Edible’s Paleo Diet Guide
A starter’s guide to going ancestral
Welcome to The Edible Project’s Diet Guide Series, a starter’s introduction to eating pescetarian, vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, paleo or keto. We cover the basics of each diet, pass along tips and tricks curated from the diet community, and provide some simple recipes and communities to get started.
PDF versions of all the guides can be found at www.edibleproject.io/guides. To help improve these guides, leave feedback in the comments or send an email to media@edibleproject.io.
Paleolithic, adjective | \pā-lē-ə-ˈli-thik\: of or relating to the earliest period of the Stone Age characterized by rough or chipped stone implements, including all of human history until the invention of agriculture around 10,000 years ago.
Overview
Paleo, also known as the Paleolithic diet, Stone Age diet, or Caveman diet originates from the idea that an ancestral (pre-agricultural) diet is the most natural and healthy way for humans to eat.
Advocates of paleo believe in the long term health benefits of the diet, avoiding grains, valuing high quality, organic foods, grass-fed meats, and staying physically active. The diet was popularized by books like The Paleo Solution (Robb Wolf) and The Primal Blueprint (Mark Sisson), and has a high emphasis on food quality (organic produce and grass-fed meats being staples of the diet).
All added sugars, most high carb foods, cereal grains (wheat, rice, barley) and legumes (beans, peanuts) are to be avoided as they only became dietary staples when the Neolithic era, or agricultural age, began.
Paleo has many similarities with keto and gluten-free diets, as the diet results in using fats for fuel instead of carbohydrates, and avoids foods with high glycemic indices (although in paleo one does not usually count calories to the extent of the keto diet).
Things To Note
Avoid ❌
- Cereal grains and legumes (wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, brown rice, soy, peanuts, beans, peas)
- Vegetable, hydrogenated oils (margin, peanut oil, canola oil, sunflower oil)
- Added sugars
- Dairy except for butter and heavy cream
Eat ✅
- Meats, eggs, vegetables
- Nuts, seeds, olive and coconut oils
Optional ❔
(some believe the following to be gut irritants)
- Dairy
- Starchy root vegetables like potatoes
How-To Order
Eating out may be more difficult on a paleo diet as the focus is on quality whole foods. Try finding restaurants that source local organic produce and use grass- fed or pasture-raised meats, although keep in mind that this will likely be more expensive.
- Order meat-centric dishes such as steak, seafood, or kebabs
- Order salads with steak or chicken and high fat dressings
- Order burgers without the bun
- Substitute rice or grains for a side of vegetables
Recipes
These are some curated simple dishes that are great for any beginner on a paleo diet! Bon appetit!
- Portobello Mushroom “Tacos” — 30 minutes
- Moussaka — 1.5 hours
- Asparagus Sweet Potato Chicken Skillet — 30 minutes
- Pinterest also has a huge assortment of paleo recipes
Community
- Mark’s Daily Apple by Mark Sisson focuses on how to live a primal (read: paleo) lifestyle in a modern world
- Dr. Loren Cordain, a Professor of Health and Exercise Science at Colorado State University has a blog at thepaleodiet.com
- Robb Wolf’s blog, which focuses on paleo and fitness. He is the author of The Paleo Solution an important figure in popularizing the diet.
- More helpful websites can be found on the paleo subreddit FAQ (scroll down)
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