Paleo which you’ll often hear referred to as Primal, The Caveman Diet, Real Food Diet, they all essentially follow the same set of rules when it comes to eating and lifestyle choices. The idea behind each of them is that mimicking the way our ancestors (hunter gatherers) ate and moved makes us much healthier and happier.

Why eat this way?

Following a real food diet fuels your body with all the nutrients it needs, as a direct result you’ll feel increase in energy levels, you’ll feel happier, hair and skin condition will improve, and will also help heal digestion issues – to name just a few benefits.

Another benefit of eating this way is that you can potentially cure some of the degenerative diseases that society have come to accept as normal, such as infertility, obesity, depression etc. Being ill is not normal and we shouldn’t just be complacent with having to take harmful medication to control our symptoms. The food we choose to fuel our bodies has a huge impact on how we feel both physically and mentally.

Paleo 101 – Picture 1

Foods to Avoid:

Below is a list of foods we should be avoiding, the foods on this list are there because they cause inflammation in the body or because they are terrible for the metabolism.

–          Grains
–          Added Sugar
–          Vegetable Oils
–          Legumes
–          Processed foods
–          Soy
–          White Potatoes
–          Dairy ** dairy is a personal preference food – you need to see if you are able to tolerate it, go 30 days without then reintroduce full fat milk and Pastured butter to see how your body reacts. I eat small amounts of full fat goat’s dairy which seems to be fine for me.

Foods to Enjoy:

These foods provide the best nutrients and make us feel awesome.

– Poultry – Chicken, turkey, duck etc
– Meat :- Beef, Lamb, Bison, Pork etc (Grass fed as where possible )
– Organ meats
– Fish/Seafood
– Healthy Fats such as Coconut Oil, Avocado oil, olive oil and animal fat
– Eggs – yes even the yolk 😉
– Vegetables – as much as you can eat (unless listed above)
– Fruits (in moderation)
– Fermented foods – sauerkraut etc
– Nuts & seeds
– Dairy – as above only if you can tolerate and only full fat good quality.

Paleo 101 – Picture2

Lifestyle choices:

Another part of primal living is looking after your body and mind. The list below shows you the best ways to keep your body healthy and help maintain a strong immune system.

–          Exercising – the healthy way i.e. regularly at low intensity such as walking and a once a week short high intensity work out such as sprints. Also incorporate some heavy lifting such as body weight exercises.
–          Playing – may sound lame but its important for your mind and body to do something active and fun a couple times a week – such as snowboarding, tennis, soccer, mountain biking etc
–          Getting enough sleep – we should be getting 8-9 hours a night, its vitally important to our health, much more than people give it credit for.
–          Getting adequate sunlight – hugely important for producing vitamin D, we should be getting 30 minutes of direct sunlight a day/
–          Managing stress levels – granted this is a tough one, but also one that needs to be taken seriously, stress is a huge factor in illness and disease these days.

Paleo 101 – Picture 3

For a more in depth look I recommend Mark Sissons – The Daily Apple (link to: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/ ) which is where I started the first day I heard about the paleo diet. You’ll find more on the science behind what’s found in our foods, real life success stories and some great recipes too.