Paleo diet: eating like our ancestors, adapted for the modern world

The Paleolithic diet is inspired by the diet of our hunter-gatherer ancestors by eliminating products that appeared with agriculture: grains, legumes, dairy products, and processed foods. The idea is appealing, but the reality is more nuanced than the marketing. This guide sifts through the solid and the questionable, so you can adopt the best principles of paleo without falling into dogmatism.

Steps

1

Eliminate processed foods

The first pillar of paleo, and the most universally recognized, is the removal of ultra-processed foods: added sugar, refined vegetable oils, additives, dyes, fast food. This change alone significantly improves the quality of your diet, independent of the rest of the paleo protocol.

2

Prioritize quality proteins

Grass-fed meats, wild-caught fish, pasture-raised eggs, game. Paleo emphasizes unprocessed, high-quality proteins. Aim for a protein source at every meal, varying between animal and plant (nuts, seeds). Source quality matters as much as quantity.

3

Fill your plate with non-starchy vegetables

Contrary to the "carnivore diet" image, original paleo is very plant-rich. Hunter-gatherers consumed a huge variety of plants. Fill half your plate with vegetables: broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, carrots, peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, asparagus, and sweet potato (debated but generally accepted).

4

Choose healthy fats

Olive oil, coconut oil, duck fat, clarified butter (ghee), avocado, nuts, and seeds. Paleo rejects industrial vegetable oils (sunflower, soy, corn, canola) due to their unfavorable omega-6/omega-3 ratio. Saturated fats are not demonized, but monounsaturated fats are still preferred.

5

Reintroduce selectively

Strict paleo is often a starting point, not a destination. After 30 days, reintroduce one food at a time (white rice, well-cooked legumes, butter, aged cheese) and observe your reaction over 3 days. Many paleo practitioners end up adopting a personalized version that includes certain "forbidden" foods they tolerate perfectly.

The reasoning behind paleo

The central thesis of paleo is that the human genome hasn't had enough time to evolve since the agricultural revolution (10,000 years ago) to adapt to grains, legumes, and dairy. This hypothesis is partially true (evolution is slow) but ignores well-documented recent adaptations, such as lactase persistence in Europeans or the multiplication of salivary amylase genes for starch digestion. Paleo has the merit of eliminating processed foods and putting vegetables back at the center, but the systematic exclusion of legumes and whole grains is not supported by current evidence.

Allowed and excluded foods

Allowed: meats, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, healthy oils, spices, and herbs. Excluded: grains (wheat, rice, oats, corn), legumes (lentils, beans, chickpeas, peanuts), dairy products, refined sugar, industrial vegetable oils, alcohol, excess salt. Gray areas include sweet potato (generally accepted), white rice (excluded in strict, tolerated in "paleo template"), clarified butter (ghee, often accepted), and dark chocolate (70%+, generally admitted in small amounts).

Modern adaptations of paleo

Chris Kresser's "paleo template" and Paul Jaminet's "Perfect Health Diet" represent pragmatic evolutions that reintegrate white rice, potatoes, and butter. Whole30 is a strict 30-day version often used as a reset. Mark Sisson's "primal" includes fermented dairy products. The current trend is toward personalization: taking the best principles of paleo (no processed food, lots of vegetables, quality proteins) and adapting them to your own tolerance and goals.

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Frequently asked questions

Can you eat potatoes on paleo?
It's debated. Strict paleo excludes them because they arrived late in the European human diet. In practice, potatoes are a natural, unprocessed tuber rich in potassium and vitamin C. Most modern versions of paleo accept them, especially sweet potatoes.
Isn't paleo too high in animal protein?
It depends on how you practice it. Well-conducted paleo is rich in vegetables (50% of the plate) and uses animal proteins as a supplement, not a base. The classic mistake is making paleo a "meat at every meal" diet. Nuts, seeds, and plants should represent the majority of food volume.
Why exclude legumes?
Paleo cites antinutrients (lectins, phytates, saponins) in legumes. In reality, soaking and cooking eliminate almost all of these compounds. Legumes are associated with better longevity in every Blue Zone in the world. Their exclusion is the most contested point of paleo.
Is the paleo diet suitable for athletes?
For endurance and strength sports, the absence of grains can limit glycogen stores. Many paleo athletes adopt a "paleo for athletes" approach that reintroduces white rice and sweet potato around workouts to ensure necessary muscle fuel.

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