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Comment by mrfusion | Hacker News Reader

What kind of carbs though? Beans actually have a lot of carbs even after subtracting fiber but I don't think anyone thinks they're unhealthy.

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Exactly, I didn't see it in the article but I think it's a good guess their carb intake has somewhere near zero processed/simple sugars and processed carbs. They are eating "whole foods."

One thing I'm interested in is other than animal sources, what what fat sources do they have in their diet. Nuts is one thing that was mentioned. I wonder if they extract any oils for cooking from vegetable sources.

Total lack of dairy struck me as well (I'm quite capable of demolishing half a pound of a nice Cheshire cheese and I like butter on my toast)

Do they need more fat in their diet? They aren't buying 15% fat ground beef and nicely trimmed steaks and they probably aren't discarding the skin of the fish they catch.

It says right in the article... "Most of the rest comes from family farms growing rice, maize, manioc root (like sweet potato) and plantains (similar to banana)... It is topped up with foraged fruit and nuts."

The paleo people, in fact, do think they're unhealthy: https://paleoleap.com/beans-and-legumes/ http://www.marksdailyapple.com/beans-legumes-carbs/

From the links:

>"eating a handful of lentils as a snack every now and again probably wouldn’t be any more problematic than eating a handful of cashews, but that’s just not the way people eat lentils."

>"Legumes (beans, lentils, chickpeas, split peas, etc.) aren’t, by any means, the worst thing you can eat, but they don’t make the ideal meal either."

"The paleo people" also think a diet of 100% meat is unhealthy. Your links do identify what the paleo community associates as unhealthy traits in legumes, but both of the links advocate constraint not abstinence... unlike say... Twinkies or Wonder Bread.

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