The latest dietary fad is the paleo diet. It stands for the paleolithic period, so the idea is that you would be getting back to eating the way the earliest humans did. Of course, there is no way to know with absolute certainty what our earliest ancestors ate. But the paleo diet goes by the consensus of what would or would not have been available.
This diet touts excellent benefits, including the ability to help people lose weight or to achieve other health and wellness goals. The purpose of this article is not to recommend any particular diet. You should consult a physician before making significant dietary changes. We will discuss what you should or should not eat if you chose to try a paleo diet. We will also introduce you to the best collagen peptides powder supplements that will fit in with your dietary restrictions should you decide to try the paleo diet.
What Foods Can You Eat on a Paleo Diet?
The idea of the paleo diet is to eat whole, unprocessed foods that would have been available in early times. Such foods would include:
- Vegetables (depending on the paleo site you get your information from, potatoes may be recommended to either eat or avoid)
- Fruits
- Nuts and seeds
- Salt and other seasonings
- Eggs
- Meat (including fish and seafood)
- Healthy oils – This includes olive, coconut, avocado, and nut oils (but not peanut oil – peanuts are legumes).
Because the point is to avoid processed foods, you should try to eat organic foods only. When it comes to meats, you should look for options that are pasture-raised and grass-fed. For fish, you want to eat wild-caught. Unfortunately, this can make the paleo diet very expensive. Therefore, this is the part of the diet that some people cheat a little with. Just be sure that you choose the least processed foods that you can afford.
As a side note, hunting or fishing for your own proteins may allow you to get unprocessed foods at a cheaper rate. Just be sure to follow all applicable laws in your state.
What Foods Should You Avoid on the Paleo Diet?
There are many foods that we eat today (especially in America) that humans have only had access to in recent history since we have begun to process our foods highly. That means there are far more items on the list of foods to avoid in the paleo diet. However, we will place them into categories to keep the length of the list reasonable.
- Highly processed foods – Don’t eat anything with additives. Basically, if it comes in a box and has a long list of ingredients, it’s out. This also means staying away from fast food (and most restaurant options where food is not prepared fresh).
- Milk products – No milk, ice cream, yogurt, etc.
- Grains – No bread, pasta, etc. Even gluten free products contain grains.
- Legumes – No beans, lentils, etc.
- Sugars and artificial sweeteners – No foods with added sugar, corn syrup, aspartame, saccharin, etc.
- Vegetable oils – Avoid soybean, canola, peanut, and other processed oils.
- Trans fats – This usually comes from the processed oils you are avoiding anyway.
Who Might Benefit from a Paleo Diet?
You may want to give the paleo diet a try if you fit one of the following categories:
- You are trying to lose weight
- You want to maintain a healthy body weight
- You need help planning your meals and a restricted diet makes it easier for you
- You are trying to discover and food sensitivities you may have (eggs and shellfish are the only major allergens allowed in the paleo diet – you could also cut these out for a full exclusion diet)
- Your doctor may recommend such a diet for a particular health condition (the paleo diet may have benefits for blood pressure control and glucose tolerance)
Other Tips for Eating a Paleo Diet
There are a few other things to consider when eating a paleo diet. First of all, for optimal health benefits, you should also have a daily exercise routine. Once again, consult a physician to determine what level of exercise is safe for you.
The other big thing to think about is your water intake. Staying hydrated is very important. You should be drinking a minimum of 64 ounces of water per day. As an alternative to plain water, you can also drink sparkling water and herbal teas that are naturally decaffeinated.
Remember that you are avoiding processed foods, so you should be avoiding processed drinks as well. You can have alcoholic beverages, coffee and caffeinated teas, and fresh juices in moderation. Natural sweeteners like raw honey, stevia, and xylitol are also okay in moderation.
The Best Collagen Peptide Powder Supplements for Your Paleo Diet
Warrior Strong Wellness is proud to provide supplements that can help you to get the right combination of proteins and amino acids that your body needs. Here are two of the best collagen peptide powders.
- Pure Hydrolyzed Multi-Collagen Protein Powder – For a wide array of collagen peptides, this is your supplement. To get you collagen types I, II, III, V, and X all in one supplement, we have sourced this vital protein from beef, chicken, fish, and eggshells. Sources are grass-fed and wild-caught.
- Collagen Bone Broth Protein Powder – Targeting the immune and digestive systems as well as joints, this collagen supplement offers a gluten free, non-GMO formula.
We hope to help you reach your health and wellness goals by offering the best collagen peptide powder supplements.
About The Author
Warrior Strong Wellness
Warrior Strong Wellness provides innovative and high quality transformational supplements and raises awareness and funds to fight childhood cancer by giving a portion of our proceeds to childhood cancer research. In our weekly blogs, we share wisdom about wellness and living a Warrior Strong lifestyle.