Paleo diet foods are nutrient-dense proteins, vegetables, fruits, and fats — that any human, from cave men to modern man, would recognize as food. Eating Paleo foods will power your body with all the healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals it needs to be lean, strong, and healthy.
The Paleo diet focuses on animal proteins from high-quality sources. Surely, you'll find a lot of your favorites on this list:
Beef | Nitrite- and gluten-free sausages |
Bison | Organ meats |
Chicken | Pork |
Duck | Pheasant |
Eggs | Quail |
Elk | Shellfish |
Fish | Turkey |
Goat | Veal |
Lamb | Venison |
Nitrite- and gluten-free deli meats |
Wild boar |
A rainbow of nutrient-rich vegetables makes your plate look appetizing and packs a major nutritional punch. Eat at least two servings of the following vegetables at every meal, and enjoy as much variety as possible:
Artichoke | Eggplant | Parsnip |
Arugula | Endive | Pumpkin |
Asparagus | Escarole | Radish |
Beets | Garlic | Shallots |
Bell peppers | Greens (beet, collard, mustard, and turnip) | Snow peas |
Bok choy | Green beans | Spaghetti squash |
Broccoli | Kale | Spinach |
Brussels sprouts | Kohlrabi | Sugar snap peas |
Cabbage | Leeks | Summer squash (zucchini, yellow summer squash, crookneck, marrows, straightneck, scallop, and cocozelles) |
Carrots | Lettuce (all types) | Sweet potatoes/yams |
Cauliflower | Mushrooms | Tomatoes |
Celery | Nori (seaweed) | Tomatillos |
Chile peppers | Okra | Turnips |
Cucumber | Onion | Winter squash (butternut and acorn) |
Fruit delivers its nutrition with a side serving of sweetness, so vegetables should always be the first produce priority — but one or two servings of fruit per day are satisfying and nutritious; choose any from the following table. As your body becomes balanced and your internal environment becomes cleaner and stronger, you may be able to add more fruit, but at the beginning of your transition to Paleo, sticking to one or two servings is your best strategy.
Limit your consumption of dried fruit; it's easy to overeat and lacks the nutrition of fresh fruits, while concentrating the sugars. Fruit juice should also be avoided because it provides all the sugar of the fruit, without the fiber and satiety of eating.
Apple | Grapefruit | Orange |
Apricot | Grapes | Papaya |
Banana | Honeydew | Peach |
Blackberries | Kiwi | Pear |
Blueberries | Kumquat | Pineapple |
Cantaloupe | Lemon | Plum |
Cherries | Lime | Pomegranate |
Clementine | Lychee | Raspberries |
Cranberries | Mandarin | Strawberries |
Date | Mango | Tangerine |
Fig | Nectarine | Watermelon |
Fats ensure that you feel satisfied after a meal and are vital to the function of your body and brain — plus they taste really, really good. So go ahead and eat some of the following healthy fats with every meal to ensure proper absorption of nutrients and to please your taste buds.
Avocado |
Clarified butter (organic, grass-fed only) |
Coconut (butter, fresh, flakes, oil, and milk) |
Nuts and nut butters (almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, chestnuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pistachios, and walnuts) |
Olives and olive oil |
Seeds (pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, and pine nuts) |