Paleo Eating

Here is a page dedicated to the Paleolithic Diet.

The idea behind this diet is that the foods that our ancestors ate in the caveman times was and is a much better diet than what the majority of the world eats today.

Allergies, heart disease, obesity, type II diabetes, etc according to research were not present in the Paleolithic times.  By eating like we were designed to, we can be free of many of these health problems.

This diet is also highly respected in the CrossFit community and is both a health as well as athletic performance based diet.

While this can be viewed as optimal nutrition, I understand it is very unrealistic for many people so this web site is still primarily focused towards more typical American style of eating and the best way to do it.

Key elements: Meat, Chicken, Fish, Fruits, Vegetables, Seeds, Nuts, all ideally organic

Meat

-Grass fed (Marked by a green tag at Whole Foods)
-Hormone/ Antibiotic free
-NOT processed

Chicken

-Free range
-Hormone / Antibiotic free
-NOT ORGANIC* (See bottom for explanation)

Fish

-Wild (not farmed)
-If canned, must be packaged in water only (no salt, phosphates, or vegetable oil)
-Be aware of large fish consumption due to mercury. See a list here

Fruits

-Fresh or frozen (preferably fresh)
-No pesticides
-Non GM
-Emphasis on berries

Vegetables

-Fresh or frozen (preferably fresh)
-NOT starchy
-No pesticides
-Non GM

Seeds

-Unsalted
-Emphasis on flaxseeds (High omega 3/6 ratio)

Nuts

-Unsalted
-Raw
-NO peanuts or cashews
-Emphasis on walnuts, macadamia nuts, and Brazilian nuts (High omega 3/6 ratio)

NO-GO:

1. Grains (wheat, bread, pasta, cereal, flour, rice, oats, quinoa, etc)

2. Fake additives (hydrogenated oils, trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, MSG etc)

3. Starchy Vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams)

4. Sugar

5. Processed foods (basically, if it has nutrition facts, a wrapper, or box, it’s a no-go)

6. Processed/ fatty meat (bacon, breakfast sausage, pepperoni, salami, deli meat, canned/frozen meats, etc)

7. Legumes (soybeans, peanuts, peas, beans, etc)

8. Dairy products (Traditional Paleo does not allow it, however many people do a Paleo + whole dairy diet and have success. )

If consuming dairy have it be:

–Whole
–Organic
–Raw if willing to try it

*Organic chicken is barn raised (even if it says free-ranged) on organic corn and other grains. The USDA will only certify it as organic if everything the chicken eats is 100% organic. If the chickens are outside, they cannot ensure that.

Non organic chicken is true free ranged and eats the natural diet of a chicken (bugs, worms, grass, etc). Whole Foods sells both, and both are still hormone and antibiotic free (and out of cages).

30 Day Challenge

When starting to do the Paleo diet, it is recommended to stay 100% strict for at least the first 30 days so you can have a baseline for how you feel.The first week will be tough as you will be figuring out what to eat and possibly will be going through the insulin resistance phase. Push yourself not to cheat for the first 30 days.

After that, if it is not working for you, week by week you can add other foods back and see if any of them trigger any changes. Do not add more than one food back per week. Start with adding whole dairy or sweet potatoes before completely going back to the western diet if you feel the need to.

Book Resource

For anyone starting this diet, I reccomend first reading “The Paleo Diet” by Loren Cordain: http://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Diet-Weight-Healthy-Designed/dp/0471413909

If you are trying to lose a large amount of weight, you should follow the plan he outlines pretty much verbatim with the exception of consuming vinegar. He does not give a convincing reason why to avoid it.

If you are just doing the diet for overall health, you don’t need to worry about saturated fat as much as he says to. As long as you are eating free ranged chickens, you can leave the skin on, and as long as you are eating organic omega 3 eggs, you don’t need to limit yourself to 6 per week.