Wild Almonds Poisonous page

[mloster]

Stemming from the argument that we shouldn't eat potatoes or whatever because we can't (or are not supposed to eat them raw), couldn't you argue we shouldn't eat almonds because they are poisonous in the wild? In Grok's time, he certainly wouldn't have eaten them aside from occasionally finding an almond that wasn't bitter.

Check out Origin and History on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almond

[Tarlach]

Seems like the seeds look quite different from Prunus dulcis and Prunus amara (I don't know if they are both wild types?). The bitter taste of the toxic version may have been an obvious sign to avoid them.


I wouldn't argue the point one way or another from the info I have read.


At least potatoes were on another continent and we know Grok couldn't eat them!

[evolution]

But this is exactly why we follow a primal as opposed to paleo diet. Almonds per say might not have been on the menu, but some form of nutt/seed certainly was (at least intermittently) so it fits into the broader-category of what constitutes evolutionary reasoning...


One a side note this is a topic I have been thinking about recently; do we have any idea on which exact subset of plants/fruits/vegetables/nuts/seeds that were available across that habitable strip of African over the last ~2.5 million years... Maybe that list would give us some insight into the plant based food we are best adapted too?

[Tarlach]

People have always known (or assumed) that there were certain types of food available to paleo man, thus making other foods of the same type ok to eat.


Ie. if paleo man ate a type of citrus, berries, seeds, etc then others (esp. of the same family) are ok to eat.


The problem is that not all foods are created equally. A tuber that contains alkaloids that we have never been exposed to and is park of a family we have eaten any members of, can't be compared to a tuber that was in the diet for 100,000 years.


Other foods have been excluded by the proven harmful effects they still have on us. Legumes are not considered paleo, but legumes were available to paleo man. The lectins in legumes are still toxic to us and this may indicate that Grok did not consume them, even if they were available (like with grains).


It can be very hard to pin down exact origins for each plant (as man has spread everything all around the globe). There are some native species from Africa that the average person has access to, but in most cases they aren't things we see in the shops.


Some more well know fruits are:

Watermelon and other melons

Balanites

Tamarind

Custard apple


Some other native African fruits:

Jackal berry (same species as the Persimmon)

Imbe (same species as Mangosteen)

Kei apple

Carissa

Marula

Butterfruit

Monkey Orange

Star apple

Sugarplum


Some African rubber trees produce edible fruit and so does the boabab.


That's not to say Grok ate all (or any) of them. Here's a quote from botanists that researched native African species:
[quote]

Further, many African cultures—like many others—regarded fruits less as daily fare than a refreshing snack, child food, or some other kind of non-serious indulgence.
</blockquote>