In this post I will cover: Defining Paleo, What's in/What's out and some disagreements in the community views, List my Fav Paleo Bloggers/Authors, and List my Fav Paleo Resources.
Defining Paleo
Distilled version from our friends at Wikipedia: The paleolithic diet, also popularly referred to as the caveman diet, Stone Age diet and hunter-gatherer diet, is a modern nutritional plan based on the presumed ancient diet of wild plants and animals that various hominid species habitually consumed during the Paleolithic era—a period of about 2.5 million years duration that ended around 10,000 years ago with the development of agriculture. The rationale for the paleo approach is driven by evolutionary biology - our body composition hasn't changed, the modern ingredients that have been introduced more recently have caused enumerate health issues - primarily because our biochemistry/physiology were not designed and have not adapted to these agriculturally-driven foods. Further, natural selection had sufficient time to genetically adapt the metabolism and physiology of Paleolithic humans to the varying dietary conditions of that era. But in the 10,000 years since the invention of agriculture and its consequent major change in the human diet, natural selection has had too little time to make the optimal genetic adaptations to the new diet. Physiological and metabolic maladaptations result from the suboptimal genetic adaptations to the contemporary human diet, which in turn contribute to many of the so-called diseases of civilization. Indeed, more than 70% of the total daily energy consumed by all people in the United States comes from foods such as dairy products, cereals, refined sugars, refined vegetable oils and alcohol, that advocates of the Paleolithic diet assert contributed little or none of the energy in the typical preagricultural hominin diet. Proponents of this diet argue that excessive consumption of these novel Neolithic and Industrial era foods is responsible for the current epidemic levels of obesity, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and cancer in the US and other contemporary Western populations
What's in/What's out
Summary: Centered on commonly available modern foods, the "contemporary" Paleolithic diet consists mainly of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, vegetables, fruit, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, salt, refined sugar, and processed oils.
As you will see, this diet allows you to live very easily Gluten/Grain-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Lechtin-Free, and free from chemicals/processed ingredients that are harmful to your body.
Detailed List (pure Paleo) - more comprehensive list: here
Yes: Lean meat, poultry, seafood, veggies, and fresh fruit.
- All meats that are grass-fed/free-ranging (higher in omega 3, lower in fat, less tainted with hormones/pesticides). Leanest beef cuts: Eye of round, sirloin tip side, top round, bottom round, top sirloin
- Fish - avoid freshwater fish from lakes/rivers and swordfish, tuna, and shark due to mercury. Minimal shellfish. Focus on salmon, halibut, herring, trout, catfish, mackerel, cod, scrod, etc.
- Cooking oils: Olive and Macadamia for heat cooking and flax seed (for over veggies/salads)
- Nuts: In moderation, focus on Macadamia and Walnuts for Omega 6: Omega 3 ratio
- All veggies (low GI/non-starchy if looking to maintain weight)
- All Fruit (except dried fruits) - minimize if looking to lose weight
No: Cereal grains, dairy products, high GI fruits/veggies (except around workouts), legumes, alcohol, salty foods, fatty meats, refined sugars, and nearly all processed (if it comes out of a package/box) foods.
- Dairy foods: Milk, cheese, butter, cream, yogurt, ice cream, ice milk, frozen yogurt, powdered milk, nonfat creamer, dairy spreads, all processed foods made with diary products
- Cereal grains: Wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, millet, sorghum
- Certain grain-like seeds: Amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat
- Legumes: All beans except string beans (kidney, pinto, navy, white, lima, black, and broad beans); lentils, peas, snow/sugar snap peas, peanuts/peanut butter, miso/soybeans/all soybean products, and chickpeas/garbanzo beans
- Starchy tubers: Potatoes
- Yeast-containing foods: Breads, doughnuts, rolls, muffins
- All fermented foods: Beer, wine, pickled foods, foods containing vinegar, and tofu
- Fatty/processed/canned meats and fish: Sausages/bacon, fatty hamburger, fatty cuts of meat (t-bone steaks, beef ribs, and lamb roasts/chops); Processed meats (sausages, lunch meats, deli meats, preserved or smoked meats such as ham and turkey and smoked or dried/salted fish); and canned/pickled meats/fish (tuna, sardines, herrings, smoked oysters and clams, and canned salmon and mackerel)
- Salt-containing foods (in addition to above): Ketchup, olives, virtually all canned meats/fish
- Alcohol: Permitted in moderation
- Sweets: All candy, honey, dried fruit
- Mark Sisson (Paleo BluePrint): Allows for Quinoa + Wild Rice (both technically veggies, but many have cited their gut health issues - Quinoa, Wild Rice) and certain dairy products (full fat cream, cheese, yogurt)
- Chris Kresser (Paleo Code): Largely a paleo purist, but is high on Kefir for those who can tolerate dairy, as well as fermented veggies/fruits for gut health
- Paul Jamminet (Perfect Health Diet): Allows for rice, dairy, and tapioca.
- Mark Sisson - Paleo BluePrint
- Chris Kresser - Paleo Code
- Paul Jamminet - Perfect Health Diet
- Rob Wolf - Revolutionary Solutions to Modern Life
- Sean Croxton - Underground Wellness
- Loren Cordian and Joel Friel - Paleo for Athletes
- Dean Dwyer - Being Primal
- Dr. Tom O'Bryan - The Dr.Com
- Diane Sanfilippo – Author, Practical Paleo
- Nora Gedgaudas – Author, Primal Body-Primal Mind
- Paleo Snacks: Steve's Paleo Kits; Grass Fed Jerky Chews; Primal Pacs; Paleo People
- High quality meats: Slanker Meats and US Wellness Meats
- High quality seafood: Vital Choice and Wild Planet
- High quality nuts/seeds: Wilderness Family Naturals
