A Beginner's Guide to the Paleo Diet

If you’re curious about the Paleo diet - what it is, why it’s beneficial, and how to start - let us help!  The Paleo diet is one that can be fairly easily followed, is backed by research, and can have a significant positive change on your overall health and well-being. Research shows that the Paleo diet is associated with reduced markers of inflammation, weight management, chronic disease prevention, and can have an overall positive impact on your health. 

Most simply defined, a Paleo diet is a way of eating similar to what might have been eaten during the Paleolithic era, which dates from approximately 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago before the onset of agriculture brought grains, legumes, dairy, and highly processed foods into the human diet. Lean meats, fish, fruits, nuts, and seeds — foods that could be hunted and gathered — are central to this diet. 

Because you’re cutting out inflammatory ingredients and highly processed foods, when you choose to follow a paleo diet you’ll optimize your nutrient intake, delivering a higher amount of naturally occurring vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients to your body.  

Approved Food List

The Paleo diet includes simple whole foods that could have been sourced by hunting or gathering — mainly plants and lean animal protein. There are a number of delicious foods that are included in this way of eating and the best advice is to focus on the list of foods you can eat versus the ones that you should be avoiding. When purchasing meat and fish, reach for the highest quality available to you. This includes wild caught or sustainably farmed seafood, grass-fed meats and organic poultry. 

• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Healthy, unrefined oils & fats: Avocado oil, extra virgin olive oil, ghee (clarified butter), walnut oil, flaxseed, flaxseed oil, Almond butter, coconut milk, coconut oil 

• Meat
• Poultry
• Fish
• Raw nuts and seeds (avoid roasted,which typically use inflammatory seed oils not permitted on the diet) 
• Natural Sweeteners: 100% pure maple syrup, honey

• Beverages: Coffee, coconut water, plain sparkling water, herbal tea

Foods to Avoid

• Processed and refined sugars : Corn syrup, high fructose, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, cane sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, agave

• Artificial sweeteners: Sucralose, splenda, aspartame, 

• Dairy: yogurt, butter, cheese, fluid milk

• Legumes: Beans, lentils, peanuts, tofu 

• Select Oils & Fats: peanut butter, canola oil, vegetable oils, soybean oil

• Grains: wheat, spelt, rye, barley 

• Bread products, pasta, crackers, cereal, beer

While the traditional approach to Paleo is meant to only include whole foods that come from the earth or an animal, today there are more and more brands making it easier to adhere to a Paleo way of eating. The below list of Merryfield Member Brands are producing delicious pantry staples and meal solutions that are made with fats we love and clean ingredients, and contain no dairy, gluten, grain, refined sugar or soy. And there’s no room in a Paleo diet — or any of our diets today — to include artificial colors, sweeteners or preservatives so make an effort to always avoid those. 

• PRIMAL KITCHEN® 
• Chosen Foods 
• Hu
• Wild Planet*
• Bob’s Red Mill* 
• Applegate*
• Country Archer*
• Lesser Evil*
• Love Beets
• Harmless Harvest*

*note, brands with (*) indicate the brand offers a selection of Paleo options, but the full product line is not Paleo.