I believe there is great wisdom in obeying our nutritional ancestry, since evolution has fated our bodies to work optimally under certain dietary conditions. I recommend the basic dietary tenants of The Paleo Diet, but I don’t consider paleo to be “eating like a caveman.” However, when compared to other nutrition protocols and the Standard American Diet, it is the closest thing to our roots.
If you wish to address disease though diet or lose weight or simply feel more vitality, then go for paleo. To me, that means:
- Eliminate grains/beans/legumes, highly processed oils, and refined sugar
- Cook your meals from scratch, using fresh ingredients
- Fill your plate up with a variety of veggies
- Incorporate moderate amounts of sustainably-raised animal products
However – and I’m speaking from my own experience – it’s easy to fall into Paleo pitfalls. Here are 3:
1. Slow down on the nuts and seeds
If you are searching Pinterest for paleo recipes, it often appears that nuts and seeds replace grains in everything. Breads, biscuits muffins, cakes, cookies, crackers and even cereals seem feature ground nuts as the primary ingredient.
While appropriate as a treat (as in, enjoying a couples times per week) nut-based baked goods present multiple pitfalls:
- Nut/seed butters and flours disguise the actual volume of nut/seed consumption. For example, a cup of almond flour contains 90 almonds and a tablespoon of almond butter contains 7 almonds.
- Nuts and seeds were traditionally a seasonal food. For example, almond harvest lasts from August to November and walnuts are in season from November to June (source).
- Nuts and seeds contain anti-nutrients including enzyme inhibitors.
- Nuts and seeds are high in omega-6 fatty acids. Contrary to popular belief, nuts/seeds don’t provide the body with useable omega 3. Instead, most contain high levels of omega-6 fatty acids which, when consumed in over-abundance, can impair the body’s anti-inflammatory pathways.
For more details, please read my posts 5 Reasons to Avoid Almond Flour and 3 Things Everyone Should Know about Omega 3 Fatty Acids.
2. Ditch the boneless, skinless chicken breast
A baked chicken breast with some steamed veggies seems paleo-friendly and easy. But, while that meal doesn’t contain non-paleo foods, it’s not quite paleo enough.
As Dr. Weston Price recorded in his landmark book, primitive cultures greatly valued the organ meat and fatty pieces of animals. To make paleo closer to the eating habits of actual cavemen, we should consume animal protein along with the nutrient co-factors found in the skin, organs, collagen and fat.
According Nourishing Traditions,
Protein cannot be adequately utilized without dietary fats. That is why protein and fats occur together in eggs, milk, fish and meats. A high protein, low fat diet can cause many problems including too rapid growth and depletion of vitamin A and D reserves.
I recommend enjoying organ meats weekly, making homemade bone broth, and incorporating grassfed collagen into your diet. Collagen and gelatin contain amino acids that help our bodies utilize the nutrition from meat.
3. Find Your Optimal Carb Intake
Carbohydrates. Oh boy, that’s a topic.
I’ve struggled to find the optimal carb intake for my body. It’s been a struggle because there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Carb needs vary depending on sex, body type, exercise, ancestry, weight loss goals, and more.
I’ve experienced the spectrum: eating both too much and too little carbohydrate on my grain free journey. Now, I think I’ve found my balance… but only after a bumpy ride.
To find your own carb balance, I suggest observing your body’s symptoms.
What are some indicators that you may be consuming too much carbs?
- Using sweeteners (honey, maple syrup, etc) on a daily basis
- High fasting blood sugar in the morning (a glucometer readers over 100)
- Craving something sweet or starchy with each meal
- Feeling tired after meals
- Not feeling hungry in the morning
- Slow wound healing and tissue regeneration (indicates insulin resistance)
How can someone eat too many carbs on paleo? By replicating old eating patterns as a grain-free version. Eating almond flour pancakes with syrup for breakfast, having a tapioca bread sandwich for lunch, and eating sweet potato pasta for dinner is not a balanced paleo diet. When we trip into that pitfall, we often end up consuming too much carbohydrate.
Going paleo requires that you reimagine your meals, rather than just replicating grain-based foods with grain-free recipes. For example, open your breakfast options beyond the realm of traditional “breakfast foods.” Who says a potato-and-veggie hash, or a warming vegetable soup, isn’t breakfast? If you haven’t, please download my free Reset Your Health Guides here to expand your meal ideas.
I found my carb balance by using a glucometer (available here with test strips) to measure blood sugar. I suggest taking your fasting glucose (upon waking, before breakfast) at least a few times per week. For information on the best glucometer and optimal glucose numbers, I used Chris Kresser’s article here and highly recommend it.
If your blood sugar is too high, it usually indicates excessive carb consumption for your physiology, or not eating enough fat with carbs.
Very low carb diets can bring the body into a state called ketosis, where it abnormally burns only fat for fuel. Ketogenic diets are controversial. I consider it an extreme therapeutic diet, and I haven’t done enough research to recommend them, but I can recommend that you don’t to ketosis on accident. It’s a drastic metabolic shift in your body that carries risks and problematic symptoms.
What are some symptoms that indicate you may not be eating enough carbs?
- Constipation
- Feeling dizzy or light-headed upon standing quickly
- Feeling chronically chilled
- Having very cold fingers and toes
- Too much weight loss
What are sources of paleo-friendly carbohydrates?
- Winter squashes
- Starchy vegetables, such as sweet potatoes and parsnips
- Fresh fruit
- White potatoes, if tolerated
Do you follow a grain free, Paleo or Primal diet? Have you struggled with any of these pitfalls?
I’ve always wondered about the fatty meat thing. I’d love it if some one with more knowledge could clarify this for me.
Wouldn’t the animals around Grok have been a lot leaner than the ones we eat today – including grass fed/ pastured ones? They would have had to work hard for their food plus would have spent a significant time moving – way more than a contented cow in a paddock.
So my question is, wouldn’t the fatty parts have been prized because there was relatively little fat compared to now? And related to that, should we be aiming to eat wild meat rather than farmed of any sort?
Thanks in advance!
I have lived in country side. Wild animals are consuming a lot of GMO crops and are well exposed to fertilizers and pesticides. I for one do not see wild meat as an option in our world today.
I just found your blog and I am enjoying it. I live with chronic illness involving the immune system and lots go gut problems. This week I’m recovering from my gastro doctors insistence that I take in more fiber (my argument was that my diet that stayed away from gut wrenching grains and was filled with the vegetables, fruit, goat cheese, rice, and yogurt (with some meat, soy, oatmeal and other less inflammatory grains) kept me with the lowest level of gut discomfort than I used to have. I am particularly careful because I take narcotic pain mess for debilitating pain (suboxone, a milder and far less additive drug than the . one I took for six years on ,
(Please excuse my first posted comment- i managed to hit some key or anoyher that caused it to post while i was editing).
I just found your blog and I am enjoying it. I live with chronic illness involving the immune system and lots of gut problems. This week I’m recovering from my gastro doctors insistence that I take in more fiber. i argued that my diet that stayed away from gut wrenching grains and was filled with the vegetables, fruit, goat cheese, rice, and yogurt (with some meat, soy, oatmeal and other less inflammatory grains) kept me with the lowest level of gut discomfort than I used to have. But she insisted, and as many women with chronic illnesses know, we have to be careful not to feed into the many stereotypes that stigmatize us, like being hysterical, hypochondriacs, and unwilling to follow our doctors instructions so that we will not get better (apparently, we live the attention we get from being sick – although I must be doing something wrong because the only attention I get is negative), I’m looking forward to learning more about healthy life alternatives to conventional medical treatments for my conditions.
While I am interested in what you are sharing about the “Paleo” diet, I would add that it is also important to understand that our prehistoric ancestors’ diets were largely determined by day to day environment and conditions they lived in. When life was good, there was plenty of food available via daily gathering, supplemented by fish and small game and the occasional big game (few people understand that big game hunting was a very small part of the hunter-gathering humans diet – there was no way to preserve meat (that came later) and it simply was a very time consuming and risky endeavor. This held true even in early 20th century hunting and gathering cultures. During this good time, people spent their energies on gathering, eating and resting (one might argue that while the lifespan was short, the quality of life during those years wasn’t too bad – at least when food was ample). Yet when times were bad – scarcity of food due to weather, natural disasters, or any other condition that would disrupt the balance of the local Eco system, people relied on whatever they could find to stay alive. Like all animals, our “Paleo” ancestors survived only if they had the needs, skills and abilities that allowed survival in changing conditions. Furthermore, unlike modern humans, they were less equipped to adapt as they were so dependent on the availability of naturally occurring food sources, lacking as they were of advanced knowledge of, and experience with, agriculture and the curing of foods. What is interesting, though, is that early humans had some understanding of simple horticulture and the use of tools to grow food for some time before they implemented them – while times were good, and food was plentiful in the naturally occurring surroundings, there was no incentive for working harder to grow food for themselves. This knowledge was only implemented and advanced with growing scarcity and competition for food. Yet there is no argument from me with the understanding that modern human cultures are filled with very unhealthy ideas about food and life, driven largely today by efforts to increase consumption and profit, instead of a desire to feed as many people in the most healthy and least environmentally damaging way possible.
In sum, while I agree we can learn a great deal about alternative and more healthy ways of eating and living by looking at early humans, we should be careful not to very romanize that past and ignore the degree to which people’s diet wasn’t always a matter of their natural bodily needs or some natural mind, body, food balance – rather, they were completely at the mercy of their environment which may or may not have been conducive to ultimate health.
Btw – I do apologize for any “lecturing” tone that might come through in my comment above – I’m a college professor of sociology, and I often fall into “professor” mode without intending to. : )
You have great points! I also think we can be “inspired” by a Paleo diet, but I don’t think that it is always best or practical to adhere to it. For example, we now know so much about metabolic principles, and a Paleo diet isn’t necessarily the best way to increase metabolism and thyroid function. Thanks for your thoughtful comment!
A really good post.
I’m a big promoter of the Paleo diet principles in general, especially when people are beginning to make a change from a conventional diet. However, as I have refined my own diet I have starting paying more attention to some of these things you mention, particularly the nut consumption.
Just on the water intake point. While I think the ‘hype’ around water intake in the fitness industry is often over played, the problem of drinking too much on a low-carb Paleo diet has more to do with inadequate sodium intake than the water itself. I have found that by taking in more sodium (via a spoon of sea salt in the morning) that I function alot better.
Thanks for posting, I found it excellent.
Yes about the salt! Lack of sodium can often mean dehydration, even if we are drinking a lot of water. Taking sea salt and trace minerals helps bring the body to a place of hydration. Thanks for your thoughtful comment and sharing your experience!
I’m looking forward to your next post on water intake.
I think it’s dangerous to spout about the dangers of drinking too much water without explaining that it’s the balance of mineral salts and water that’s the problem, not the overconsumption of water per se.
The vast majority of the population are chronically dehydrated. They don’t like the taste of water and love to see posts that say don’t drink lots of water to give them an excuse not to drink much.
The regime you are advocating is great for those who are already sufficiently hydrated. However people first need to get balanced before they can follow Natasha’s recommendations.
I implore you to state in your post that these recommendations are for those who are already hydrated. People’s organs need to become hydrated first by drinking a good balance of clean water with added minerals (such as Himalayan Crystal salt) before they cut down. Otherwise their organs will stay dehydrated.
I really enjoy your blog posts and I’m interested what you think of what I’ve just said.
Well, I think you are spot on! Most people are dehydrated and it is necessary that they replenish fluids with a balance of electrolytes. I am a proponent of adding a pinch of himalayan or celtic salt to any water they drink, especially, as you say, for those who are dehydrated. I keep saying I’m going to write a water post… I won’t forget, I promise!
I realize this was posted a few weeks ago, but I’m curious about the water/hydration points. I don’t know why, but I have problems with sodium (to the point where I have had noticeable sodium deficiencies) and I’m guessing that has something to do with why I also frequently suffer from dehydration. I don’t feel thirsty very often, but I have to make myself drink more than I actually want, or else I have all the symptoms of dehydration (from fatigue and headaches to not peeing). My husband is Japanese and drinks way less than I do, but I read somewhere that it’s because Asians store sodium and potassium differently so they do not dehydrate as much. Anyway, I may have to check out this book you referenced because I feel like something is out of whack in terms of my hydration levels. I am not, I should say, drinking half my body weight in water every day, but if I don’t get in somewhere around 8 glasses a day, I have problems. Is it just me, or my sodium levels, or what? Anyway, thanks for the insightful posts–I just found your site today, and I have read several of your posts. I’m not really Paleo or anything specific, just trying to find better and more natural ways of nourishing myself and my family.
How do you feel about almond milk? My daughter’s have always been sensitive to dairy milk and we don’t do any soy. I’ve tried to get her to switch to coconut milk but she doesn’t like it. Is the process for making almond milk too much almonds in her diet? We eat a fairly grain-free diet, and do not use any almond flour, only coconut flour.
I went grain free and my body loves it. I get my carbs and starches from fried plantains, squashes and fruits. Its perfect. My body bloats and feels horrid with even non wheat grains. I like a small amount of buckwheat ( a seed), and coconut flour. As for water, I do need to drink more especially after exercising as my body keeps telling me, and especially more right after eating. People erroneously believe that water dilutes the stomach acids and impedes digestion, but for most people its the exact opposite! If I drink water right after a meal, it digests better. It was an old wives tale!
You make sense. I have a lot of health issues and went paleo/vlc to cure them–it worked. But, I was constantly on the toilet (so much water) and have recently started getting hypoglycemia. Now, I think its partly due to low stomach acid, but even with HCL pills, I need to eat some carrots to get my blood sugar back up. The VLC also messed up my already messed up adrenal glands. So, I am going MLC (moderately low car—say 60 grams). I am also dropping from 100 oz of liquid to whatever the heck I want because I always knew that Grock didn’t carry around a canteen too. Common sense. But without a PhD, I guess they think us cavemen can’t have a coherent thought of our own! And lean meat is about as appetizing as dog food. Half my calories are from fat yet I am getting slimmer and stronger by the week. Oh, you should mention that Grock never went around eating 80grm (or whatever) of veg and fiber. What a crock! Too much veg and fiber are actually HARMFUL to us. Go figure. If we allow ourselves to listen to our bodies, we all initially disliked veggies! =) (unless they are doused in butter, lard, or co…lol).
Lauren, as much as I agree with the concept of anti-nutrients in grains and seeds that make them hard if not impossible to digest for most people, I do not think “do as Grok did” approach is really valid. Grok did not have access to honey year round, yet you recommend it. Grok did not grind coconuts into flour yet it’s #1 on your list (don’t get me wrong, I love coconut flour and it is my #1 choice). Grok did not live to be 90 years old. Should we all really start living Grok-style and die when we are 30, after all isn’t it what nature intended for us to do? I embrace the concepts that are supported by research and science, but acting based on what the caveman did does not make sense to me.
I agree with a lot of these points. One thing to remember with the amount we drink, is that some of us, unfortunately, are made to work in an air-conditioned office environment with people who can’t stand real air.
Air conditioning sucks moisture from our skin, and I find that unless I drink enough to replace this I get a headache. This is not the case on the weekends where I drink a fraction of what I do at work, even if I get outside and sweaty I don’t have to drink as much as in the office!