Paleo Diet Food: Eat Like a Caveman and Shed Pounds!

Paleo diet food includes everything you can find or hunt, including meat, fish, nuts, seeds, regional veggies, and leafy greens. Sorry, the cereal, candy, and pasta will have to go! Instead, you will be making things like paleo spaghetti and chicken stir fry.

Eat like a caveman and lose weight is the incredible theory behind the Paleo Diet. This diet is an effort to eat just like Paleolithic humans ¹.

Why You May Follow a Paleo Diet?

You may choose to follow a Paleo diet because you want:

help planning meals
to maintain a healthy weight or lose weight

Paleo Diet Foods

The following is a full Paleo diet food list ². This is a specific type of list you could put on your Paleo diet foods list the next time you go to the grocery store. So, let’s get started!

Paleo Diet Meats

This is a list of meats allowed on the diet. Nearly all meat is paleo by definition. Evidently, you will want to stay away from meats that are very high in fat (things like hot dogs, spam, and some other low-quality meats) and highly processed meats. But don’t worry – bacon is included! Here is the complete list of paleo diet meats.

Turkey
Poultry
Chicken breast
Pork chops
Pork tenderloin
Steak
Veal
Pork
Bacon
Grass-fed beef
Ground beef
Chicken thigh
Chicken wings (yum!)
Chicken leg
Lamb rack
Lobster
Shrimp
Clams
Venison steaks
New York steak
Salmon
Buffalo
Bison
Bison sirloin
Bison jerky
Bison steaks
Bison ribeye
Goat
Lamb chops
Rabbit
Kangaroo
Goose
Elk
Emu
Eggs (duck, chicken, or goose)
Bear (good luck getting this!)
Beef jerky
Reindeer
Wild boar
Turtle
Lean veal
Ostrich
Rattlesnake
Quail
Chuck steak
Pheasant

Paleo Diet Fish

Fish are certainly on the paleo diet food list and they’re chock full of great stuff as omega-3s as well. If it has fins and swims, it’s absolutely paleo diet food worthy. Enjoy it!

Salmon
Bass
Halibut
Sardines
Mackerel
Tuna
Shark
Red snapper
Swordfish
Sunfish
Trout
Tilapia
Walleye
Paleo Diet Seafood
Check out all the different seafood you can eat on the paleo diet.
Crawfish
Crab
Crayfish
Shrimp
Oysters
Lobster
Clams
Scallops

Paleo Diet Vegetables

Almost all veggies are paleo, however, you should be careful here. Veggies with a high starch content, like squashes and potatoes, tend to have low nutrition in comparison to the quantity of sugars/carbs/starches they contain. They are not bad for you – but, they are not always that good for you either.

Avocado
Asparagus
Artichoke hearts
Spinach
Carrots
Zucchini
Brussels sprouts
Celery
Broccoli
Cabbage
Green onions
Cauliflower
Peppers (all kinds)
Parsley
Eggplant

Starchy Vegetables*

These vegetables are quite starchy, so eat them in moderation especially if you’re trying to lose weight.

Sweet potato*
Acorn squash*
Butternut squash*
Beets*
Yam*

Paleo Diet Fats/Oils

Fat does not make you fat – carb does (and the typical American Diet has lots of them!). Our bodies preferred sources of creating energy are natural oils and fats. Therefore, it is best to give our bodies what they’re asking for. Following you can find some of the greatest types of Paleo diet fats and oils that you can consume of extra energy.

Olive oil
Coconut oil
Avocado oil
Grass-fed butter
Macadamia oil

Paleo Diet Nuts

Nuts are definitely Paleo diet friendly. But be careful – cashews are very high in fat, and sometimes it’s just too easy to eat a whole jar of them in only one sitting. However, if you are trying to shed pounds, you need to limit the amount of nuts you are consuming.

Cashews
Almonds
Pecans
Hazelnuts
Pumpkin seeds
Pine nuts
Sunflower seeds
Walnuts
Macadamia nuts

Paleo Diet Fruits**

Fruits are a great part of almost every diet. But if you want to lose weight on the Paleo diet, you should cut back on fruits and focus more on the veggies allowed on the paleo diet food list. Still, feel free to have 1-3 portions of fruit per day. Here are some suggestions:

Avocado
Apple
Papaya
Blackberries
Plums
Peaches
Lychee
Mango
Grapes
Blueberries
Strawberries
Lime
Lemon
Pineapple guava
Raspberries
Watermelon
Oranges
Bananas*
Tangerine
Cantaloupe
Figs

*While these starchy foods are good for energy replacement for athletes who need some of the starchier foods to sustain their energy levels because they are spending long periods of time exercising, if you’re trying to shed pounds on the Paleo diet, you will want to limit the amounts of these that you are eating.

**Eat fruits that are high in sugar in moderation. They are good for you, but it is easy to overdo it.

Foods Not Allowed On the Paleo Diet

This is a whole list of foods that aren’t allowed on the Paleo diet. The first few weeks of excluding these foods might be tough, however, if you stick with it over time, it will be worth it. You’ll see! Here is the complete food list not allowed on the Paleo diet.

Dairy

Cheese
Butter
Cottage cheese
Skim milk
Non-fat dairy creamer
2% milk
Dairy spreads
Whole milk (sometimes)
Cream cheese
Powdered milk
Pudding
Yogurt
Frozen yogurt
Ice cream
Low-fat milk
Ice milk

Soft drinks

Soft drinks, Coke, and pop are packed with high-fructose corn syrup and sugar and are certainly NOT Paleo friendly.

Sprite
Coke
Mountain Dew
Pepsi

Fruit Juices

Fruit juices are very high in fructose (sugar) and will definitely throw your diet off track. So, avoid these:

Orange juice
Apple juice
Grape juice
Mango juice
Strawberry juice
Starfruit juice
Chinola juice

Grains

Avoid anything that has grains in it.

Bread
Cereals
Toast
English muffins
Sandwiches
Crackers
Triscuits
Wheat Thins
Cream of wheat
Oatmeal
Corn syrup
Corn
Hash browns
Wheat
Pancakes
High-fructose corn syrup
Beer
Lasagne
Fettuccini
Pasta

Legumes

Legumes are considered as not Paleo diet friendly. You should avoid:

All beans
Broad beans
Black beans
Horse beans
Garbanzo beans
Fava beans
Lima beans
Green beans
Red beans
White beans
String beans
Navy beans
Kidney beans
Adzuki beans
Mung beans
Pinto beans
Peas
Chickpeas
Black-eyed peas (and, yes, you should also avoid the band)
Sugar snap peas
Snow-peas
Peanuts
Miso
Peanut butter
Soybeans
Lentils
Mesquite
Lupins
All soybean derivatives and products
Any other beans
Tofu

Artificial Sweeteners

Naturally, Paleolithic humans were not consuming artificial sweeteners – so, they are, of course, excluded from this diet. So, if you’d like to sweeten your food, use some honey, Stevia, or maple syrup.

ACK
Acesulfame potassium
Ace K
Sweet One
Equal Spoonful (plus aspartame)
Sunett
Sweet One
Aspartame
Equal Classic
AminoSweet
APM
Acesulfame potassium
Canderel (not in the US)
Aspartyl-phenylalanine-1-methyl ester
Equal Classic
NutraSweet
Natra Taste Blue
Aspartame-acesulfame salt
Cyclamate
TwinSweet (Europe only)
Calcium cyclamate
Sucaryl
Cologran = saccharin and cyclamate (not in the US)
Zerose
Sugar alcohol
Erythritol
Glycerol
ZSweet
Glycerine
Glycerin
Licorice
Glycyrrhizin
Sugar Alcohol
Hydrogenated starch hydrolysate (HSH)
Isomalt
Decomalt
Isomaltitol
DiabetiSweet (also contains Acesulfame-K)
ClearCut Isomalt
Hydrogenated Isomaltulose
Lactitol
Maltitol (Maltitol syrup and Maltitol powder)
Hydrogenated maltose
Hydrogenated High Maltose Content Glucose Syrup
SweetPearls
MaltiSweet
Lesys
Polydextrose
Neotame
Saccharin
Equal Saccharin
Sweet N Low
Necta Sweet
Acid saccharin
Sodium Saccharin
Sweet Twin
Sucralose
Sorbitol
Steviol glycoside
Splenda
NatraTaste Gold
Tagatose
Xylitol
Anything that says “artificial”

Fatty Meats

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