{"id":38881,"date":"2015-04-06T11:15:13","date_gmt":"2015-04-06T15:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=38881"},"modified":"2016-07-14T16:07:08","modified_gmt":"2016-07-14T20:07:08","slug":"what-is-paleo-diet-food-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/health\/what-is-paleo-diet-food-list\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Paleo? Breaking Down the Paleo Diet Food List"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s taken CrossFit<\/a> gyms, nutrition blogs and possibly even your friend circle by storm. The paleo diet, or eating the way people did in the Stone Age, is now one of the most popular nutrition lifestyles around. But what exactly does \u201cgoing paleo\u201d mean? While this diet claims to be so easy a caveman could do it, it turns out it\u2019s not so simple. Plus, with bloggers and dieters tweaking the diet to make it their own, it can be hard to decipher which foods are acceptable \u2014\u00a0and which aren\u2019t allowed. Are potatoes<\/a> OK? What about a cup of coffee (or a Bulletproof blend<\/a>)? We\u2019re breaking down the dos and don\u2019ts of this meal plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What Is the Paleo Diet?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

While this ancient nutrition style has been around for (literally) ages, it wasn\u2019t until 2002 that Loren Cordain, PhD<\/a>, popularized the caveman plan when he published his book, The Paleo Diet<\/em><\/a>.<\/em> \u201cIt really isn\u2019t a diet, but rather a lifetime program of eating to improve health and well-being and minimize the risk of chronic diseases that plague the Western world,\u201d explains Dr. Cordain. According to a recent nationwide analysis<\/a> of U.S. grocery purchases, processed foods make up more than 60 percent of the calories in food we buy. By replacing packaged goods with nutrient-rich, whole, fresh foods, Dr. Cordain, his mentors and other Paleo<\/a> followers believe a person\u2019s health will improve.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>15 Paleo-Friendly Recipe Substitutions<\/a><\/p>\n

Back<\/a> in the day, cavemen stuck to a fairly basic menu \u2014\u00a0after all, they could only eat what they could catch. \u201cEvolution through natural selection formed the organizing template not only for all of biology but also for nutrition,\u201d says Cordain. Paleo-era humans consumed a diet high in protein and fiber but devoid of refined sugar and highly processed foods<\/a>. \u201cWe can\u2019t fully mimic the exact foods that our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate, but we don\u2019t have to in order to make improvements in our general health and well-being,\u201d says Dr. Cordain. He explains that contemporary paleo diets emulate the fare of our pre-agricultural predecessors \u2014\u00a0using everyday food available at supermarkets today.<\/p>\n

Your Paleo Diet Food List<\/h3>\n

While there\u2019s no need to bust out your hunting spear, it\u2019s important to stick to the basic tenets of the caveman diet whenever you can. \u201cThey ate exclusively the wild plant and animal foods they could hunt, gather, forage or fish in their native environment,\u201d says Dr. Cordain.<\/p>\n

When cavemen roamed the Earth, there were no processed foods or refined sugars and grains. \u201cFatty meats such as sausage, bacon and pepperoni and starchy vegetables like white potatoes and corn as well as beans such as black, kidney, or pinto are not allowed,\u201d says Leslie Bonci, MHP, RD, director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburg Medical Center, Center for Sports Medicine.<\/p>\n

Then there are certain products like walnut oil and extra virgin olive oil, which weren\u2019t available to cavemen, but because they closely emulate the oils our ancestors received from animal carcasses and plants, they\u2019re considered acceptable. Below, you\u2019ll find lists of paleo-approved<\/a> and non-paleo foods.<\/p>\n

\"Paleo
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>20 Delicious Paleo Recipes for Every Meal of the Day<\/a><\/p>\n

Potential Health Benefits of Paleo<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Cordain and other followers of the paleo diet believe that by eliminating processed foods and replacing them with whole, clean foods, people will experience numerous health benefits. \u201cWhen I first wrote The Paleo Diet<\/em> in 2002, my primary intent was to improve health and well-being for my fellow humans,\u201d says Cordain. Since then however, his book has been promoted as \u201ca weight loss diet.\u201d \u201cCalories are usually lower,\u201d states Bonci. \u201cSo it may help promote weight loss and control blood glucose levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

The strict food plan is often combined with high-intensity exercise that mimics the body\u2019s natural movements, following a similar \u201cdo as you were designed to do\u201d approach. While the guidelines \u2014 which Cordain discusses in his follow up book, The Paleo Diet for Athletes<\/a><\/em> \u2014 are broad and open to interpretation, workout styles like CrossFit<\/a> \u2014 which involves constantly varying functional movements \u2014 have frequently been paired with the diet to maximize weight loss, strength and health benefits.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>Can the Paleo Diet Improve Your Health?<\/a><\/p>\n

The Downside of Paleo<\/h3>\n

It takes discipline to follow the paleo diet \u2014 and this eating plan doesn\u2019t come without criticism. Cordain admits that fresh foods<\/a> can sometimes be pricier than processed foods. But there has been other backlash as well. Bonci points out that the paleo plan can have some negative consequences for your health. \u201cWith paleo there\u2019s a shortfall on nutrients, high food costs, and a focus on what one will not eat,\u201d she says. \u201cThe intake of calcium and vitamin D is also low.\u201d In fact, last year in the U.S. News & World Report’s Bests Diet of 2014<\/a>, paleo came in last place, largely because it advocates consuming higher amounts of fat and protein than recommended by the FDA.<\/p>\n

There isn\u2019t much grey area when it comes to going paleo \u2014 the guidelines are straightforward so you don\u2019t have to make many choices. However, Cordain did build an 85:15 rule into the plan, which may be the origin of much paleo controversy, as it allows room for cheating. \u201cMost people experience significant improvements in health and well-being when they are 85 percent compliant with this lifelong way of eating. If an occasional \u2018cheat\u2019 helps them to remain mainly compliant with the diet, then that is a good thing,\u201d says Cordain.\u00a0So while the occasional cup of coffee had no place in the Stone Age, it may be consumed under the allotted cheat portion of the diet if it\u2019s what you need to stay the course.<\/p>\n

To learn more about The Paleo Diet, visit Cordain\u2019s website, <\/em>thepaleodiet.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chances are you know a few people who are paleo. But what does that entail, really? Learn what it means to go paleo and what\u2019s on the paleo diet food list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":38900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,7],"tags":[51,179,184,341,352],"class_list":["post-38881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diet-nutrition","category-health","tag-food-choices","tag-paleo","tag-paleo-diet","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2weight-loss"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}