Paleo Eating

Here is a page dedicated to the Paleolithic Diet.

The idea behind this diet is based on the fact that humans have been around for 2-3 million years. Agriculture only started in the last 10,000 years when we started eating grains, dairy, legumes, and sugar. At about that time, common diseases such as allergies, heart disease, obesity, type II diabetes, etc according to research started emerging as they were not present in the Paleolithic times.  By eating like we were designed to, we can be free of many of these health problems. Since on an evolutionary scale 10,000 years is hardly anything, our bodies are still genetically obligated to consume the following pre-agricultural foods, and not new (Neolithic) foods.

This diet is also highly respected in the CrossFit community and is both a health as well as athletic performance based diet, however it is good for anyone regardless of your activity level, age, or any other variable.

Key elements: Meat, Chicken, Fish, Fruits, Vegetables, Seeds, Nuts, fat, and oil

The food does not need to be organic, as organic can be misleading, especially when it comes to meat. The best thing to do is to try and buy from local farmers who can tell or show you the conditions at their ranch. At a minimum Paleo food should meet these standards below:

Meat (Beef, Veal, Bison, Buffalo, Lamb, game meats)

-100% Grass fed and finished
-Pasture raised
-Hormone/ Antibiotic free
-Unprocessed

Poultry

-Free roaming
-Cage free
-Free ranged
-Hormone / Antibiotic free
-Unprocessed

Eggs

-Pasture raised, free roaming chickens
-Omega 3 enriched

Pork

-Pasture raised
-Diet based on foraging
-Hormone / Antibiotic free
-Unprocessed

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)
-Non starchy (leafy green the best)
-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)

Fat & Oil

See here

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 (tubers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams)

4. Sugar and sugar substitutes

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

6. Cheap Processed meat (bacon, breakfast sausage, pepperoni, salami, deli meat, canned/frozen meats, etc) High quality bacon, sausage, etc is acceptable

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 (no skim or reduced fat)
–Organic raising methods (doesn’t need to be certified, talk to the farmer)
–Raw if willing to try it
–Free of  added sugars, especially in yogurt
–Emphasis on cream, butter, ghee, whole cheese instead of milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc (More fat, less sugar is better)

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 recommend first reading:
“The Paleo Diet” by Loren Cordain: Gives a good overview of the Paleo approach.

Note: This book was written around 10 years ago and since then there have been some changes in the philosophy. Here are the changes:

1. Saturated fat was labeled as bad, however now is considered to be good as long as it is coming from good sources (see here)
2.Fatty cuts of meat are good as long as they meat the above standards
3. Avoid using Canola oil
4. Do not cook with low heat oils such as extra virgin olive oil, nut oils, flaxseed oil, etc. For the good oils see here
5. Vinegar is fine, as long as it is not malt vinegar.
6. Salting food to taste is fine in controlled amounts (ie when cooking a steak)
7. For people trying to lose weight, stick to a lower carb version (keep fruits, carrots, and other starches to a bare minimum. Also no dairy)
8. If weight loss isn’t a concern, the occasional yam or sweet potato is fine (no regular potatoes though)
9. As long as your meat mets above requirements, you can eat chicken skin, and don’t need to limit egg consumption.