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   ladyvols1 Teacher
   High School - 9th Grade

   eNotes Editor

   There is, of course, a good reason that acorns are not used as food as readily as almonds.  Acorns have a high levels of tannins found in them. What's wrong with tannins?  Tannins are quite dangerous for us because they can rob the body’s absorption of important minerals such as calcium and iron .  Our forefathers of course did not know about this but they did know how the nut tasted and acorns are much more bitter than almonds.   Besides, Almonds are not really nuts anyway, they are a fruit called a drupe.  Coconuts are also drupes.

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   http://www.enotes.com/food-encyclopedia/tropical-subtropi...

   http://www.enotes.com/guns-germs-steel/

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   Posted by ladyvols1 on Wednesday October 15, 2008 at 8:39 PM