On Tue, 20 Nov 2001 08:53:02 -0700, toni mettler <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >1. what are tubers exactly? examples beyond carrots and turnips? Very good reading of paleo theory is at http://www.naturalhub.com/natural_food_guide_vegetables.htm also see articles on meat/fruit/seeds accessible via the backlinks or my links at http://www.geocities.com/paleolix/ >2. what do you mean by "basic" being in parenthesis? (sometimes its hard >to decipher connotations via e-mail.) * * is ment to be a slight emphasis of the word inside. In contrast to BIG letters which are more like shouting ;-) If you think farer back than only a few 1000 years, I mean 1 mio years into the paleolithicum then various tubers constitute a very probable paleolithic staple food. Some info on this at: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/16/science/16FIRE.html There's a Dr.Wrangham's theory about tubers and fire the very good article isn't available for free anymore on the net. "Lucy at the fireplace with tubers" :-) Of some 40 different tubers in africa the half are edible raw and the other half only cooked. But cooking enhances the availability of their carb energy. I don't refer on tubers in the botanical sense only. Any underground storage organ of plants are a food niche for humans with a (digging) stick. Including roots. Ray is a diabetic. He has to hate everything containing carbs. >3. Ray says cashews are not paleo because they are not able to be eaten >raw. what am i eating then when i buy raw cashews at the health food >store? They are edible raw, provided that the very aggressive skin is removed. I think the bought cashews are usually heat processed (boiled a little). However legumes could have stronger lectins or toxins as they are so nutritive. Ray hates all kind of legumes and cashews are a kind of legume. But read http://www.naturalhub.com/natural_food_guide_grains_beans_seeds.htm#Domestic ation of Legumes The guy is informed. Amadeus