They may have chewed on herbs and plants that contain caffeine.
But not in this concentrated form. I think it quite possible for the caffeine content of certain sources to be more efficacious than other's even if the caffeine content of these sources is lower. Example, cocoas caffeine content may well be more potent than that of coffee despite the amount mf mg's.
Maybe, but your question was this:
Did Paleo people consume caffeine in any quantities?
Guarana for example has a pretty high caffeine content. Yerba mate is another plant with caffeine. Stimulants in general are quite common in nature, so the fact that we can tolerate them is not that surprising. Besides, in very high quantities caffeine will cause trouble in anyone.
I would argue against the idea that we can tolerate them sufficiently, at least all of us. To me it's no different than the gluten sensitivity issue, some people can tolerate it some people can't. And there is still no absolute evidence that paleo people didn't consume wheat at least seasonally. I am not arguing in favor of wheat consumption here, just stating that maybe like wheat, plants that contain efficacious forms of caffeine may have only been consumed in some areas, or seasonally or in certain circumstances, which may account for why some of us are extremely caffeine sensitive whilst other's aren't. Anecdotally I have noticed that heavy set people tend to be less sensitive to it than leaner people, maybe this has to do with fat lipid absorbtion factors, despite fat cell inflammation associatied with obesity. Maybe the body of the average obese individual is already programmed to toxicity so cannot tell the difference between fat toxicity and caffeine toxicity. This might also be why fat people tend to 'hold their liquor' better than leaner people on average (as per observation at least).
Edited by TheFountain, 20 May 2009 - 12:02 PM.
LongeCity
