the hunting of fat-bearing
> megafauna.  I don't see it as an either/or situation.  Tubers are
> also easy to cook without vessels, by roasting on a sharp stick,
> for example, or by tossing onto coals.

Ardeith writes:
Gorillas don't cook them.....but then gorillas have these massive
teeth and jaws......and gorillas don't use fire........I think I remember
that  the oldest systematic use of fire is dated to 40K YBP.....
someplace called Terra Amata.....south of France I think........
so we probably ate many tubers raw....and bulbs......onions,
garlic.....lilies....we learned early on which ones were poisonous....
probably learned the hard way!.........and let's not forget grubs.....
grubs seem to be greasy......might be a good source of fats......

I saw the show Ray was on last night......and I saw the Ornish
person.......my, my.....he sure touts the message of the grain
growers associations, don't he?   He said Audette's book
and eating style would cause heart problems in many people
......but I keep seeing all these fat people eating grains in
so many forms......I can't help but wonder how much it
costs to buy a mouth like Ornish to promote these things.....
course, if you push the grains, you are gonna have a
fat population, which then allows you to push all sorts
of diet programs and drugs............I sincerely hope
Ray Audette lives to be 101 years old and never has
a speck of heart problems in his life!    I am down to
234 pounds......down from 270.....since February.......
I didn't start this to lose weight.......I wanted to lose
the lethargic feeling I had whenever I ate bread and
anything with sugar in it.......I've lost that feeling.....
I have much more energy........and the bonus is
that I'm losing weight too.............I have long believed
that all the grains are more rightly called "poverty"
foods......people eat them when they can't get enough
meat and veggies.....

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Walk The Path With Practical Feet!

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