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Paleo Diet 101: How It Works, What To Eat

Out of all the various food diets and trends, the paleo diet has stuck around for quite some time. But what exactly is it, how can you follow it properly, and is it even really that good for you? We’ll provide a paleo diet 101 so all of your answers can be answered.

Essentially, the paleo diet was created to mimic what our long-ago ancestors ate. (So yep, no Cheetos or boxes of cereal!) While it’s impossible to know exactly what our human ancestors consumed, scientists suggest that their diets consisted of whole foods, meat, nuts, and seeds. On the flip side, our ancient ancestors probably didn’t munch on much with carbs or sugar. We’ll get into all the details of what you can eat and what should be avoided below.

Scientists also believe that hunter-gatherers were much healthier much of the population today. Those who follow the diet are hopeful they will have a lower rate for certain diseases, like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. A handful of research has found that in the short-term, following a Paleo diet can lead to losing weight without cutting calories. However, since this diet is still pretty new, the long-term potential benefits are unknown.

 

How To Do Paleo Right

While there are strict things you can and can’t eat on a paleo diet, that doesn’t mean there is only one way to do it right. Instead of thinking in terms of what is off-limits, the success of any diet comes from focusing on what you can enjoy.

In short, paleo-friendly foods include meat, fish, eggs, seeds, nuts, certain veggies, and healthy oils. We’ll expand upon these now.

Foods to Eat on a Paleo Diet

Your diet should be based on these whole, unprocessed foods:

• Meat: Vegetarians will have a hard time eating paleo, since a good chunk of the diet relies on meat. Items such as beef, lamb, chicken, turkey, and pork are popular menu items for paleo eaters. If possible, choose grass-fed, pasture-raised, and organic meat.
• Fish: Seafood is another great paleo option. Wherever possible, buy wild-caught fish, such as salmon, trout, shrimp, mussels, and tuna.
• Eggs: How could you not love bacon and eggs? Cook ‘em in oil, hard boil them for an easy on-the-go snack, or make a paleo-friendly quiche. Paleo eaters are encouraged to find free-range or pastured eggs.
• Vegetables: Go crazy on veggies when you’re eating paleo! The sky’s the limit when it comes to leafy green goodness, such as kale, broccoli, peppers, onions and more. You can also lump tubers into this category and get a hefty dose of sweet potatoes and turnips onto your plate.
• Fruits: While fruit indeed has sugar, all types of fruit are paleo because they are natural, unprocessed foods. Lucky for paleo eaters, they also have a lot of health benefits to offer, including antioxidants, vitamins, and fiber. Any fruit is fair game, such as apples, bananas, blueberries, and avocados.
• Nuts and seeds: Much of the paleo diet is focused on getting healthy fats. These include all the nuts and seeds you can think of, such as almonds, pecans, walnuts, sesame seeds, chia seeds, and sunflower seeds. Just make sure to buy the raw versions instead of the ones that are heavily salted, roasted, or even coated in sugar.
• Healthy fats and oils: Many oils are fair game on the paleo diet, including extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado oil. These oils are always used instead of dairy products like butter and other specific oils (more on that below).

 

Foods to Avoid on a Paleo Diet

Part of the paleo diet 101 is understanding what is off limits.

Avoid these foods and ingredients:

• Sugar: Anything unnaturally super sweet is a big no-no in the paleo diet, which is a big reason why many people tend to lose weight. Sugar takes many forms, so make sure to be extra careful when reading labels or ordering out. For example, most canned pasta sauces contain sugar!
• Grains: For many, grains are the hardest to say goodbye to. Types of grains you shouldn’t eat include all types of bread, pasta, quinoa, rye, wheat, barley, and spelt. Basically, if something has “flour” in the title, it’s not paleo.
• Legumes: All legumes are considered non-paleo. The legume family consists of plants that produce a pod with seeds inside. Foods that are lumped under this category include beans, lentils, peas, and yep, even peanut butter (peanuts are legumes, not nuts!).
• Dairy: In most cases, all dairy products are considered non paleo, like milk, cheese, and butter. That said, a few versions of paleo allow full-fat butter and cheese as part of a high fat, low carb diet.
• Certain vegetable oils: As mentioned above, certain oils are not considered paleo. Here’s a list: soybean oil, sunflower oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, grapeseed oil, safflower oil, and peanut oil. This is because they don’t have an ideal ratio of fatty acids, can be highly processed, and might even contain unhealthy molecules for the body once cooked.

Artificial sweeteners: With sugar off the table, some think they can satisfy their sweet tooth with an artificial sweetener. Alas, paleo diet 101 is all about natural and whole foods. So skip the aspartame, sucralose, cyclamates, saccharin, and others, and use natural sweeteners like raw, organic honey instead.