[kingkongrevenge]

I wouldn't say "no coffee" is a paleo thing.

Also, I would say experiment with dairy. Dairy makes me feel great. Full fat yogurt is a fantastically cheap and healthy central component to a meal if it agrees with you (I think ethnicity is relevant here). Yogurt has minimal lactose. So what if cavemen didn't have it.

[falsestprophet]

Dairy can be problematic for most people. Lactose tolerance is the exception outside of Europe [1] and west-central Africa [2].

  [1] http://www.medbio.info/Horn/Time%201-2/Lactase%20map.gif
  [2] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/LacIntol-World2.png

[tallanvor]

Yogurt, especially with probiotics usually isn't a problem as it contains very little lactose.

[chipsy]

It really depends on your individual tolerances. Before I started on my trend towards paleo I was heavy into dairy and I've determined that it contributed to a stomach cramping problem.

Coffee is a bean, as is cocoa. I can manage pretty well with beans most of the time, but they're doing something that I can't pinpoint yet. It's an iterative thing, and when I cheat it's an opportunity to learn more about how those things affect me.

[kingkongrevenge]

I don't think coffee is technically a bean. It's the pit of a fruit. Anyway, it has no calories. Cavemen almost certainly drank various teas.

It's very important with the paleo stuff not get caught up in what I've seen aptly described as "food reenactment." Honey and many starchy roots are technically "paleo", but you should still mostly avoid them. Brains and colon meat are definitely paleo, but you can't feasibly purchase them. "Paleo" is a good starting principle but in the modern world it's insufficient and you have to go with the research and what works for you.