In short, other than keeping with the wrong habit of trying to imitate neolithic food, almonds are still high in PUFA omega-6 and lectins. Even more so, when you make pancakes with it and pan-fry the whole thing, those PUFAs run a good chance of being oxidized.

This is also why I recommend people to eat nuts in moderation or not at all if they have digestive issues.

Almonds are good source of magnesium, calcium, and vitamin E, the exact 3 things that tend to lack with most of my other diet choices. So for me, I think almonds are a valuable addition to my diet. I think one needs to look at cost benefit ratio when choosing food. Almonds have some things bad with them but other things good and the 3 (or more) things good with them are not plentiful in many other sources.

I also don't care what people think about me if I feel like making an almond flour pancake or not. If it has healthy ingredients that will add to my health and I like the taste, I am eating it. I have no immediate plans to carry a spear to work nor live in a cave and nor do I care if something I like to eat happens to look like bread or not. If someone wants to point a crooked and quavering finger in my directions and accuse me of worshiping false paleo gods, then so be it. I have never been a slave to society and eating a piece of almond flour muffin does not suddenly turn me into some kind of psuedo wannabe pretender paleo eater. My goal is to be healthier, not to become a lice covered perfect copy of days gone by. If making psuedo bread makes someone's life a bit easier and their health better, then all power to them! A holier than thou attitude is not the way to win mainstream converts, that is for sure.

What EXACTLY is paleo? I don't think there is any agreed upon listing so you will have to decide for yourself. Honey is surely paleo, but I don't eat it. Just because something is paleo doens't automatically make it good. Just because something is not paleo doesn't automatically make it bad. Paleo is about both history AND about science, not just about one or the other.

Because it defeats the point of paleo. If you have to "Create" a paleo version of something then you are missing the whole point/benefit of the diet.

read this link from Kurt Harris

http://www.paleonu.com/panu-weblog/2010/1/13/smoking-candy-cigarettes.html

If we take the "nutritionally dense" approach (eating foods that are such, and avoiding foods with lectins and phytic acid), we should limit our intake of unsoaked almonds because of their phytic acid content. See Melissa's blog post on the subject.

At home we don't use almond flower very often. But on special occasions, lets say a birthday of one of my sons, when other people would make a cake, a pie or pancakes (in Belgium, pancakes are not normal breakfast food), we use some almond flower (and usually more coconut than almond) to make some pancakes or cookies.

This way we avoid the gluten (which for my oldest is far worse and causes rather quick changes), and still let them eat something special.

Now, these treats are only occasional, like they used to be in the past. Nowadays, people treat themselves everyday with cupcakes and the likes. I kinda agree with what Kurt Harris says in his smoking-candy-cigarettes post.

I like to use the non-processed food argument here. Nuts even most raw ones are a processed food. 'Flour' is even more processed.

My thought process when eating nuts is: If you had to sit there and crack and shell every nut you wanted to eat, how many would you eat before you got tired and bored?

Modern tins of nuts allow us to over indulge, so its best to be very conscious of how many nuts we eat.

That said, I've been know to dredge some meat in an egg/almond flour 'breading' before doing some pan frying so I think its acceptable, just don't make it your go to staple.