Welcome To My Paleo Diet Allowed Foods List.
So you have decided to take on Paleo. You like the idea of changing what you eat and drink, but at the same time you have no idea what you can have and what you can’t.
Educating yourself on Paleo can be hard work at first, but once you get your head around it, you’ll soon be educated enough for it to come instantly to you, without having to refer back to this list on a regular basis.
There are a lot of foods that you can have all the time if you wish. But we are often creatures of habit when it comes to what we eat. The average home cook has 10 favorite meals and the chances are that they will cook these between easy ready meals to form their daily diet.
So don’t feel like you have to eat all of them. Just find what you like and then cook yourself delicious meals with them!
In a nutshell you should eat foods:
• Grass Fed Meat
• Fish & Seafood
• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Nuts & Seeds
• Eggs
• Healthy Oils
I know that doesn’t sound like a lot does it? But if you expanded on it you would see that there is a lot more than you think on that list.
Healthy Oils
It is really bad for you to have vegetable oil. We all did it didn’t we? It just seemed like such a great way to fill up our chip fryers. The 90’s diet was very much this way and that is the generation that I was brought up in and it makes me cringe now.
What you should be having is:
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Walnut Oil
• Almond Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Flaxseed Oil
• Avocado Oil
• Macadamia Oil
This is really easy for us though, because with living in Portugal you can’t escape extra virgin olive oil. It has taken over from butter of what should be on everything and makes eating out in Portugal super easy!
Eggs
Eggs are often associated as one of the main staples for those that follow the Paleo diet. They are an excellent source of protein and go well on most dishes.
You can have them without restrictions as long as they are not used in dishes were other things are not allowed. So you couldn’t use them to make a quiche with lots of all purpose flour!
Think fried, scrambled, poached and boiled. Or on salads, in omelettes and tray bakes.
Nuts & Seeds
Nuts and seeds are often a main part of the Paleo diet. People want to snack and with chocolate and sweets being taken away nuts and seeds become a healthy replacement.
The general rule is that peanuts are not allowed but the rest of it is for the taking. As long as it has not been messed with in a non-Paleo kind of way then its fine to eat.
Enjoy a packet of almonds instead of a bowl of popcorn next time you go to the cinema. You will feel so much healthier for doing so and it will give you an excellent boost.
But do remember cashews are very high in calories so if you want to lose weight, then stay away from them.
Here are the main Paleo approved nuts:
• Almonds
• Cashews
• Hazelnuts
• Pecans
• Pine Nuts
• Macadamia Nuts
• Walnuts
Then for seeds:
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Sunflower Seeds
Fruit
With fruit you have a wide selection to choose from. But remember fruit can often reduce your chances of losing weight. Therefore if you are into Paleo for the purpose of weight loss don’t over do your fruit consumption.
Here are some fruit ideas for when you are following Paleo:
• Apple
• Avocado
• Apricots
• Blackberries
• Papaya
• Peaches
• Plums
• Mango
• Blueberries
• Grapes
• Grapefruit
• Lemon
• Pears
• Kiwi Fruit
• Mango
• Strawberries
• Pineapple
• Lime
• Raspberries
• Melon
• Tangerine
• Figs
• Oranges
• Bananas
Vegetables
I love vegetables and when I think of my weekly food shop, the products in the trolley that have the majority is always vegetables. My favourites include butternut squash, broccoli, leeks, tomatoes, courgettes and I would be lost without asparagus.
Tuck into these:
• Asparagus
• Artichoke
• Butternut Squash
• Sweet Potatoes
• Brussels Sprouts
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Spinach
• Lettuce
• Mushrooms
• Leeks
• Celery
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Onions
• Aubergine
• Courgette
• Peppers
• Chillies
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
Meat
The most well known staple of the Paleo diet is the meat. It becomes the base of the dish where as the unhealthy person would probably have had carbs as the main focus. You can then have it with vegetables and you have your meal in place.
Some people say to follow a Paleo diet plan means that from a meat point of view it must be grass fed. But in reality this often means organic. Not everyone can afford high end meat so as long as you are staying away from meat in a can and you know that the meat you have on your plate hasn’t been messed with, then you are fine.
Here is a selection of meat that you can have as part of your Paleo diet:
• Chicken
• Pork
• Beef
• Veal
• Bacon
• Ham
• Gammon
• Minced Beef
• Lamb
• Venison
• Buffalo
• Rabbit
• Goat
• Goose
• Duck
• Beef Jerky
• Wild Boar
• Pheasant
• Quail
Fish & Seafood
Did I ever tell you that my Grandad was a fisherman? Well he was and it meant that I grew up with a lot of fresh fish and seafood. I remember walks by the beach with a fork tucking into crabmeat direct from the crab shell. Or having prawns whenever I liked. There was also my Grandad’s amazing homemade fishcakes. There was just so much choice.
Now living in Portugal sardines is the national food and prawns are also everywhere. They are very good for you and can make a great alternative to meat especially for breakfast.
Here is a run down of what fish and seafood to eat:
• Prawns
• Lobster
• Clams
• Salmon
• Crab
• Bass
• Halibut
• Sardines
• Mackerel
• Tuna
• Mussels
• Cockles
• Cod
• Dover Sole
• Monkfish
• Plaice
• Hake
• Red Snapper
• Shark
• Swordfish
• Trout
• Crayfish
• Scallops
• Oyster
