68 Paleo Thanksgiving Recipes That Will Make the Diet Look Easy (2024)

FAQs

What is not allowed on a paleo diet? ›

The diet excludes cereal grains, legumes, dairy, processed oils, refined sugar, alcohol, caffeine, artificial sweeteners, and trans fats. Some paleo-friendly foods include lean meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.

Strict paleo dieters exclude all grains from their diets — including rice — primarily due to their high phytate content. Although it's technically prohibited, many people still consume small amounts of white rice while following a paleo diet because it's lower in phytates, compared with other types.

A paleo diet is an eating plan based on foods humans might have eaten during the Paleolithic Era. The Paleolithic Era dates from around 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago. A modern paleo diet includes fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish, eggs, nuts and seeds.

Grains (including whole grains and those that are gluten-free), dairy, and legumes are banned from the paleo diet. That means no peanut butter or peanuts because followers of the paleo diet consider peanuts a legume rather than a nut.

Low-carb flu is one of the most commonly-reported side effects of the paleo diet. Symptoms can include headaches, fatigue , weakness, hazy thinking (brain fog) and irritability, which can result from reducing carbohydrate intake.

Many paleo followers wonder if bananas are paleo because of their higher sugar content. They are considered paleo. One medium banana has 113 calories, 2 grams of fiber and 26 grams of carbohydrates. Bananas are an unprocessed, whole food with a good source of potassium.

A Paleo-diet purist will tell you no, all cheese should be avoided on a Paleo lifestyle. Paleolithic humans didn't milk cows or process dairy. This is one case in which keto diet rules are much more lax than paleo.

Peanuts are technically legumes, which are not paleo compliant, and that means peanut butter is off limits for paleo eaters. All other nuts and seeds are fair game, so if nuts and seeds are the only ingredients, snack away!

While we have said in the past that coffee is not Paleo, we have changed our position based on new research and now we believe that coffee is fine for most people. It boasts numerous health benefits, like longevity, mental performance, and a healthy gut, and it could be beneficial for many.

Popcorn is technically not considered paleo since it's a whole grain. However, most paleo experts agree that it's not a horrible snack to have in moderation, especially when it's prepared fresh and cooked in a healthy fat like coconut oil.

Is sweet potato paleo? ›

Yes — sweet potatoes are generally considered a paleo-approved food, however, some paleo dieters prefer to limit their consumption to avoid consuming too many carbohydrates that spike their blood sugar levels.

Foods that can be inflammatory: Highly processed foods, like corn chips, fried foods and too much red meat, sugar, wheat, rye and barley in people with gluten allergies of celiac disease.

So the Paleo diet is about eating foods that our caveman ancestors ate, which included foods we could hunt, fish, gather or pluck – no grains or beans.

A pescatarian diet refers to a vegetarian diet with the addition of seafood. Plant-based foods such as fruits, veggies, beans, whole grains, nuts, and seeds supply many vitamins, phytochemicals, and minerals, and seafood provides protein and omega-3 fatty acids.

While it has the benefit of promoting several high-protein and high-fiber foods that are also usually lower in fat and calories, experts say the paleo diet is too restrictive for long-term health and weight loss and doesn't have robust science backing up many of its purported health benefits.

Risks with the paleo diet

“If you aren't getting dairy, legumes or whole grains, you may be at greater risk of deficiencies in calcium, vitamin D and B vitamins,” Shupe said. “Over time, this could put you at risk of developing osteoporosis and bone fractures .”

Earth scientists can gather data at key sites along sections of a fault to figure out the past timeline of earthquakes at each spot. This type of research is called paleoseismology (“paleo” means old, and “seismology” is the study of earthquakes, so paleoseismology is the study old earthquakes).