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As we hunker down into the winter season, everyone is craving rich comfort food - Mac and cheese, chili, hearty stews, mashed potatoes...

Well, here's one Paleo-friendly seasoning to supercharge your cold-weather recipes with extra umami and just a hint of cheesy goodness: nutritional yeast! It kind of sounds like something you'd be forced to eat in a vegan penitentiary, but it's actually very tasty and reasonably nutritious - plus, it's even keto-friendly.

What actually is nutritional yeast?

Most people are at least a little bit familiar with the culinary uses of yeast in non-Paleo foods. It’s what makes bread dough “rise,” for example. The exact species of yeast that we call “nutritional yeast” is actually the very same type that brewers use to ferment beer and wine (although the yeast itself has no alcohol and can’t get you drunk).

But even though it’s used to make all these non-Paleo foods, the yeast itself isn’t concerning from a Paleo perspective. Yeast is an ingredient in bread, but it isn’t a grain and doesn’t contain any gluten. It’s used to ferment beer and wine, but the yeast on its own doesn’t contain any alcohol and can’t get you drunk. The yeast itself is really just a single-celled type of fungus with some interesting nutritional benefits and a delicious taste.

Nutritional Information

The short version: it's solid on nutritional value, especially if you limit or avoid meat.

Protein, carbs, and fat (macronutrients)

Nutritional yeast is a seasoning, so it's not like anyone is going to get a significant percentage of their calories from it. But even in reasonable seasoning-type amounts, it does contain a noteworthy amount of protein and relatively few carbs.

One highlight is definitely the protein. Nutritional yeast has about 3.5 grams of protein per tablespoon (bear in mind that exact numbers will depend on the specific brand). To put that in perspective, one egg has about 6.5 grams of protein, one medium-sized chicken drumstick has about 14, and one cup of nonfat plain yogurt has 14 grams. It's not like you can really get a whole day of protein from nutritional yeast, but it's a nice bump - especially for people who may be trying to reduce how much meat they eat and want something besides eggs all the time.

As for carbs, one tablespoon of nutritional yeast has about 1.5 grams of net carbs (about 3 grams total, with about 1.5 grams of fiber - again, bearing in mind that different brands will vary slightly). So used as a seasoning or salad sprinkle, it fits pretty easily into a low-carb or even keto plan. Maybe not an everyday food for the really strict keto purists, but definitely something you could work in.

Vitamins and minerals (Micronutrients)

Vegans famously love nutritional yeast for the B vitamins - the exact nutritional content varies a bit depending on the manufacturer, but in general, nutritional yeast is high in B vitamins, especially B1 and B2.

Some varieties are also fortified with iron or vitamin B12 - but if it’s not specifically fortified with B12, nutritional yeast has no B12 of its own. The idea that the yeast itself makes B12 is a myth. Not that Paleo eaters really have any cause to worry about vitamin B12, since you get tons of it from any kind of meat or seafood that you eat, but if you have any vegan friends who think this, definitely make sure they’re getting a supplemented brand!

So, basically the stuff is reasonably nutritious, even in the amount that most people will typically eat (about a tablespoon or so in a serving). On the other hand, if you’re eating a decent Paleo or Keto diet, there’s no real reason to seek out nutritional yeast as a special supplement or make extreme efforts to eat it on a regular basis. And if you can’t stand the taste, just skip it; you’ll be fine.

Cooking with Nutritional Yeast

Nutritional yeast is usually sold as a jar full of yellow flakes - you can sprinkle them directly on foods or stir a spoonful or two into sauces and other dishes. Yeast is a wonderful Paleo-friendly seasoning because it has such a great, savory, cheesy taste. It also gives savory foods a flavor boost because it naturally contains glutamine, a protein with a very strong savory “umami” flavor

If you're curious about nutritional yeast and want to try it out, the recipes can be as simple or as complicated as you have time for.

As a cheese substitute

Most people find the taste of nutritional yeast to be very similar to cheese, so it's a common cheese substitute in Paleo and vegan recipes. You can use it in anything from sauces to casserole dishes to Paleo Mac and cheese - think recipes where you would typically shred or melt the cheese. One tasty substitution: if you used to love baked or mashed potatoes with cheese, try them with some butter or lard, a sprinkle of nutritional yeast, and some crunchy green onions and/or bacon bits. Sweet potatoes work just as well if you're scared of white potatoes for some reason (although there really isn't any reason to be).

Since nutritional yeast comes in tiny flakes, unfortunately it doesn't work super well in grilled cheese, crackers and cheese, or similar. If the recipe depends on a big chunk of cheese, try nut-based cheese substitutes instead.

As an all-purpose seasoning

Maybe you eat dairy as part of your normal Paleo or keto life, so your life is already cheesy without any yeast. Maybe you prefer almond milk cheese or some other non-dairy alternative. Or maybe you're just one of those folks who prefers to eat Paleo foods for what they are and not dress them up and pretend they're something else.

In any case, nutritional yeast still makes a very tasty seasoning sprinkle for any kind of vegetables or meat. Throw it on roasted Brussels sprouts, a pan full of fried cabbage and onions, some chicken stir-fry, fried eggs, shakshuka, or anything else that tastes good with a savory flavor boost.

It's also good on nuts as a crunchy snack - it's a bit like popcorn seasoning but without the gunk. Combine it with chili powder, garlic powder, black pepper, or whatever else you like to highlight the flavor.

What’s your favorite nutritional yeast recipe?

Got a no-fail sauce or recipe to share? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter!

Got a friend or loved one who’s really into Paleo or trying keto for the first time? Don’t know what to get them? We’re here to help, even if you don’t eat this way yourself.

If you already eat Paleo or keto, then the holiday gift-giving is a little bit easier. If your recipient says something like “I’m low-FODMAP HFLC and experimenting with OMAD right now but I’m off AIP,” it actually makes sense to you. But if you’re not already Paleo, that’s just fine. You’re an awesome friend/spouse/sibling for supporting your recipient! Just don’t buy them food if you’re not sure what they eat. Don’t rely on labels like “gluten-free” or even “Paleo-friendly.” Every Paleo eater tweaks the diet to their own exact needs, so if you’re not sure about your recipient specifically, just buy non-food gifts that still support their Paleo/keto goals.

Non-food gifts that require absolutely 0 nutritional knowledge on your part and work for even the most restrictive diets are marked with a triple asterisk (***) in this list.

Paleo is about more than food: it’s also about sleep, stress management, and healthy movement. So these gift ideas also include tools for the whole lifestyle.

Under $20

***Stretchy resizeable silicone lids. Prepping, storing, and hauling around home-cooked food to work and school takes a lot of containers, and that’s before you even think about managing leftovers. One-size-fits-all airtight silicone lids basically turn every container into a Tupperware. They reduce dirty dishes (because you can store your food right in the same bowl you served it out of) and save time spent hunting for matching lids.

A new spice blend or sauce. Order online or pick up something at your local farmer’s market/co-op/ health food store. Then look up some Paleo recipe suggestions that would be good with the spice/sauce, print them out, and package it all together. For example, to go with a za’atar blend, you could give them the recipe for za’atar grilled chicken.

***Travel-friendly salad dressing containers. A lot of Paleo folks either make their own dressing at home or buy specialty brands that don’t offer dressing in single-use pouches. So if they want to pack salad for lunch, they’ll need a single serving of salad dressing to go with it. Get them a set of serving-sized dressing containers so they never have to tote around a full-sized bottle again.

Take a logistical load off their back. Do they struggle to get to the grocery store? If so, can you help out by paying for delivery service, babysitting for a few hours, or making the trip for them once a month? Are they always rushed for time doing meal prep? If so, can you look up recipes, make shopping lists for them, and come over for meal prep help/social catch-up? What logistical thing do they struggle with and how can you organize it on their behalf?

The actual present you’re giving them here is stress relief via application of your time and/or money - sometimes that’s more valuable than any physical “thing” you could buy. Whatever you’ll do for them, print up a nice certificate - that’s your physical present.

With some thoughtful planning, this can be an amazing gift even if you don’t have a lot of money to spend.

$20-50

***Window blackout curtains. To get a really good night of sleep, it helps to have a completely dark room. No streetlight blaring in through the window, no stray ambulance lights, no headlights. Blackout curtains are the best way to make that happen, and yet a lot of people never get around to buying them.

***A vegetable spiralizer. These make Paleo-friendly spiral noodles out of any vegetable. Zucchini, carrots, sweet potatoes, butternut squash...all of them turn into the perfect base for meatballs and marinara sauce after a few turns in the spiralizer!

A travel sleep kit. Got a friend who travels a lot? Make them a travel sleep kit. Fill with any/all of the following:

• A sleep mask
• Melatonin, if they use it.
• Magnesium supplements (Natural Calm comes in travel-friendly single packets!)
• A box of herbal tea
• A few notecards with hand-written quotes or peaceful poetry
• Essential oils
• Nice lotion
• Makeup removal/cleansing cloths

Pack it all up in a zipper pouch for a travel-ready gift.

***A slow-cooker. These incredibly handy little gadgets cook soup, bone broth, chili, roasts, vegetables, and more while you leave the house and do whatever you want. If your recipient doesn’t already have one, this is a great time and labor-saver.

A Paleo/keto snack bag. Grab-and-go packaged Paleo snacks are so convenient and can save someone from a food decision they’ll regret later. Treat your recipient to a collection of Paleo-friendly snacks in a funny or pretty container. Some ideas:

• Box of fancy tea
• Snack packs of nuts/seeds
• Paleo or keto nutrition bars (see our Paleo bar taste-tests)
• Collagen powder (collagen powder taste-tests)
• Non-nut Paleo snacks (Paleo snack taste-tests)
• Jerky or meat-based snack sticks

A cookbook or two. Sure, your recipient can Google a recipe for anything they want, but what if they’re not really sure what they want? You can’t just Google “something I haven’t eaten” and get a list of recipe ideas. What if they want to branch out into recipes they don’t know about or cuisines they’ve never tried? Or what if they want to write notes? And add post-its? There’s a lot to be said for a really good physical cookbook.

$50-100

***An indoor air purifier. Let’s face it - humans make a lot of weird smells, especially when we’re trapped inside with the windows shut all winter. Also, spending time inside exposes you to cleaning fumes, any chemicals released by your bed or furniture, and lots of other indoor air pollutants. The temptation is to buy tons of chemical air fresheners that spew “garden lilac” or “fresh linen breeze” - but that just masks the smell without actually taking out odors at the source. Get your recipient a real air purifier that actually improves air quality while dealing with the smells. The EPA has some helpful guidance on choosing residential air purifiers here.

Grass-Fed Meat. If possible, Paleo encourages pasture-raised and grass-fed meat - it’s more nutritious and also avoids our cruel and environmentally disastrous factory farm system. There are lots of online stores where you can order really good, grass-fed meat for your recipient. Paleo Leap doesn’t endorse any particular option, but US Wellness Meats is a popular option, or Butcher Box if you prefer the subscription box style. For someone who can’t normally afford grass-fed or pastured meat, this can be a huge relief to their grocery budget and a big bump in food quality.

***Personal training or fitness experiences. Paying for a session with a personal trainer is a great gift for gym rats. Or if they’re not big on traditional gyms, what about day passes to go rock climbing, skiing, or kayaking? Or yoga, barre, spin, aqua aerobics, martial arts - anything that they might not have tried before. Pick something that fits your budget and go for it. (Optionally, if you still have cash to spend, add something they might need for the experience, like climbing chalk, a yoga mat, or a gym bag.)

***A nice massage. One of the “lifestyle” parts of Paleo is about relieving chronic stress (that’s stuff like a commute that sends your blood pressure through the roof every day). A really good massage is amazing stress relief, not just because it feels nice but also because it’s an hour totally away from the social media comparison game. If your recipient is into athletics at all, try to find a sports massage for them. Whatever body part they have that’s always aching and injured, it will thank you!

A subscription to Costco or an online marketplace. With this gift, you’re basically giving your recipient a discount on groceries for the year. For families with kids, Costco is a big money saver and great for Paleo staples like nuts, organic meat, and frozen food. For people with smaller households, try a gift subscription to an online health-food market. Paleo Leap doesn’t endorse any particular marketplace, but one option with a lot of Paleo and Keto choices is Thrive Market (about $60/year).

What's your favorite Paleo or keto gift?

What Paleo or keto gift did you give that the recipient loved? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter!

Dairy can be keto-friendly and it’s a Paleo gray area, but there are a lot of people who just feel better without it. For those folks, coconut milk is often the first choice of substitutes - but if you’ve never cooked with it, coconut milk can be confusing.

Nutrition basics

Coconut milk is mostly fat, with a little bit of protein and a few carbs. It's pretty keto-friendly in reasonable amounts (unless you’re getting a sweetened type, which you shouldn’t).

	Coconut milk (½ cup)
Protein	2.3 grams
Fat	24 grams
Carbs	3.2 grams (and also 3.2 net, since there’s no fiber)
Other good stuff	Several minerals, most importantly iron and magnesium.

Unlike cow’s milk, coconut milk has almost no calcium. If you’re hunting for a calcium source, check out these Paleo-friendly, non-dairy meals.

Types of coconut milk (have this part open on your phone at the store)

Just like cow’s milk, coconut milk has options. Not quite as many options, luckily for all of our sanity, but there are a couple choices to make.

The short version: get unsweetened, regular (not lite), canned coconut milk unless you have a specific reason to do otherwise.

• Sweetened vs. unsweetened - always get unsweetened. If you need a sweetener, you can add a Paleo one at home.
• Regular vs. lite - always get regular. Lite coconut milk is just regular coconut milk that’s been diluted with water. Usually, it’s the same price per can or only a few cents cheaper, so you’re actually getting less coconut milk for your dollar. If you need your coconut milk diluted, you can add water for free at home. If you don't use the whole can of full-fat coconut milk, you can just freeze whatever's left and then thaw and use it as necessary.
• Canned vs. boxed - in principle, it doesn’t really matter, but in practice, the coconut milk in boxes often have a lot of gross stabilizers and preservatives to make them shelf-stable at room temperature. Check the ingredients list carefully: if the ingredients are all right, then either canned or boxed is equally good, but in practice, you’re more likely to get decent ingredients with the canned.
• Coconut cream vs. coconut milk - get coconut cream if you want more of a whipped cream/heavy cream experience. Usually this would be for a dessert. Get coconut milk for anything else. (e.g., curries, stews, soups, hot chocolate)

Canned coconut milk should be in the middle aisles, sometimes with the powdered/canned milk and sometimes with the Asian food.

Now, how do you cook with it?

Cooking with coconut milk

Unfortunately, you can’t just substitute coconut milk 1:1 for “regular” milk in all recipes. It doesn’t have the same proteins and sugars as cow’s milk, so for finicky things like baking, it just won’t work in exactly the same way. Also, in some applications, it doesn’t taste quite right - you wouldn’t sit down and drink a big glass of it, and most people wouldn’t pour it over cereal. But once you know how to work with it, it’s pretty low-maintenance and extremely delicious.

What can you cook with coconut milk?

Soups, curries, and stews - coconut milk is an amazing base liquid for all kinds of soups - if you want a warmer, richer, creamier taste, just throw in a can of coconut milk and enjoy! Try it in...

• Curries - like this keto-friendly chicken curry or curried cauliflower and kale soup. Or try this coconut curry soup.
• Pureed soups - where you might normally use cream or milk, just throw in coconut milk instead. Try it in this zucchini soup with sweet potato scoops of creamy asparagus soup.
• "Cream of _____ soup” - if you’re missing cream of broccoli or cream of spinach soup, go right ahead and make some, no dairy required.

Coconut milk has a mild, creamy flavor that adds a rich undertone to any kind of soup or stew you put it in. And it’s super easy to use.

Almost any cut of meat - coconut milk is a great cooking liquid for meat because it adds a great flavor and goes with almost any type of seasoning. Try using it to braise lean cuts like pork loin. Or use coconut milk as a combination cooking liquid and flavor delivery vehicle for chicken drumsticks, coconut cajun pork chops, slow-cooker coconut-ginger chicken, or even coconut curry shrimp.

Sauces and dressings - it’s easy to under-appreciate the dressings aisle of the grocery store until you go Paleo and suddenly your options narrow down dramatically. Even with the explosion of “real food” condiments in recent years, it’s still sometimes hard to find what you need, especially at an affordable price.

Coconut milk can substitute for dairy ingredients in all kinds of sauces and dressings. Check out some recipes:

• This grilled chicken recipe, featuring a buttermilk dressing made with coconut milk
• Chicken with coconut-mango sauce
• AIP grilled salmon with avocado-coconut sauce
• Mediterranean-style chicken with coconut dill sauce
• The coconut dressing for this chicken butternut salad

Desserts - who doesn’t love a good Paleo dessert. Paleo baking doesn’t use coconut milk the same way that “regular” baking uses cow’s milk, but there’s no reason to miss out on that delicious richness in all kinds of desserts, like...

• Coconut milk hot chocolate
• Coconut tapioca pudding
• Paleo eggnog
• Paleo carrot cake (for this one, you’d want to buy coconut cream instead of coconut milk).
• Caramel apple chia parfaits

Coconut cream also makes a great topping for Paleo cake, scones, or other delicacies.

Miscellaneous cooking notes

A few extra tips and tricks:

• It's normal for coconut milk to separate into two layers, with a thicker layer of cream at the top of the can and a thinner layer of watery coconut milk below. If you want the cream separately, this is perfect; if you don't, just shake the can before opening or stir it after opening to re-mix the two halves.
• Coconut milk freezes well. If you only use half a can, go ahead and freeze the leftovers.
• Not everyone reacts well to coconut milk. Some people are allergic to coconut; other people just don't tolerate it. If you're in this camp, check out other dairy alternatives like almond milk - no point in forcing the coconut issue if your body isn't happy with it.

How do you use coconut milk?

Got a favorite recipe? A tip for cooking with coconut milk/coconut cream? Share on Facebook or Twitter!

It’s so common for people to be eating Paleo and loving it until their mom goes  into the hospital or their big project comes due at work, and then everything falls off the rails. Then they have to start all over again 6 months later and 20 pounds heavier, which is discouraging and puts them through all the pain of the transition twice. Ugh.

It’s totally understandable that eating well isn’t always everyone’s #1 priority and even falls off the radar sometimes. We’re all humans with families and friends: we (hopefully!) have things more important to us than Omega-3 fats and net carb counts. But there’s a middle ground between “strict Paleo” and “dinner is Doritos and Red Bull at 3 am.”

The key is to adjust your goals to target the best version of Paleo you can realistically meet under the circumstances - avoid the “I’ve blown it, might as well binge...for a month” mentality. If you can stay mentally focused and in control, you’ve won 90% of the battle even if your diet quality takes a temporary dip. Because if you can stay focused and in control, you're in a great position to do as well as you can right now, and then pick right back up with Paleo once the crisis is past.

But “be flexible and have a Plan B” is easier said than done. So here’s a list of suggested Plan B goals for those times when full Paleo isn’t going to happen. You could think of them as “maintenance semi-Paleo” goals that you can commit to even when life is out of control and you might not have time or energy for your normal routine.

1. Don’t eat any junk food you don’t actually want to eat.

People often eat things that we don’t even really want to eat at times when we’re not even hungry - because we’re stressed, because it’s “time for lunch,” because we want a distraction, or because everyone else is eating.

These aren't great reasons to eat, especially not something that isn't great for you. You might end up eating some things that aren't 100% Paleo, and that can be OK, but first ask yourself:

1. Am I hungry?
2. If I am hungry, is this actually the thing that I want?
3. If I don’t specifically want this particular junk food, but I'm still hungry, is there a less-bad option I could have instead?

Essentially, be a food snob. Not in the sense of “I won’t eat this steak unless the cow had a pedigree,” but in the sense of being picky and particular about eating only what you really like. Treat yourself like a princess. You're having a rough time; you deserve that level of care and attention to what you really want.

If you aren’t hungry for that soggy ham and cheese sandwich from 7-11 and you’re just eating it because it’s "lunchtime," don’t eat it. You deserve better. If you don’t actually want the entire bag of cookies (maybe they don’t even taste good anyway) but you’re just sitting there putting hand to mouth again and again, stop. Throw it in the trash. You deserve better. Framing it this way is a nice break from the “must resist temptation” model and it can even make eating well feel a little like self-care, while still giving you leeway for the less-than-perfect food that you're actually hungry for, or the family favorite comfort food that your mom cooked.

2. Eat vegetables every day.

This is a step down from the standard Paleo prescription of eating vegetables at every meal, but we’re doing damage control here. Once a day isn’t as good as every meal, but it’s way better than never.

Eating vegetables every day is habit maintenance. It keeps you in the habit of buying and cooking and eating vegetables. And it keeps the vegetables ready to hand and convenient. As the stress starts to ease, you’ll have the vegetables right there, waiting for you to have them twice a day, and then three times. When you have the opportunity and the energy to go beyond the bare minimum, everything you need will be at your fingertips.

A few tips for making this easy even when you’re time-crunched and stressed:

• Grab some pre-cut crudites and dip - it counts!
• Check the freezer section again - frozen vegetables have really gotten better in the past few years and you can get frozen cauliflower “rice” and zoodles even at Wal-Mart.
• Almost everything (except for salad greens) tastes good roasted with olive oil and garlic - which takes about 5 minutes of actual effort to put together.

3. Avoid letting yourself get too hungry.

The ideal way to accomplish this is to carry around lots of Paleo snacks and portable meals - nuts, bars and other snack foods are easy to grab and shelf-stable so you can throw them in the car or your bag for whenever they're needed. Go on a big grocery run and stock up! But if you don't have anything, don’t starve yourself waiting for the perfect Paleo option. If you're physically hungry - not craving, not bored, not stressed - and you have something you can eat that won’t make you ill, eat it.

This is a Paleo maintenance technique because it prevents starve-binge cycles. It’s better to be hungry, eat some yogurt and granola, and then go on with your day than it is to be hungry, hold out for Paleo food, get progressively hungrier and more miserable, pass a Krispy Kreme 4 hours later, and snap and eat a dozen donuts. It’s better for your health and it’s better for your sanity. And that way, you practice proactively meeting your body's needs, rather than practicing starving yourself and binging.

Obviously, this doesn’t apply to, say, people with Celiac Disease eating bread - that’s the “won’t make you ill” above. But for foods that won’t cause extreme reactions, it’s often better to eat something imperfect than go hungry and then go overboard. This can be a hard goal - it takes discipline sometimes to choose something less than perfect instead of holding out until you snap. But it really pays off if you can make it work.

4. If you go to a restaurant, skip the grains.

Stressful life events often mean a lot of restaurant meals - in airports, in train stations, in strange cities, in hospitals, at highway rest stops, or just in your own hometown because you’ve been at the office since 6am and now it’s 8pm and you’re starving. Luckily, at a restaurant, someone else is doing all the cooking and dish-washing, so this is a great opportunity to get high-maintenance foods like fresh vegetables.

You can get Paleo-ish food almost anywhere - every city has at least one chain of counter service salad restaurants, plus there are salad bowls at Chipotle or Panera, protein style burgers at In-n-Out, unwiches at Jimmy John’s, those little egg bites at Starbucks...there's an option just about everywhere. At nicer restaurants, you can usually just get some kind of protein with vegetables. None of these are 100% perfectly Paleo, but all of them are a lot better than a burger and a milkshake.

Total perfection can wait, but aim to get food that’s at least surface-level Paleo when you eat at a restaurant. No bread, no pasta, preferably no other grains, minimal sugar, and follow your usual practice for dairy. If it ends up being cooked in canola oil or there’s sugar in the sauce or something, give yourself a break about it; the important part is practicing making good choices and sticking to your plan, even if it’s Plan B.

Summing it Up

Everyone has times in their life when eating well takes a back seat. If it hasn’t happened to you yet, it will. Maybe it lasts a week and maybe it lasts 6 months. During those times, be flexible about your goals based on what’s realistic for you right now. If you can revise your goals and avoid feeling out of control or hopeless, you’ll be in a good position to jump back into Paleo eating when the stress ends.

Some people go Paleo first and then move towards keto. But other people start with keto, and then gradually get interested in a more Paleo approach. If that's you, here's the case for why you should consider cutting out gluten and wheat, even if you're already doing keto.

If all you care about is staying in ketosis, you could still hypothetically eat gluten - as long as your carbs are low enough, you can eat whatever else you want. But even on a keto diet, it can still be helpful to cut out gluten as well - and the good news is that if you can do keto, gluten-free keto isn't all that hard. If you’re coming to this site from a keto perspective and you aren’t already eating Paleo, cutting out gluten can help shift your diet more towards Paleo keto.

A very quick refresher: Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. Gluten itself isn't a kind of carbohydrate, but it’s found primarily in carbohydrate-rich foods. People with Celiac Disease have a genetic abnormality that makes them react very strongly to gluten, but there’s a growing pile of evidence that some people have non-Celiac sensitivity to gluten or to other components of wheat.

1. It helps troubleshoot weird nagging health issues

Got headaches? Random skin issues? Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)? Other bizarre digestive problems that don’t go away after going keto? Inexplicable fatigue? All of the above?

These are super vague and non-specific symptoms. It’s hypothetically possible that they could be anything from stress to cancer. But they can all also be symptoms of gluten intolerance - yes, even the weird skin symptoms and other problems that seem unrelated to digestion.

For the gut-related problems, take a quick look at some studies connecting gluten/wheat sensitivity to:

• Abdominal pain, bloating, and tiredness
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome symptoms generally

This review (free full-text) has an overview of all the non-gut-related stuff, including pain, brain fog, fatigue, depression/anxiety, and dermatological/skin symptoms. It sounds almost beyond belief, but there's actually evidence that gluten can be one cause of these issues. Again, they could also be caused by all kinds of other problems (including other food allergies and unrelated intolerances like FODMAPs sensitivity), but eliminating gluten/wheat for a couple weeks is an easy way to test whether or not this is an issue for you.

2. It forces you to really read ingredients labels.

How many times have you heard some variation on “I had no idea _____ had so much _____ until I read the ingredients. I can’t believe I’ve been eating it for years!” There are whole crowds of people out there who legitimately don’t know that cookies have tons of salt, or that their BBQ sauce is full of sugar, or whatever else. This isn’t to shame anyone - we’re all busy, people have other things to do than read nutrition labels, and it’s not exactly gripping prose. But they are important, and a lot of times we need a nudge to really pay attention to them and read them consistently and carefully.

Reading nutrition labels speaks directly to one of the most common problems that trips up well-intentioned newbies to keto. A lot of new keto eaters accidentally overeat carbs, often because they don’t read the ingredients, nutrition information, or serving size information carefully. Hunting down traces of gluten forces you to carefully scrutinize the ingredients labels on any and all processed foods. This is good practice generally but it's essential for keto to prevent carb creep and accidentally carbing up when you didn’t mean to. Watch out for those sneaky carbs!

(Here's more on reading nutrition labels for Paleo and keto diets)

3. It steers you away from keto junk food.

Try eating frozen prepackaged food of any kind when you can’t have gluten. Even pre-made salad dressings can be a challenge. A lot of low-carb diet food is out.

Of course, gluten-free food is a huge market now, so there's an increasing amount of processed, packaged food with "gluten-free" labels splashed all over it. But the vast majority of it is high-carb (made with tapioca flour, oats, rice, or similar wheat replacements), so that's automatically out on keto.

Basically, if you try to eat keto and stay gluten free, it's a lot harder to eat a bunch of highly processed treats that shouldn't be in your mouth very often anyway. It's an easy way to steer your diet away from prepackaged processed foods and towards whole, fresh foods and single ingredients.

4. It supports your keto goals

Why are you eating keto?

If it's for weight loss, you want your gut on your side for that, and gluten really isn't great for gut health.

If you just want to be healthier - well, steering further away from junk food and reading nutrition labels more carefully does a lot for most people’s health.

Fighting inflammation? Trying to pin down weird symptoms or miscellaneous health issues that just won't go away? Might as well give it a try, at least as part of a process of elimination.

At least trying a gluten-free month or so is totally congruent with the reasons why people go keto, and it supports the benefits that keto already provides, like weight loss and better metabolic health.

5. You’re mostly there anyway

If you’re eating keto, you’re not eating bread, pasta, tortillas, cookies, most processed foods, 99% of microwaveable stuff available in the freezer section...you’ve almost completely cut out gluten anyway just by dropping the carb count so low.

In other words, most of the things that people will “miss too much” to give up gluten...you’ve already given them up! The last few sneaky gluten sources might be things like:

• Soy sauce (replace with coconut aminos)
• Frozen junk food (read the ingredients list really closely)
• Seasoning mixes, spice blends, etc.
• Low-carb gluten protein products (seitan, etc.)

And if you're buying pure gluten for whatever reason (yep, this is a thing you can buy), maybe stop buying that.

After the huge shift to keto, switching to a more Paleo-style keto diet without gluten isn't that much of an additional change. Most of the heavy lifting is already done.

Try it; you’ll like it

From a Paleo perspective, eating keto might be great for weight loss, but just cutting carbs isn’t enough for lasting health. Taking out gluten is one step towards a truly Paleo keto diet - try it; you'll like it!

Did you start your journey to better health by going keto, and then slowly start shifting towards a more Paleo keto approach? How did it go? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter!

Are you thinking about starting keto, but everyone is constantly repeating how unhealthy it is? Or maybe you’re not even sure about all the details yourself - which is fine; nobody knows all this stuff just off the top of their heads. Check out 6 common myths about keto and why they don’t hold water:

1. Myth: It's about eating only meat

Nope, that's the carnivore/zero-carb diet. Keto is about eating very low-carb foods, not about eating only meat. On keto, most people try to stay under 20 grams of net carbs (as a rough guideline - some people can go higher; other people stay lower). But low-carb plant foods like avocados, nuts, spices, and low-carb vegetables are encouraged. Just look at all the plant foods you could eat in a day without going over 20 grams of net carbs:

Example 1	Example 2	Example 3
2 cups of raw spinach   1 avocado 3 of those little green onions that go on salads raw 1 cup of cabbage 1 cup of mushrooms Total: 11.6 grams of net carbs	2 cups of cauliflower (measured raw; cook it or not)   5 spears of asparagus 1 ounce of raw almonds Total: 10.3 grams of net carbs	2 cups raw kale   1 ounce walnuts 1 zucchini 1 red pepper 2 tablespoons of pesto Total: 12 grams of net carbs

These example numbers still leave you some wiggle room in the carb count for dairy foods, mis-measuring, sauces/dressings, and miscellaneous other things.

People on keto do avoid high-carb plant foods (potatoes, grains, beans, most fruits), but that’s because of the carbs, not because they’re plants. Plant foods are fine! Low-carb plant foods are keto-friendly and good for you! Nobody needs to avoid all plant foods to lose weight.

2. Myth: You lose weight but it comes right back

Here’s the thing: if you go on any diet, and lose weight down to your goal weight, and then go off the diet and start eating the way you were eating before, you’ll be lucky to only gain back the weight you lost. Most likely, you’ll regain a few extra pounds on top of all the old weight. (This is why yo-yo dieting is so bad for your health). That has nothing to do with keto specifically; it’s just a general truth about weight loss. If the junk food comes back on to your plate, the weight will come back on to your body.

6 months of dieting can’t magically armor the human body against regaining weight (in fact, it basically does the opposite). That’s why it’s so important to establish long-term sustainable eating habits during weight loss. The reason why people criticize keto specifically and claim that the “weight comes right back on” is that they assume it’s not sustainable and that nobody could possibly do it long-term. But actually, keto works pretty well in the long term, because you don’t have to be hungry or spend all your time compulsively weighing tiny portions of granola.

On the other hand, it’s possible to transition off keto without regaining weight, as long as you switch to some other way of eating that supports your new, lower weight (i.e., not just going back to however you were eating before). Plenty of people move from keto to other variations of Paleo or low-carb diets and happily maintain like that - keto is a pretty sustainable long-term diet, but you’re not stuck with it once you’ve started, if you don’t want to be.

3. Myth: You might lose weight, but all that fat and cholesterol is so bad for you!

Even the Dietary Guidelines will now inform you that dietary cholesterol doesn’t really affect blood cholesterol in healthy people, and that restricting dietary cholesterol to prevent heart disease doesn’t make sense. Read more about it here if you’re interested - just because it’s been repeated a million times doesn’t make it true. For the majority of people, the body’s own cholesterol regulation system can handle wide fluctuations in dietary cholesterol without a problem, and there’s no evidence in favor of sharply restricting dietary cholesterol.

There’s also no evidence that fat makes you fat or that all fat is bad for you. Eating the wrong kind of fat can cause health problems, but “the wrong kind of fat” here involves industrially processed seed oils, not egg yolks and beef.

4. Myth: It's basically Paleo but even weirder

Keto isn’t the same as Paleo, although there is a lot of overlap. To vastly oversimplify, keto is about how many carbs you eat; Paleo is about the nutritional quality of foods you eat.

• Keto is about getting into ketosis, which basically means restricting carbs and eating a lot of fat-rich foods. It’s almost entirely a numbers game, mostly about counting net carbs (that’s carbs, but without counting fiber).
• Paleo is about eating foods that are evolutionarily appropriate to the human species, in order to prevent inflammation, heal gut issues, and avoid “lifestyle diseases" like type 2 diabetes. Most versions of Paleo exclude grains, sugar, seed oils, legumes, and soy. Some exclude dairy. Most include high-carb foods like bananas, sweet potatoes, and honey that would be completely excluded on keto.

You can eat a Paleo version of keto that combines the two diets, just in case you want a side order of better health with your weight loss. But eating keto doesn’t require you to eat Paleo as well, and eating Paleo doesn’t require you to eat keto. They’re two different concepts.

5. Myth: You're only allowed to eat once a day

This is another optional-but-not-required part of keto.

Eating once a day (sometimes abbreviated OMAD for One Meal A Day) is a kind of intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting may have benefits for weight loss and longevity generally (although that latter has been mostly studied in animals, not in humans). You can combine intermittent fasting with keto, and a lot of people do, but it’s not necessary. You can do keto and eat every other day, or one meal a day, or three, or six, or ten meals a day. It doesn’t really matter - you can have as many meals as you want on keto; just stay under your carb count.

6. Myth: You have to eat tons of protein

Not really. Many people do eat more protein on keto, because they eat more meat and eggs and other protein-rich foods, but that’s an individual preference, not some inherent requirement of the diet. The classic ketogenic diet is actually pretty low in protein. If you prefer to eat a low- or moderate-protein diet, that’s just fine on keto - eat more avocados and nuts and heavy cream, and go easy on the meat.

What’s your “favorite” keto myth? How do you explain the truth to people you love - family, friends, and generally curious folks who ask you about your diet? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter!

Paleo is already a lot of cooking - who wants to cook twice? But what else can you do if your spouse or kids refuse to eat your “weird diet food” and won’t give up on bread and sugar?

Here are 6 meals that keep everyone happy without double-cooking: you can swap different components of the meal in and out so everyone gets what they want - and only what they want. We’ve also separated out the Paleo-friendly starches, so if low-carb or keto Paleo is your thing, you can easily skip them.

None of these suggestions involve expecting non-Paleo spouses or kids to enjoy cauliflower “rice,” chicken breast as a pizza crust, or vegetables in any other place where they’d normally have grains. If your family will go for that type of substitution, great! But a lot of people just won’t do it: with these recipes, your non-Paleo loved ones can eat “normal” food that they’re used to eating, while you enjoy a Paleo meal, and maybe even get them curious about this new way of eating...

1. Burgers On the Grill

Summer is just around the corner, and those long, warm evenings along with it - what’s more fun on a beautiful night than heading outside to cook on the grill?

Protein (Paleo and keto-friendly): Keto kafta burgers - these Greek-style burgers take just a few minutes on the grill

Vegetable (Paleo): Creamy cucumber and chive salad - crunchy cucumbers and radishes make this a great complement to a fat-heavy kafta burger, plus you can prep it ahead and leave it in the fridge until you’re ready to eat. As an alternative, if you want vegetables off the grill as well, here’s a recipe for grilled mixed vegetables that’s easily adaptable to any family’s preferences.

Starch (Paleo): Mustard and bacon potato salad - another make-ahead recipe that will wait happily in the fridge until dinner time.

Non-Paleo Add-On: Grilled sweet corn with plenty of butter. This takes almost no extra time or effort to prepare, and it’s a whole lot healthier than most kinds of grain-based sides your family could be eating. Sure, the grain part isn’t ideal, but at least it’s pretty unprocessed and not full of added sugars.

You can also grab a package of "normal" buns for the kafta burgers - just let your non-Paleo loved ones take them as they want them. At least it doesn’t add anything to your total cooking time.

2. Breakfast Buffet

For an ordinary breakfast, the dining experience usually takes a back seat to the scramble to get everyone fed and out the door on time. But then there are your Easter Sundays. Your birthday brunches. Your Mother’s Days and Father’s Days and just general special occasions when we all slow down a bit and really enjoy the meal. Here’s a suggestion for those days:

Protein (Paleo and keto-friendly): Fancy deviled eggs or Eggs Benedict in ham cups.

Vegetable (Paleo): Dijon and pecan asparagus, or this light recipe for baked asparagus with strawberries and raspberries. If you’re eating with non-Paleo companions who aren’t used to the vegetables-at-breakfast idea, fresh fruit or fruit salad is a more “normal” alternative to get more nutrient-dense plant foods into the meal.

Starch (Paleo): Paleo bread - make some toast and throw some butter and honey on top, or even try some homemade jam. Special breakfasts are exactly the kind of occasion that Paleo bread was made for - you can indulge in a treat and share a meal with loved ones in the spirit of eating together, without worrying about the health consequences.

Non-Paleo Add-On: If you personally aren’t into the Paleo bread gig, you could just offer “regular” bread or English muffins here, to save the effort of baking special Paleo bread for people who would be just as happy with a bag off the shelf. Biscuits with gravy would be nice if you really like your fellow eaters and want to indulge their non-Paleo appetites. Alternately, some kind of sweet lemon dessert goes well with a special brunch, and you can save time again by buying one at a bakery instead of cooking yourself.

3. Slow-Cooker Weeknight Dinner

A slow-cooker is an invaluable tool for any time-strapped cook, but a lot of slow-cooker meals involve noodles or rice thrown right in with everything else, so there's no opportunity to pick out the Paleo parts. Instead, try using the slow-cooker to make just the part that everyone eats, and then lean on sides and add-ons that you can make ahead or buy pre-made.

Protein (Paleo): Slow-cooker barbecue ribs - a big crowd-pleaser, especially with kids, and easy to throw in and forget about until it’s dinner time.

Vegetable (Paleo): Coleslaw with apples and poppy seeds - make it ahead and refrigerate as long as you like before it’s time to eat. If you need something lower-carb, try this keto coleslaw recipe instead!

Starch (Paleo): Sweet potato hash browns or Chipotle glazed sweet potato fries

Non-Paleo Add-On: Fresh cornbread - if you can get fresh-baked cornbread from a good bakery, it makes a great starchy side for barbecue anything and doesn’t add a lot of cooking time/effort. Hush puppies are another option if you want to put in the work to make them.

4. Spaghetti and Meatballs

Protein (Paleo and keto-friendly): Meatballs with marinara sauce (chicken version or classic beef/pork version)

Vegetable (Paleo and keto-friendly): Sauteed garlic broccolini - this vegetable can be tossed with spaghetti noodles for those who eat them, but for those who don’t, it works great as a side for the meatballs. The garlic flavor goes perfectly with meatballs and marinara!

Starch (Paleo): Garlic and herb roasted butternut squash (or replace with any other squash of your choice; you can also substitute carrots or parsnips if squash isn’t in season).

Non-Paleo Add-On: Wheat pasta - it takes only a couple of minutes on the stovetop to make a big pot of “normal” spaghetti for those who insist on it - toss some broccolini with it for a bit of extra nutritional content.

5. Steak Dinner Extraordinaire

This one is a bit higher-budget, but it just goes to show: a lot of the food we think of as luxury food is actually pretty Paleo-friendly. This dinner would be totally complete without the non-Paleo side, and it’s something most of us would expect as a treat!

Protein & Vegetable (Paleo and keto-friendly): Peppercorn steaks with roasted asparagus & shiitake mushrooms - this recipe delivers a lot of flavor in just a few minutes of cook time. As written, it does use both the oven and the grill, but you could also use a stovetop grill or cook your steaks in a skillet using your favorite method.

Starch (Paleo): Olive oil baked potatoes - for extra delicious skin, rub olive oil over the outside of each potato before baking. Toppings are your choice! White potatoes are perfectly Paleo-friendly, but you can also substitute sweet potatoes if you prefer them.

Non-Paleo Add-On: If you even need anything else, nice crusty dinner rolls, steaming hot, with lots of butter.

6. Asian-Inspired Better-Than-Takeout

The temptation to order takeout after a long day can be strong, especially if you’re staring down the prospect of cooking one meal for yourself and one for everyone else.

Protein & Vegetable (Paleo and keto-friendly): Simple Asian beef stir-fry - this super-fast meal gives you meat and vegetables all in one pan. Want more veg? How about some ginger bok choy as well?

Starch (Paleo): Bake some Okinawan sweet potatoes (these are purple on the outside and creamy pale yellow or white on the inside - you can get them at Whole Foods and similarly fancy grocery stores). Substitute boniato if that’s easier, or just roast regular sweet potatoes with some five-spice powder or chili pepper flakes.

Non-Paleo Add-On: White rice is the classic choice here - it barely takes any time to whip up a pot. Jazz it up with some rice vinegar, ginger, green onions, and soy sauce (or coconut aminos if your non-Paleo eaters are still gluten free).

How do you swing it?

What’s your favorite dinner to cook for a mixed group - without cooking two whole separate dinners? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter!

Not all people on keto diets eat cheese - and that’s totally fine! If you can’t tolerate dairy, here are some dairy-free cheese substitutes to consider. But if dairy sits well with you, then it can add some variety and nutrition to an otherwise restrictive keto diet. And one of the most beloved forms of dairy is cheese.

Cheese is the all-purpose keto replacement for crunchy-salty snacks. You can make it into puffy snack bites, crisps, pizza crust, ooey-gooey dip, and all-purpose high-fat deliciousness. But not all cheese is keto-approved - some kinds of cheese actually do have a significant number of carbs. And there are a few really great kinds with very few carbs that many people aren't aware of.

Here are 8 kinds of cheese that work great in keto or low-carb diets. Note that all the carb counts are both total carbs and net carbs, since none of these cheeses have any fiber.

1. Halloumi

Claim to fame: Halloumi is known as “grilling cheese” because...you can grill it! It’s pretty hard and it doesn’t melt as easily as softer cheeses like mozzarella and brie. That means you can use it a lot like meat in a culinary sense, to add some variety to the summer menu.

Carbs per serving: 0-1 grams of carbs per 1 ounce, along with about 6 grams of protein and 7 grams of fat.

Use it in… grilled skewers, along with meat and low-carb vegetables. You can also grill slices of halloumi and toss them over salad, maybe with some nice olive oil and fresh tomatoes.

2. Feta Cheese

Claim to fame: Feta is made of goat’s milk, which can make it easier on the stomach even for people who have trouble with cow’s milk cheese.

Carbs per serving: Per ¼ cup of crumbled feta cheese, 1.5 grams of carbs (none of that is fiber, so it’s 1.5 grams net). Per ¼ cup, you’ll also get 4 grams of protein and 6 grams of fat.

Use it in… These Greek-style burgers - or any Mediterranean-inspired salad, like this one.

3. Brie Cheese

Claim to fame: Brie cheese is really high in fat, and also melty and delicious on just about anything.

Carbs per serving: Per 1 ounce, 0.1 grams of carbs, along with 6 grams of protein and 8 grams of fat.

Use it in… eat brie with slices of hard sausage as a snack or appetizer - or melt it over a frittata or other baked egg dish.

If you’re not doing keto, you could also eat brie with apple slices, or with gluten-free/Paleo crackers.

4. Gruyere Cheese

Claim to fame: Delicious with eggs; very close to 0 grams of carbs. What more could you want in a cheese?

Carbs per serving: Per 1 ounce, 0.1 grams of carbs, along with 8.5 grams of protein and 9 grams of fat.

Use it in… Oven omelets, egg bakes, frittatas, and other egg dishes. For example, toss it in these!

5. Cream cheese

Claim to fame: Cream cheese has an almost sweet flavor to it, which makes it ideal for low-carb, high-fat desserts. It’s the star in a lot of keto dessert recipes.

Carbs per serving: Per 2 tbsp. 1.6 grams of carbs, along with 2 grams of protein and 10 grams of fat.

Use it in… Keto baking (as the main ingredient in keto cheesecake, or to add heaviness/moistness to other keto treats). You can also use it to make savory foods - like breakfast pinwheels with smoked salmon, cream cheese, and arugula.

6. Romano cheese

Claim to fame: Romano cheese is tasty in a lot of the same places you’d use Parmesan - it’s a hard, grater-friendly cheese that tastes delicious over Italian food and in salads. In fact, you’ll often see Parmesan/Romano (or Parmesan/Romano/Asiago) blends available with the Parmesan. But Romano is lower in carbs, making it preferable for keto diets where every carb counts.

Carbs per serving: Per ¼ cup of shredded Romano, about 1 gram of carbs, along with about 9 grams of protein and 7 grams of fat. That makes Romano slightly easier on the carb limits than Parmesan, which has about 3.5 grams of carbs (along with 7 grams of protein and 7 grams of fat) for the same amount of cheese. If you’re sticking to a strict, 20-gram net carb limit for keto, cutting down by even 2.5 grams can help a surprising amount!

Use it in… low-carb “pasta” made with spaghetti squash - like this recipe or this one. Or sprinkle it over Paleo pizza for that special finishing touch.

7. Paneer

Claim to fame: Paneer is a staple cheese in Indian food - if you head out to an Indian restaurant, you’ll probably see saag paneer (spinach with fried paneer), mattar paneer (peas and paneer with a tomato sauce), and paneer tikka masala (paneer in a spicy curry sauce).

Carbs per serving: Per roughly a 1-inch cube, 1 gram of carbs, along with 6 grams of protein and 7 grams of fat.

Use it in… Curry, and all kinds of other delicious Indian/southeast Asian dishes. Fry it and serve on top of curry vegetables - yum!

8. Cheese Curds

Claim to fame: Cheese curds might be familiar as one part of poutine, but they’re tasty low-carb snacks in their own right (although you’ll have to hold the fries).

Carbs per serving: 0-1, depending on the brand - but note that this is for the plain curds only. If you pour gravy on top of them, that’s extra, and sadly the curds in a big plate of poutine have no power to suck all the carbs out of the fries. Also beware of packaged flavored cheese curds in the store: the flavorings probably add some carbs.

Use them in...Make a keto-friendly breading out of almond meal and some egg, coat them, and fry them. Or throw them in at the very end of the cooking period with any kind of roasted vegetables, like broccoli or cauliflower. Once the vegetables are basically done, transfer them to a casserole dish, add the curds on top, put it all back in the oven just until the cheese gets melty, and dig in!

Higher-carb cheeses: use caution with these

We’re not saying don’t eat them, but be aware of how much you’re eating when you dig into some higher-carb cheeses like…

• Labneh and similar yogurt cheeses: they can often have 4-5 grams per serving, depending on the brand and exact style.
• Cottage cheese: per half a cup, this can have 5-6 grams of carbs.

As a general rule, go for full-fat versions of cheeses where possible, and watch out for packaged shredded cheeses: some of them have anti-caking agents that add carbs to the total. If in doubt, it’s safer to shred your cheese yourself at home.

What kinds of cheese do you like in your low-carb/keto diet? How do you use them? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter!

They’re long and complicated and full of numbers: for people who don’t already know a lot about nutrition, those black-and-white boxes can seem impossibly intimidating. But here’s the good news: once you know what to look for, you can skim just a few lines to find the most important information. The key is knowing how to read the darn things.

Go straight to the most boring-looking part of the package

Whatever your eye is naturally drawn to on a food package, skip reading that part. That’s the advertising, which is the worst possible source of factual and useful information about the food. Instead, look for that black-and-white box on the side. Sure, it looks like something excerpted straight from the SAT, and your eyes might glaze over if you try to read it straight through, but that’s where the gold mine is. Really.

Read this first: The Ingredients List

The ingredients list is usually at the bottom of the Nutrition Facts label. Go here first! As a rule of thumb, it should be short, and most of the items listed should be familiar to you as food.

For example, on the left in the picture below is the ingredients list from a bottle of apple cider vinegar. It contains two ingredients, and one of them is water. The other ingredient is vinegar, which most of us recognize as food. On the right is a list of ingredients from a package of Keebler ice cream cones (just as a representative example of a food that does nothing for your health). It’s...bad.

Here’s a checklist of non-Paleo ingredients to watch for:

• Sugar, by all of its names: everyone knows sugar is bad for you at this point, so the marketing folks at big food companies use all kinds of names to hide it. “Cane juice,” “corn sweetener,” “beet juice,” etc. - all sugar! Honey, maple syrup, and molasses are all basically sugar, “natural" or not. Here’s a comprehensive list of 61 different names for sugar.
• Corn: sometimes also called maize. Corn syrup, corn flour, corn oil - none of it is Paleo.
• Soy, including soy lecithin, soybean oil, soy flour, miso,
• Wheat, including flour.
• Junk oils: peanut oil, “vegetable oil,” and all their industrially processed friends.

If you keep an eye out for those things, you’ll catch most of the potentially hidden non-Paleo ingredients.

Sometimes, you’ll see different ingredients in bold, and/or a bolded statement at the bottom that the food “contains wheat, milk, soy, and egg ingredients” (or a similar list). This is an allergen warning but can be helpful for spotting non-Paleo ingredients.

Tip: bear in mind that some ingredients with scary-sounding names may actually be perfectly harmless. Don’t automatically reject something because of one or two ingredients you don’t recognize.

Next up: The Nutrition Facts

After a closer look at the ingredients, skim the nutrition facts, but only look at the important parts.

Nutrition label requirements in the US have recently changed, and companies are in the process of switching over from old to new. In the meantime, you’ll probably see both types. They aren’t very different.

Here’s a quick visual guide to both - old on the left, new on the right:

What to check…

Fat: make sure the food has 0 grams of trans fat. The exception: conjugated linoleic acid is a trans fat that naturally occurs in some grass-fed beef, egg, and dairy products, and it’s not bad for you - in fact, it might actually be very good for you! If the food contains pastured/grass-fed animal products and the ingredients list doesn’t have anything “partially hydrogenated,” you’re probably fine.

Carbs: probably the most important single item for people on keto diets is the carb count. The new nutrition label lists carbs like this:

• Total Carbs (includes all other categories)
  • Fiber
  • Total Sugars (includes added sugar)
    • Added Sugars

Net carbs aren’t listed on the label, but you can calculate them by taking total carbs - fiber.

Make sure the net carbs fall within your own daily carb limit - for most people on keto, that’s 20 grams of net carbs per day. Remember that the label lists carbs per serving, which isn’t necessarily the entire package.

The total sugar vs. added sugar distinction is useful as a measure of junk-iness, because it distinguishes between the sugars that are naturally present in foods like milk and fruit and the sugars added during processing. For example, if you took one cup of strawberries and sprinkled 2 tbsp. of table sugar over them, the nutrition label for your dessert would read:

• Total Sugars: 15.8 g
  • Includes 8.4 g Added Sugars

The total sugar amount includes 7.4 grams of sugar that was naturally present in the strawberries and 8.4 grams of sugar from the table sugar. Breaking out added sugar lets you see how much of that comes from the table sugar. In general, added sugar should be as low as possible, ideally 0. A non-zero number in the total sugar line is fine if the food has fruit or dairy products in it.

Protein: it’s totally fine if salad dressing or side dishes have barely any protein in it - but your meal as a whole should have at least 20 grams of protein.

...and what to ignore

Ignore the calorie count per serving. This is in big font on the new nutrition label because the USDA really wants you to pay attention to it. The official position is that everyone should be counting calories - but research actually shows that counting calories is a bad plan for losing weight and that a better strategy is a diet that automatically limits calories for you, without making you count them. So: don’t stress about the calorie numbers per serving.

Ignore the % daily value numbers for protein, fat, and carbs. They’re all based on the assumption that you’re following the USDA recommended macronutrient ratios, which just don’t apply to most Paleo diets and are totally out of whack for anyone on keto. Ignore them completely. The percentages for vitamins and minerals can be interesting, just don’t stress about satisfying them exactly.

In summary: a checklist!

That was a lot to take in, so here’s a quick, phone-friendly checklist: take a screenshot and keep it with your shopping list, or print it out and tape it to your paper list.

Ingredients

• No sugar (aka cane juice, cane syrup, evaporated cane syrup, rice syrup, beet juice, etc.)
• No wheat
• No soy
• No corn
• No hydrogenated oils
• No industrial junk oils (peanut oil, canola oil, “vegetable oil,” etc.)

Nutrition Facts

• Net carbs (total carbs - fiber) within your personal limit.
• No trans fat (except CLA)
• Low (ideally no) added sugar

What the Nutrition Label Can and Can’t Tell You

The nutrition label can tell you (to a certain degree of accuracy) what is in the food. But labels can’t tell you how much you should eat or whether the food is right for you. That part is up to you.

If you don’t have clear nutritional goals, labels are just random numbers in a vacuum. All the numbers only start getting useful when you see them in the context of your goals. “40 grams total carbs, 2 grams of fiber” actually means something if you’re trying to eat keto and know you need to stay under 20 grams of net carbs per day - and what it means is “put this thing back on the shelf; it’s way too carby to even think about.”

This post took a look at nutritional labels assuming that your goal is to eat either a Paleo or a keto diet (or both). If that’s not true, what are your target numbers? Figure that out first; then worry about reading labels.

“Eat more fiber” and “drink more water” are the two pieces of advice everyone always gets for constipation - and it’s true that those things can be helpful. That might even be good advice for the two people who are still living under a rock in the Gobi desert and haven’t heard the “fiber and water” line before. But a lot of well-hydrated salad-eaters are still constipated. Evidence actually shows that “eat more fiber” doesn’t help for every type of constipation - in fact, for some people, certain types of fiber can actually make digestive symptoms worse.

Also, if you’re eating any kind of non-processed diet, it’s incredibly easy to get enough fiber - yes, even on keto. So here’s a look at 4 lesser-known causes of constipation that can still affect people even on a Paleo or keto diet - and how to address them within a Paleo/keto framework.

Supplements/medications

A lot of medications are well-known for causing constipation - opioids are a famous example - but did you know that some dietary supplements can also slow down digestive transit and stop the system up a bit?

Two big culprits here are iron supplements and calcium supplements:

• Iron supplements, particularly non-heme iron and high-dose supplements, cause constipation in many (but not all) people who take them.
• Calcium supplements - in studies like this one and this one, calcium supplements increase the rate of constipation and other gastrointestinal side effects among people who take them.

Unfortunately, calcium and iron are two very common supplements, especially for women. To minimize the effects, some of the studies above suggested that taking iron supplements with food and using slow-release formulas may be helpful. For calcium, taking a calcium-magnesium supplement or otherwise adding magnesium may be helpful. For folks taking a Paleo/keto approach, there are also plenty of food sources of calcium - even without dairy!

One more common medication that affects digestive function is ibuprofen, and other drugs in the same group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAIDs really damage the gut - they aren't necessarily good for you just because the name says "anti-inflammatory!" A review of chronic constipation and painkillers found that use of NSAIDs was significantly associated with constipation, even after people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome were excluded. And another review found that constipation was among the more common reasons for stopping NSAID treatment. If you're never without a bottle of painkillers at your elbow, it might be worth considering that as a factor in any digestive issues.

2. Diabetes/insulin resistance and poor blood sugar control

High and uncontrolled blood sugar quite often causes constipation in people with both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. As this study explains, there are a lot of reasons for that, but one of the main ones is a problem called diabetic autonomic neuropathy. Autonomic neuropathy is damage to the nerves that coordinate a lot of the involuntary (autonomic) functions in your body - including the muscle contractions that move food through the digestive system. You don’t necessarily feel these muscles working, but they’re really critical to keeping everything moving.

Paleo or keto diets tend to be great for blood sugar control - here’s more, for the curious. But for people who are coming to Paleo/keto with a history of blood sugar problems, this is definitely an issue worth considering.

3. Depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders - and maybe even garden-variety stress

Symptoms of depression and anxiety are strongly connected to gastrointestinal problems, including constipation, in the general population (aka not just people diagnosed with some kind of gastrointestinal disease). That doesn’t necessarily mean that depression or anxiety cause constipation - it could very well be the other way around. But this study concluded that mood disorders probably do cause changes in gastrointestinal transit.

Another study also suggested that mood disorders may contribute to the development of constipation and other GI symptoms. And many patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders are diagnosed with mood or anxiety disorders first and then seek treatment for their digestive issues.

Even in people who don’t have any diagnosis of anxiety, stress can really mess up digestive function. We've already covered how stress can cause gastrointestinal pain, but the hormonal changes involved in chronic stress can also affect processes like gut motility and the way water gets drawn into the digestive tract.

Of course, there’s also plenty of evidence that it works the other way around, too - gastrointestinal symptoms can affect brain function and mental health. It’s just an awful vicious cycle of mood symptoms and gut problems.

As for addressing this - anyone with mental health concerns should see a counselor. And the link between stress and constipation really highlights that Paleo is about more than food and exercise. The “lifestyle” part of “diet and lifestyle” includes regular rest, enough sleep, stress management, sleep hygiene, and generally prioritizing renewal and rest over constant busy-ness.

4. “Hidden” food allergies/intolerances

Think of a food allergy and what’s your mental image? Probably someone struggling to breathe, wheezing and grabbing around for their epi-pen after accidentally eating something with peanuts. But as this study details, food allergies and intolerances can actually show up in all kinds of ways - and in some cases, a primary symptom may be constipation. People with these allergies may not even consider a food allergy as the cause of their problem, because they don’t have any of the traditional or stereotypical symptoms - hence the “hidden” nature of the allergy. It’s hiding in plain sight, just where you’d never expect to see it!

Hypersensitivity to cow’s milk protein is a biggie here - this study found that many children with otherwise inexplicable constipation are actually reacting to dairy, and that dairy elimination diets resolved the problem in many cases. Multiple food intolerance is also a possibility - this study on patients with chronic constipation found that, of 52 patients, 24 got better with elimination of cow’s milk, while 6 had multiple food intolerances that required more complex elimination diets.

Intolerance to fructose or to FODMAPs carbohydrates generally can also cause constipation - but we’ve covered that in detail in previous articles (fructose here; FODMAPs here).

What worked for you?

What’s worked for you in managing constipation? Eliminating a particular food? Regular exercise? Stress management tips? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter!

“Food additives” is an incredibly general term - as a rough definition: a food additive is something added to food to make it last longer on the shelf, look better, maintain a desirable color or flavor for a longer time, or improve tastiness. Salt could be considered an additive (salting meat to preserve it is one of the oldest ways of preserving anything), but when most people think of additives, they think of compounds like titanium dioxide, which is used to whiten foods like gum and powdered sugar.

Most people have a vague idea that additives are “bad,” but it’s rare to find a person who can actually explain why they think that (“they’re unnatural” doesn’t count as an explanation - “natural” isn’t automatically good and “unnatural” isn’t automatically bad.) So here’s a look at one reason why food additives might not be great for general good health: they damage the gut lining in ways that cause inflammation, promote weight gain, and may be connected to autoimmune and allergic disease.

How Food Additives Affect Weight and Immune Health: It Starts in the Gut

Compared to, say, a panda’s gut, the human digestive system is amazingly versatile. We don’t have to eat all bamboo, only bamboo, all day long. We can branch out into all kinds of plants and animals - and once we start cooking them in different ways, the possibilities are even more fun. Lucky us! But there are some things the human gut just isn’t super well-equipped to handle, and a lot of food additives are among those things.

Food Additives and the Gut Mucosa

Did you know that you have a layer of mucus in your gut? It sounds gross, but it’s actually really important, because the mucus layer protects all the helpful bacteria (and other friendly organisms) down there from anything bad you happen to swallow. A specific type of food additives called emulsifiers may damage the gut mucus layer and end up causing trouble in the newly-unprotected gut biome (that’s all the friendly organisms living in your gut)

Emulsifiers are additives that prevent mixtures from separating. For example, commercial salad dressings contain emulsifiers to hold the oil and vinegar together, when normally the oil and vinegar would separate out.

What’s the evidence that emulsifiers aren’t great for us? This study was in mice, but it did demonstrate that emulsifiers cause disruption to the gut biome. Specifically, two common emulsifiers (carboxymethylcellulose and polysorbate-80) damaged the protective layer of mucus that covers the bacteria and other organisms in the gut. This altered the species composition of the gut microbiome, causing low-level chronic inflammation and contributing to the development of metabolic syndrome.

This review also stressed the effect of emulsifiers in particular on the gut mucosa. They really don't seem to be great news for gut health, with ramifications that extend to overall inflammatory load and metabolic well-being.

Food additives and the gut microbiome

There’s also evidence that various food additives directly affect the beneficial bacteria and other organisms that live in the human intestinal tract.

One study found that several different food additives inhibit the growth of some human bacteria - at least in test tubes. And the worst part is that it’s the anti-inflammatory microbes (aka the ones you definitely want) that seem to be particularly vulnerable to death by additive.

Here, for example, researchers basically tested out a model human gut with the amount of titanium dioxide that you’d get from eating a few pieces of candy or chewing a few pieces of gum. They found that the titanium dioxide shifted the composition of the gut bacteria even after just the one exposure - now think of how many people chew several pieces of gum or eat multiple pieces of candy every day. At least in test tubes, sulfites also kill beneficial bacteria. Sulfites are additives often found in wine and citrus juices to keep them fresh.

All that messing with the gut biome has consequences. Gut bacteria have a powerful effect on weight and metabolic health, and creating an environment where the gut biome is chronically exposed to gut-damaging additives probably isn't a great idea. Here, the authors go over several kinds of additives, including not only emulsifiers but also carrageenan, a thickening/stabilizing agent used in processed food products like dairy desserts, plant milks, and sauces. After reviewing the literature, the researchers found evidence that most of the additives they looked at disrupt the normal gut biome in pro-inflammatory ways that promote insulin resistance and weight gain.

Food additives and the gut: miscellaneous issues

Food additives may also affect the gut-brain axis. The gut-brain axis is the two-way pathway between the digestive system and the brain - it has a huge effect on overall mood and mental well-being.

And one last concern: this article speculates that food additives might be one piece of the explanation (not the whole answer! But one piece!) for the rise in autoimmune diseases. In the “food additives” category, they included salt and sugar in the overly-high amounts found in most processed foods. Specifically, by damaging the intestinal lining, food additives increase intestinal permeability and make people more prone to autoimmune reactions. This is pretty speculative, but interesting especially for folks who struggle with autoimmunity.

In short: ultra-processed food is not great news...and it’s not just the fat and the sugar

The normal array of processed junk food in a typical grocery store - Spaghetti O’s, Lucky Charms, Nutella, ice cream, Hostess cakes, the entire candy aisle - contains a lot of additives that probably aren’t great for the human gut. This is actually supported by research; it isn’t just a baseless fear of strange-looking words on ingredients lists (“Sugar” is easy to pronounce; that doesn’t make it good for you. “Eicosapentaenoic acid” is hard to pronounce; that doesn’t make it bad for you.).

Over years and decades of exposure, some of these additives probably do damage the human gut lining and the millions of friendly microbes that live there. None of the evidence above suggests that there are immediate and dramatic consequences, but they do indicate a slow accumulation of chronic issues that have serious cumulative implications. Do your gut a favor and stay away from hyper-processed foods to limit your exposure - your bacteroidetes will thank you!

From upper digestive issues (dyspepsia, heartburn, etc.) to problems lower down in the gut (bloating, gas, constipation/diarrhea), there’s actually quite a bit of evidence that a gluten-free diet can help some people with digestive problems - and that’s true even if they don’t have Celiac Disease.

In fact, this post isn’t about Celiac Disease at all. People with Celiac Disease do get digestive symptoms, but in that case, the answer is clearly a gluten-free diet and everyone knows it. If you’re constantly having digestive symptoms and going gluten-free seems to clear it all up, it might be worth getting tested for Celiac just to make sure, but this post is really for people who don’t have Celiac Disease and aren’t sure whether a gluten-free diet would even do anything for their symptoms.

As it turns out, lots of people who don’t have Celiac disease experience digestive symptoms that get better when they eliminate wheat and other gluten grains. This is often called non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS), although it might actually be related more to other components of wheat than strictly to gluten, and it’s much more common than either Celiac Disease or a true wheat allergy. Here’s a look at how it works and how a gluten-free diet might help.

Links between gluten and digestive problems

As this study explains, non-Celiac gluten sensitivity causes digestive symptoms via activation of an immune response in the gut.

To start up at the top of the digestive tract, this study found that eating gluten was associated with worsened symptoms of functional dyspepsia (symptoms like heartburn and early fullness that affect the upper digestive tract). Gluten consumption was especially strongly linked to early satiety (feeling uncomfortably full after just a few bites of food). The researchers proposed that the damage to the intestinal lining caused by gluten consumption contributed to symptoms.

Moving down to the lower gastrointestinal tract, there’s also a lot of overlap between non-Celiac gluten sensitivity and irritable bowel syndrome, to the point where a review suggested many patients with “IBS” may actually have non-Celiac gluten sensitivity.

Here’s an interesting study looking at that: the researchers compared two different diets in patients with IBS. One diet was low in FODMAPs, poorly digestible carbohydrates that have been strongly linked to IBS symptoms. A low-FODMAP diet generally works pretty well for IBS. The other diet was a standard gluten-free diet. The researchers concluded that both “the low FODMAP diet and especially the GFD [gluten-free diet] led to a significant improvement of clinical and psychological symptoms in NCGS.” In the gluten-free diet specifically, the diet suppressed the immune response in the gut that may have been contributing to patients’ symptoms. In other words, a gluten-free diet might be comparable to a low-FODMAP diet for IBS patients!

Tweaking a gluten-free Paleo or keto diet for digestive health

A Paleo diet is already gluten-free by definition - all gluten grains, including wheat and barley, are eliminated along with all other grains. So if you’re eating Paleo, then congratulations - you’re already on the gluten-free train!

Gluten-free and keto: the easiest diet combination

If you’re here from a keto background: keto is 90% gluten-free by default, just because most of the gluten we eat comes from wheat, and wheat has so many carbs that you basically have to eliminate it to even come close to a ketogenic diet. But there are a few little things that might sneak past you: these foods don’t necessarily have enough wheat to up the carb count, but they can have enough gluten to cause a reaction:

• Soy sauce - is made with wheat. You can get gluten-free soy sauce or Paleo-friendly coconut aminos to replace it.
• Malt vinegar - other kinds of vinegars are fine, though!
  Some kinds of mustard powder and other spices - a little bit of flour can be added as an anti-caking agent.
• Sausages - check the ingredients list very carefully! Fillers in sausages often contain gluten.
• Miso and miso soup
• Many processed foods, even low-carb ones: always double-check the label for wheat, barley, or rye ingredients!

It’s a big wide world of gluten ingredients out there - luckily, you can avoid a whole lot of issues just by buying fresh ingredients and cooking things at home, rather than relying on processed low-carb or keto junk food.

Another issue to consider: fructans

Speaking of tweaks, here’s one more to consider: limiting fructans.

This is an interesting study (and for the real detail lovers, an interesting response to it) - the researchers considered whether people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity were actually reacting to fructans, not gluten. Fructans are certain fibers that are hard for humans to digest: they end up becoming food for your gut bacteria. Fructans include inulin (that’s the fiber added to a lot of fiber-enriched foods - not to be confused with insulin, the hormone that helps you process carbs) and oligofructose - and the largest source of fructans in the American diet is...wheat! This fits right in with the question of whether “non-Celiac gluten sensitivity” is really the wheat, not the gluten.

Other sources include onions, garlic, broccoli, and cabbage - as well as anything with added inulin (salad dressings, fiber supplements, meal replacement bars and shakes, etc.). This research suggests that if a gluten-free diet helps your digestive symptoms, it might also be helpful to consider a trial low-fructan diet, or at least get rid of anything with added inulin. For people who still have symptoms, going full low-FODMAP could be necessary, but maybe some folks can get away with just cutting down on fructans, which leaves you with a lot more options menu-wise.

Summing it Up

If you’re having weird or unexplained digestive symptoms - and especially if you’ve tried eliminating other things without any luck - a trial run of an absolutely strict gluten-free diet might be informative. Cutting down on fructans, or just on added inulin, could also be helpful. It might not work, or it might need some tweaking, but research suggests it is worth a shot.

Fiber isn’t the one holy grail for digestive health - in fact, some people have digestive problems from eating too much fiber and feel better when they limit the amount and/or types of fiber in their diet. But for most people, getting a decent amount of fiber every day is good for gut health, easy digestion, and appetite regulation. And it’s generally congruent with our evolutionary history - yes, the Inuit eat very little to no plant food, but the vast majority of hunter-gatherer groups do eat plants, and those plants are largely pretty fibrous.

Paleo doesn’t mean giving up all plant food, and whole grains aren’t the only source of fiber around - in fact, they’re not even the best source of fiber around. To prove it, we’ll take an ordinary sandwich on whole-wheat bread (the healthy kind that “gives you fiber”) and compare it to some low-carb Paleo meals

The Sandwich

Our hypothetical sandwich is a paragon of low-fat, whole-grain tasteless nutrition and includes:

• 2 slices of whole-wheat bread* (30.8 grams total carbs, 4.3 grams of fiber)
• 1 slice of tomato (0.8 grams total carbs, 0.2 grams fiber)
• 2 slices of lettuce (0.4 grams total carbs, 0.3 grams fiber)
• 1 tbsp. mustard (0.9 grams total carbs, 0.6 grams fiber)
• 1 tbsp. lite mayonnaise (1.4 grams carbs, 0 grams fiber)
• 3 slices of deli-sliced turkey breast (0 grams carbs, 0 grams fiber)

*Different brands will be slightly different - this is the USDA average value for commercial whole-wheat bread in general.

The total creation contains 35.3 grams of total carbs and 5.4 grams of fiber (the majority of which comes from the bread), for a total of 29.9 grams net carbs. For the curious, it also contain 17.3 grams of protein and 7.5 grams of fat. By weight (grams), that’s 59% carbs, 29% protein, 12% fat. By calories, it’s 505 carbs, 25% protein, and 24% fat..

It’s worth noting that this isn’t really enough food to keep anyone full for long - it’s only about 300 calories. Most people would eat a bag of chips (a single-serving bag of Lays will run you an extra 21 grams net carbs) or maybe a cookie (one Starbucks chocolate chip cookie will add 72 grams net carbs) with that sandwich to make it into an actually filling meal. But nobody is claiming that chips and cookies add essential fiber to your diet! The claim is that whole grains - in that allegedly healthy bread - add the fiber. And that’s just not the case.

Now it’s time to see how Paleo and low-carb meals can do better! The choices below are full meals that actually have enough food for an adult, with fewer carbs and more fiber than the "healthy" whole-wheat sandwich.

1. Braised cabbage with extra bacon

Say “extra bacon” and everyone comes running! Start with this braised cabbage recipe but toss some extra bacon on a baking sheet as well to crisp up - or supplement the cabbage with any other protein of your choice.

Total carbs (including fiber): 20 grams per serving
Fiber: 8 grams per serving
Net carbs (total carbs - fiber): 12 grams per serving

2. Grilled chicken breast over zucchini noodles with tomato-basil sauce

For the chicken breast, just toss one (or three, or five, depending on the size of your family) on the grill and throw it on top of some zucchini noodles in an easy tomato sauce.

These zucchini noodles don’t require a lot of time and effort to prepare, and they make an excellent base for any 0-carb protein (pork chops, chicken breast, shrimp, or whatever else you like). Assuming your protein topper has no carbs:

Total carbs (including fiber): 23 grams per serving
Fiber: 6.2 grams per serving
Net carbs (total carbs - fiber): 16.8 grams per serving

3. Slow-cooker cabbage casserole

No time to cook after work? Cook while you’re at work - and come home to dinner already done, with this slow-cooker cabbage casserole. It's pretty low in carbs, high in fiber, and most importantly, delicious! It's also a complete meal because, on top of the cabbage, it has ground beef for protein and healthy fat.

Total carbs (including fiber): 19 grams per serving
Fiber: 8 grams per serving
Net carbs (total carbs - fiber): 11 grams per serving

4. Steak enchilada salad

This recipe combines super-easy protein with a super-easy salad bed full of vegetables and healthy fats. It’s packable, meal-preppable, and completely leftover-friendly. And it has significantly more fiber than the whole-wheat sandwich, on top of enough fat and energy to actually keep you full for a while.

Total carbs (including fiber): 21 grams per serving
Fiber: 6 grams per serving
Net carbs (total carbs - fiber): 15 grams per serving

5. Grilled Sea Bass with caramelized Brussels sprouts

Don’t be put off by “caramelized” in the title - this is a pretty simple recipe that works great as a weeknight dinner - and it has more than twice the fiber of the whole-wheat sandwich.

Total carbs (including fiber): 26 grams per serving
Fiber: 11 grams per serving (mostly from the Brussels sprouts)
Net carbs (total carbs - fiber): 15 grams per serving

6. Creamy chicken and bacon pasta

This Paleo “pasta” is made with spaghetti squash, with 6 grams of fiber (or more, if you really pile on the squash and broccoli). Spaghetti squash is super easy to cook and great for leftovers - add some cheese on top if you do dairy, or just leave it as-is for the lactose free.

Total carbs (including fiber): 26 grams per serving
Fiber: 6 grams per serving
Net carbs (total carbs - fiber): 20 grams per serving

Bonus recipe: Banana chocolate muffin bites

OK, this recipe for banana chocolate muffin bites isn’t a meal. It’s a dessert. But as a bonus, even the Paleo dessert has more fiber than the allegedly healthy whole-wheat sandwich.

Total carbs (including fiber): 24 grams per serving
Fiber: 6.55 grams per serving
Net carbs (total carbs - fiber): 17.45 grams per serving

In short: fiber is great but nobody needs whole grains (or any other kind of grains) to get it. Paleo and low-carb meals will do you just fine - and even the desserts aren't slouching when it comes to fiber count.

Eating in season is a delicious way to save money and get the freshest produce available, not to mention making sure your diet stays interesting. And who can resist those colorful piles of beets and pumpkins?

So in honor of the autumn harvest here’s a meal plan built around seasonal produce, plus a shopping list to go with.

The plan is written for two, but it’s easy to adjust up or down, depending on how many you have to feed.

Day 0 (the day before day 1)

• If you’re going to be packing lunch tomorrow, cook up a batch of apple and squash stuffing. To feed two people, make half the recipe as directed.

Day 1

Breakfast:

• Pan-fried sausages with onions and cabbage (if the sausages don’t give off enough fat to cook the vegetables, just throw a little extra cooking fat in there).

Lunch:

• Lettuce wraps filled with apple and squash stuffing.

Dinner:

• Balsamic Roast Beef. Make a full recipe as written and save half for lunch tomorrow.
• Optional: If you want a second vegetable side, pan-fry some beet greens or spinach with garlic in a Paleo-friendly cooking fat.

Make Ahead:

• If you’re going to need breakfast on the go tomorrow, make a quick frittata. Use this recipe, except instead of tomatoes, use 1 large red onion and as much kale as you want. Toss the onion and kale in with the bacon to sauté and carry on with the recipe as directed (excluding the tomatoes).

* Each frittata makes 4 servings. You’ll be making two of these during the week, so if you want to, you can just make them both now to save some time.

Day 2

Breakfast:

• 1 serving of frittata per person (so between two people, you’d be eating half a frittata).
• Add an apple or a baked sweet potato if you like some carbs with breakfast.

Lunch:

• Leftover balsamic roast beef, sliced thin over your favorite salad greens and tossed with oil and vinegar.

Dinner:

• Beanless chili. Make half the recipe as written (this will give you 4 servings: 2 for tonight and 2 for tomorrow’s lunch)
• Roasted Brussels sprouts (just grab a pound of Brussels sprouts, cut them in half, and roast with olive oil and garlic about 45 minutes or until they get crispy around the edges).
• Optional: Pesto mashed potatoes. Make the whole recipe as written; this will give you enough for tonight and leftovers on Day 4.

* White potatoes? White potatoes are perfectly healthy for most people – see here for details.

Day 3

Breakfast:

• 1 serving of your frittata (if you’re feeding two, this should be the end of the second frittata).
• Add an apple or a baked sweet potato if you like some carbs with breakfast.

Lunch:

• Leftover chili.
• Fresh vegetable salad: salad greens, red onion, bosc pear slices, and walnuts with olive oil and vinegar. (If you’re packing lunch, just make this the night before and pack the dressing separately).

Dinner:

• Butterflied roasted chicken. Make a full recipe as written and save half for lunch tomorrow.
• Carrot and rutabaga mash. Make half the recipe as written and just eat it all.

Make Ahead:

• If you didn’t make two frittatas on Day 1, make another one tonight.
• Pesto mashed potatoes. If you didn't make the optional mashed potatoes on day 2, make half this recipe as directed for lunch tomorrow.

Day 4

Breakfast

• 1 serving of your frittata,
• Add an apple or a baked sweet potato if you like some carbs with breakfast.

Lunch:

• Leftover butterflied roasted chicken.
• Leftover pesto mashed potatoes.

Dinner:

• Cranberry apple stuffed pork loin. Make a full recipe as written and save half for lunch tomorrow.
• Roasted cauliflower with bacon. Make a full recipe as written and save half for lunch tomorrow.

Dessert (optional):

• Hot pumpkin custard. Just mix 1⁄2 a can of mashed pumpkin per person with coconut milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg to taste. Heat until warm and enjoy.

Day 5

Breakfast:

• The last of the second frittata.
• Add an apple or a baked sweet potato if you like some carbs with breakfast.

Lunch:

• Leftover pork loin and roasted cauliflower.

Dinner:

• Grilled maple-dijon salmon with bacon. (If you don’t have a grill or if it’s too cold out, you can cook it on the broiler in your oven).
• Beet and walnut salad. Make a full recipe and save half for lunch tomorrow.

Make Ahead:

• If you’re packing lunch tomorrow, hard-boil 3 eggs for each person (so 6 in total if you’re cooking for two)
• Roast up some winter squash (see recipe below).

Day 6

Breakfast:

• 3 eggs, prepared however you like them (hard-boiled if you need them on the run).
• Roasted winter squash of your choice (acorn, delicata, butternut, buttercup...).

Lunch:

• Leftover salmon with beet and walnut salad.
• Optional: If you’d like, you can convert your leftovers to a salad by separating the salmon into bite-sized pieces, chopping the beets very small, and tossing them with spinach or your favorite salad greens.

Dinner:

• Mustard balsamic baked chicken. Make a full recipe as written and save half for lunch tomorrow.
• Oven-roasted garlic cabbage. Just make as much as you want for dinner tonight.

Make Ahead:

• While you’ve got the cabbage in the oven, slice up a meal’s worth of parsnips and just stick them in for 45 minutes or so at the same time for tomorrow's breakfast.
• If you’re going to be packing lunch tomorrow, put in a batch of kale chips.
• If you’re going to be packing breakfast, take a look at the recipe below and see if you’ll need to make that ahead as well.

Day 7

Breakfast:

• Parsnip hash. Pull out your roasted parsnips from last night and toss them into a pan with some dried cranberries, salt, pepper, and either (a) 3 eggs per person or (b) bite-sized pieces of cooked turkey or chicken breast. Stir everything together until it’s warm and enjoy. If you need this to go, make it the night before.

Lunch:

• Leftover mustard balsamic chicken.
• Kale chips.

Dinner:

• Paleo spaghetti. Make as much as you want, so you can have leftovers to freeze for whenever you want them.
• Optional: if you want a second side, quickly pan-fry some Swiss chard or collard greens with garlic, salt, and pepper.

Fat: it’s what’s on the menu! For keto eaters, fat should be your primary source of calories, and even for Paleo folks who aren’t doing keto, getting enough fat and getting the right fat will help make your diet more nourishing - and way more delicious.

But with the conventional diet wisdom being so strongly anti-fat, it’s not always easy to find good, nutritious sources of high-quality fat. If you’re lost in the grocery store wondering what to buy, check out these 6 nutritious and delicious high-fat staples. Nobody has to eat any particular one of these foods, much less all of them, but they’re all good to at least consider.

1. Avocados

Per 1 avocado: 2.7 grams of protein, 21 grams of fat, 3 grams of net carbs, and 9 grams of fiber.

Avocados are amazing for Paleo or keto diets for three reasons:

1. Lots of the good fat - avocados are rich in monounsaturated fat, the same kind of fat that’s in olive oil. In fact, avocados have an even higher percentage of monounsaturated fat than olive oil.
2. Lots of fiber - one avocado has 9 grams of fiber, but only 3 grams of digestible carbs.
3. Lots of nutrients - avocados are rich in vitamin E, vitamin C, B vitamins, potassium, magnesium, and more.

Avocado toast is pretty much out on Paleo or low-carb diets (unless you want to get into the Paleo or low-carb bread), but guacamole is delicious with dipping vegetables, and avocados are also good plain with some balsamic vinegar and salt sprinkled on top.

Recipe inspiration:

• Keto baked salmon with avocado salsa
• Avocado, cucumber, and cilantro tuna salad
• Chicken, strawberry, avocado, and spinach salad

2. Pork belly

Per 100 grams of cooked pork belly: 21 grams of fat, 13 grams of protein, and 0 carbs.

Pork belly is what bacon is made of, but in its pre-baconated form, it’s even fattier. Raw pork belly is 92% fat by calories; cooked pork belly is about 78% (since some of the fat renders out while cooking). For comparison, raw bacon is about 86% fat by calories and cooked bacon is about 68%. With all that succulent fat, pork belly is best cooked low and slow, so it has time to crisp up nicely and let at least a little bit of the fat render out.

One caveat: pork fat in general is relatively high in Omega-6 polyunsaturated fats, which can be inflammatory, especially if you aren’t eating enough Omega-3 fats from fish. (Confused by the whole Omega-6/Omega-3 thing? See here for a quick explainer.) Definitely cook it with lots of tasty spices for the anti-inflammatory antioxidant protection - and if you have a lot of inflammation problems, it might be one to skip completely or eat pretty sparingly.

For recipe inspiration try out this quick recipe for keto-friedly salt and pepper pork belly.

3. Duck

Per 100 grams (about 3 ounces) of cooked duck: 19 grams of protein, 28 grams of fat, and 0 grams of carbs

As anyone who’s ever cooked one can attest, domestic ducks are really fatty creatures. There’s a beautiful thick layer of fat on each breast, plus fat deposits around the neck and back. If you roast a normal-sized duck, you’ll get a cup or two of fat that drains off (save that - it’s delicious liquid gold!), and the duck will still be fall-apart tender and decadent. Ducks are also pretty nutritious, and the fat is mostly monounsaturated fat, making this a great choice for people who want a high-fat animal protein but don’t want a lot of Omega-6 PUFA.s

For double duck fat goodness, slowly roast or braise a duck, save the fat, and when it comes time to eat the leftovers, warm them up by frying them in some of the reserved fat. You will still have extra fat: this is delicious with eggs or almost any vegetable. For those eating a medium or high-carb version of Paleo, duck fat is also excellent with sweet or white potatoes.

Recipe inspiration:

• Roast duck with herb ghee
• Bacon-wrapped duck with cranberry sauce
• Orange and lemon roasted duck

4. Macadamia nuts

Per 1 ounce (about a handful): 2 grams of protein, 21 grams of fat,1.6 grams of net carbs, and 2.4 grams of fiber.

Why macadamias, of all the nuts? Mostly because they have a really great fatty acid profile. Most other nuts, including almonds, are pretty high in omega-6 fats. But macadamia nuts have much less omega-6 fat and much more monounsaturated fat, making them a good choice for anyone concerned about omega-6 overload.

Another noteworthy nut option is walnuts. Walnuts have a significant amount of anti-inflammatory Omega-3 fats - and yes, even the plant form of Omega-3 fat in walnuts is pretty bioavailable after all.

Recipe inspiration:

• Cayenne-rosemary roasted nuts
• Apple, walnut, and cranberry-stuffed squash
• Broccoli and apple salad with walnuts

5. Coconut milk OR coconut cream

Coconut milk: Per 2 tbsp.: about 0.7 grams of protein, 7.2 grams of fat, and 1.7 grams of carbs.
Coconut cream: Per 2 tbsp.: about 1.1 grams of protein, 10.4 grams of fat, and 2 grams of carbs.

Everyone knows about coconut oil, but a lot of people neglect the whole range of coconut products.Coconut water has some carbs in it, but the milk is mostly just fat and water, with very few carbs. Coconut cream is just a bit more condensed, so more fat and less water, to the point where you can essentially whip it like whipping cream - yum!

Coconut milk is high in saturated fat - which isn’t actually a nightmare killer nutrient! - and medium-chain triglycerides, which are the most ketogenic fats. And it’s extremely delicious in soups, desserts, marinades, and more.

Recipe inspiration:

• Coconut milk hot chocolate
• Pork loin braised in coconut milk
• Coconut-buttermilk southwestern grilled chicken
• AIP grilled salmon with avocado coconut Sauce - get that coconut milk and some avocado at the same time!

6. Ghee

Per 1 tbsp.: 0 grams protein*, 14 grams of fat, and 0 grams of carbs.
*Technically, there is a tiny amount of dairy protein still in it, but it’s so small it doesn’t matter for nutritional purposes.

Any kind of dairy fat is a great idea for keto if you can tolerate dairy (not everyone can; if you’re lactose intolerant, then just go for other healthy fats and don’t stress about it). But if you can handle dairy, ghee is a great source of dairy fat. Essentially, ghee is like butter, but with more of the milk solids cooked off, so it’s higher in fat and lower in lactose and dairy proteins. Even people who can’t handle butter very well can often tolerate ghee without issues, just because the amount of non-fat in the ghee is so low.

Ghee has a nice, savory, almost nutty flavor that goes really well with almost everything, and it works for cooking at slightly higher heat than butter, thanks to the relative lack of protein and carbs.

Recipe inspiration:

• Keto leek and bacon omelet
• Garlic and parsley pork chops
• Balsamic rosemary mushrooms

Looking for more grocery help? Check out 5 great low-carb vegetables here. Or join the conversation on Facebook or Twitter: what are your favorite high-fat staples?

Sure, in principle kids should eat adult food just like adults do...

But have you ever tried switching a picky six-year-old from easy mac straight to liver and broccoli?

Everything tends to go much more easily if you can slide in slowly with some kid-friendly healthy alternatives. So in the spirit of tantrum-free dinners, here’s a week of kid-friendly dinner recipes, with lunchbox extras for five of the days (to make lunches for Monday through Friday).

All the meals include:

1. Animal protein
2. Sweeter or starchier "kid-friendly" side
3. Other vegetable

Depending on your kids and their tastes, you can get more or less insistent that they eat the other vegetable side.

The plan assumes that you’re feeding 2 adults and 2 kids.

Download the shopping list (PDF)

Sunday

For Dinner:

• BBQ Meatballs (tip: if your kids are picky about vegetables, puree some spinach and sneak it into the meatball mixture)
• Spicy sweet potato wedges
• Tomato soup

In Each Lunchbox for Tomorrow, Pack:

• A leftover serving of meatballs.
• Apple slices (sprinkle lemon juice on them so they don’t brown) with a sealed dip container or squeeze package of almond butter.
• Carrot sticks or baby carrots with your favorite dipping sauce.

Monday

For Dinner:

• Oven chicken fajita bake
• Butternut squash fries
• A quick tossed salad with greens, avocado, fresh tomatoes, and the spicy vinaigrette from this recipe.

In Each Lunchbox for Tomorrow, Pack:

• Leftover fajita chicken, shredded and mixed with a little mayonnaise and a splash of apple cider vinegar to make fajita chicken salad.
• Grapes or orange slices (or any other fruit)
• Kale chips

Tuesday

For Dinner:

• Pulled pork stuffed sweet potatoes (if you don’t have a slow-cooker, use this recipe to make the pork)
• Zucchini cakes

When you’re making the recipe, prepare half of it exactly as written. Half the pork and half the sweet potatoes are for lunch tomorrow – for these, do everything else but don’t stuff the potatoes. Instead, mash them with a little butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

In Each Lunchbox for Tomorrow, Pack:

• Leftover pulled pork.
• Cinnamon sweet potato mash (which you made with half the sweet
  potatoes from the dinner recipe)
• Bell pepper strips with your favorite dipping sauce.

Wednesday

For Dinner:

• Honey mustard drumsticks
• Roasted ambercup squash (or any squash)
• Roasted cauliflower with bacon

In Each Lunchbox for Tomorrow, Pack:

• Leftover drumsticks.
• A small cup of applesauce.
• Carrot sticks with your favorite dipping sauce.
• A few olives in a baggie.

Thursday

For Dinner:

• Portobello burgers
• Fruit salad
• Zucchini gremolata
• Also throw in a few beets to roast in the oven while you’re cooking (literally just poke some holes in them and throw them in, then take them out when they’re tender – no need for foil).

In Each Lunchbox for Tomorrow, Pack:

• 1 leftover burger patty with your favorite condiments (pickles, mayonnaise, ketchup, etc.) in sealed dipping containers.
• Leftover fruit salad.
• Roasted beets sliced and drizzled with olive oil and vinegar.

Friday

For Dinner:

• Sweet and sour chicken
• Baked Japanese sweet potatoes (these are the purple ones with white insides; you can substitute regular sweet potatoes if you can’t get them)
• Asian stir-fried Brussels sprouts

For Lunch Tomorrow:

• Pat yourself on the back – you’ve reached the weekend!

Saturday

For Dinner:

• Beanless chili
• Sweet potato bacon cakes
• Ratatouille stuffed zucchini

For Dessert:

• Banana ice cream!

Eating out on Paleo can feel like a minefield: everything is cooked in mystery oil, soy sauce is everywhere, and finding a healthy option in between all the deep-fried junk is surprisingly hard!

And while there’s nothing wrong with taking a planned detour for something non-Paleo that you really want, some people are extremely sensitive to certain foods and compromising just isn’t an option.

If you’re trying to stay at least somewhat Paleo, it always helps to look up the menu online or call the restaurant before you go. That way you can choose a meal or ask questions without time pressure or worry about making your fellow diners uncomfortable.

And to help you out with making the best choices, here’s a guide to some common types of restaurants and tips for navigating them:

Sandwich Shops and Burger Chains

(excluding the most awful fast-food places)

Most cities have at least one local grass-fed burger joint – if you can find this, you’re absolutely in luck! If they’ve committed to grass-fed meat, they probably also use fresh ingredients and don’t throw in a lot of junk. You’ll probably be able to get a lettuce bun and some vegetable sides. Otherwise, here’s how to handle it:

What to Look For:

• Many burger places and some sandwich shops will substitute a lettuce bun for the bread – just ask!

Watch out For:

• At a strange chain, ask if hamburgers or meatballs contain any bread crumbs.
• Fries in vegetable oil: potatoes are fine; soybean oil is not!.
• Ketchup and mayo (full of sugar and junk oil, respectively).

If You Have a Choice:

• Jimmy John’s can make any sandwich as an unwich (lettuce wrap, no bread). Their menu is here.
• Elevation burger serves grass-fed meat and is reasonably knowledgeable about Paleo. Learn more here.
• In-n-Out Burger famously serves a “protein- style” burger with no bun. Learn more here.

Bakeries and Cafes

(Au Bon Pain, Panera, etc.)

The land of bread and pastries does actually have some Paleo-friendly choices; you just have to hunt for them.

What to Look For:

• Soup-and-salad combo meals are often OK, depending on the soup.
• Some cafes also serve omelets or frittatas (although beware of cheese, if dairy bothers you)
• Fresh fruit cups are a good choice of side if you can’t get anything else.

Watch out For:

• Soy sauce contains both wheat and soy. Make sure there’s none in your soup or salad dressing.

If You Have a Choice:

• Panera has a menu of salad bowls topped with meat or eggs. See it here.

The Dregs of Fast Food

(McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell...)

Fast food is hard. Really hard. If you want an actual meal, you will inevitably have to compromise. For example, you can get a salad at Subway, but even the “chicken” has 24 ingredients, including soy and MSG. On the bright side, most fast-food places at least have a list of what does and doesn’t contain common allergens (soy, wheat, peanuts...); just search for “[name of restaurant + allergens]” so you can go in forewarned.

What to Look For:

• Salad, especially if you can get it without dressing.
• Bunless burgers (you will probably have to take off the bun yourself)
• Fruit cups, vegetables, or other raw sides (also check the kids’ menu!)
• Plain baked potato
• Omelets and other egg dishes

Watch out For:

• Breaded (“crispy”) meat, even on a salad.
• KFC. Of all the fast-food restaurants around, KFC is the worst for getting anything remotely Paleo. Even McDonald’s is better.

If You Have a Choice:

• Chick-fil-A has a gluten-free menu (gluten-free does not mean Paleo, but it’s a start...) (See it here)
• Wendy’s doesn't have an obvious gluten-free menu, but there are a few options. (See their menu here)
• Subway: get a salad and you’ll skip most of the worst stuff. Most of the meat is full of junk, but the least offensive proteins on the menu are the egg white patties, tuna, and roast beef.

Family-Style Restaurants or Steakhouses

(e.g. Applebee's)

Here you’re in luck: it’s actually very easy to get a Paleo-friendly meal. And the classier the restaurant, the better your options are.

What to Look For:

• Just pick 1 Paleo-friendly meat entrée and ask for steamed vegetables as a side. Throw in some roasted or mashed potatoes if you like, and you’re set.
• Ask for your food to be cooked in butter, not vegetable oil. Make sure the server knows the difference between butter and margarine.

Watch out For:

• If you’re very sensitive to wheat, ask to see allergen information or ask your server carefully – it sneaks into everything via soy sauce in marinades and dressings.
• If there’s any doubt, make sure to ask whether or not your meat will be breaded.

If You Have a Choice:

• Ruby Tuesday’s has several gluten-free options (See the allergen list here).
• Chili’s has a helpful allergen-list with gluten and soy-free options. (See it here)
• Boston Market has a great customizable allergen search tool online with quite a few options. (See it here). Most of the rotisserie chicken is Paleo-friendly.
• Red Robin takes a lot of care about allergens and there’s a customizable menu builder to help you plan (see it here).

Pizza Places

Pizza is hard. You’ll almost never find an actual pizza that comes within 100 miles of Paleo, but you can sometimes find reasonably acceptable options on the non-pizza menu.

What to Look For:

• Wings. Many pizza places serve wings as well. Baked is better than fried if it's available. And the sauce is probably full of sugar, but at least it’s not breaded and covered in cheese!
• Soup and salads. Anywhere more sophisticated than Domino’s will have at least a salad option on the menu – can you get it with some pepperoni or chicken cubes?

Watch out For:

• Gluten-free crusts. No, there’s no gluten, but they’re still made from refined grains, and the pizza is still full of all the other junk.

If You Have a Choice:

• California Pizza Kitchen has some pretty extensive offerings for salad and soup. (See their menu here).

Coffee Shops

(e.g. Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, Tim hortons)

The easiest thing is to just get a black coffee or tea and wait to eat until later, but sometimes you also need something to eat.

What to Look For:

• Black coffee or unsweetened tea, hot or iced. If dairy doesn’t bother you, add heavy cream.
• Piece of fresh fruit, or a fruit cup.
• In an emergency, you could try ordering a breakfast sandwich and ditching the bun.
• Almond milk: many coffee shops can make you a latte or other drink with almond milk instead of dairy.

If You Have a Choice:

• Starbucks: at the register area, there’s often a Paleo-friendly selection of grab-and-go trail mixes, dried fruit, or fresh bananas.

Asian Restaurants

There is more to Asian food than gloopy orange chicken – if you know what to look for, you can actually find quite a few good options.

What to Look For:

• Stir-fries or curries are often OK if you can ask for a Paleo-friendly cooking oil. Just ask for your food without rice, if you don’t eat it.
• Sushi or sashimi
• Seaweed salad
• Pho. Pho is just bone broth – delicious and very good for you! (Skip the noodles though)
• Barbecue or grill-focused restaurants (e.g. Korean barbecue).
• Ask for your food to be cooked in butter, not vegetable oil. Make sure the server knows the difference between butter and margarine.

Watch out For:

• Soy sauce (wheat + soy) – it’s everywhere!

If You Have a Choice:

• PF Chang’s has a gluten-free menu with several Paleo-friendly options
  (You can see it here.)

Mediterranean/Middle Eastern Restaurants

In between the breadsticks and pita, it is actually possible to get a Paleo-friendly meal here!

What to Look For:

• Fresh seafood or grilled meat – there are usually at least a few choices.
• Kebabs, if you’re at a Mediterranean/Middle- Eastern place.
• Baba ghanoush: just like hummus, but made of eggplant instead of chickpeas.
• Ask for your food to be cooked in butter, not vegetable oil. Make sure the server knows the difference between butter and margarine.

Watch out For:

• Gluten-free pasta. Gluten-free does not equal Paleo! Gluten-free pasta is typically just junk that happens to not have gluten in it, and it rarely tastes good. If you’ve gotta have pasta, you may just want to call it a planned detour and eat the real thing.
• Gyro meat and gyros: often the meat has gluten in it even if you skip the pita.
• Hummus and falafel: these are made of chickpeas, which aren’t Paleo.
• Ask for your food to be cooked in butter, not vegetable oil. Make sure the server knows the difference between butter and margarine.

If You Have a Choice:

• Olive Garden does have a gluten-free menu, but it’s tiny and mostly imitation-wheat made with other grains. (If you want to see it, it’s here).

Mexican Restaurants

What to Look For:

• Taco salad bowls – all the toppings, but skip the tortilla for a bed of lettuce. And watch out for cheese and sour cream if you don't tolerate dairy.
• Ceviche or other seafood.
• Fajitas, if you can find a place that serves the tortilla and the filling separately – just eat the good stuff and ignore the bread.
• Carne asada, carnitas, or another meat- centric dish.

Watch out For:

• “Corn” tortillas that contain wheat: corn is a pretty harmless Paleo detour for many people (if you're limited on other choices), but most “corn” tortillas are mostly wheat with just a little corn for flavor.

If You Have a Choice:

• Chipotle: more or less ethically sourced animal products, and plenty of Paleo options. And they even have one kind of meat (carnitas) cooked in lard rather than soybean oil. Get a salad bowl, skip the beans, and load up on the guacamole and salsa! (Ingredients list is here.)

Other

What to Look For:

• Salad bars or build-your-own joints: you’re in much greater control of the ingredients, and you’ll even get some fresh vegetables.
• Raw vegan restaurants – believe it or not, raw vegan food is often Paleo as well, and the restaurant will be very used to accommodating special requests.
• Poached or hard-boiled eggs: no mystery oils, no potential milk in an omelet.

Watch out For:

• Hidden soy, wheat, dairy, and corn – all the usual suspects.

If You Have a Choice:

• Buffalo Wild Wings uses tallow for frying, which is a nice change from junk oils. Several of their wings and sauces are gluten- and dairy-free, although you’ll have to put up with a little bit of corn (Their allergen list is here.)

More and more restaurants are able to accommodate specific diet requests. It's always important to communicate with your server and ask questions though. What are some places you've found with Paleo-friendly menus? Share with us Facebook or Twitter!

Ready to start cooking Paleo meals at home?

Don’t let your time get sucked up by constant trips to the grocery store for just one more thing – it’s so much more convenient to stock up on pantry staples right away. Here’s a starter list to get you going:

Spices (and spice blends)

The Basics:

• Salt
• Pepper
• Oregano
• Basil
• Raw garlic
• Cinnamon
• Chili powder
• Cumin
• Paprika
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Fresh ginger

* (If you’re strapped for cash, buy these first; they’re the most essential.)

You’ll Probably want...

• Curry powder
• Garlic powder
• Cloves (whole and/or ground)
• Allspice
• Nutmeg
• Red pepper flakes
• Red pepper flakes
• Cayenne
• Dill
• Whole peppercorns and a grinder
• Mustard powder
• Vanilla extract

* Once you have the essentials, you can buy these one or two at a time to spread out the cost.

If you like ethnic foods...

Tip: Online spice stores are almost always cheaper Than anything you can get in a grocery, and the spices are fresher, too. That goes double for The less common ethnic spices.

Other Staples

The Basics

• Full-fat coconut milk (canned or homemade)
• Coconut aminos (a Paleo-friendly substitute for soy sauce)
• Mustard
• Balsamic vinegar
• Apple cider vinegar
• Red wine vinegar
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Coconut oil
• Butter or ghee
• Canned tomatoes: at least one can each
  of diced tomatoes and tomato paste
• Canned or jarred olives
• Raw nuts (almonds, cashews, etc.)
• Canned fish (salmon, sardines, etc.)

You May Want...

• Wine (don’t buy cooking wine; it’s disgusting. Just buy a real bottle of wine and use it for cooking.)
• Almond and coconut flour (keep in the freezer if you only use small amounts at a time)
• Dried fruit
• Coffee and tea
• Tapioca starch and/or arrowroot powder (for thickening sauces)r
• Sweeteners: maple syrup, molasses, and/or honey
• Gelatin powder
• Unsweetened cocoa powder
• Nutritional yeast
• Almond or other nut butters

Tip: Many of These items may be cheaper (or only available) online. Check prices before you buy, and try a small container first To make sure you like and will use it.

Make it Yourself

Anything marked with a * can be made in a huge batch and then frozen in an ice cube tray to pop out single servings when you want them.

The Basics

• Ketchup*
• BBQ sauce*
• Mayonnaise
• Salad dressing

You'll Probably Want...

• Sriracha * (or another favorite hot sauce
• Salsa
• Yogurt (if you tolerate dairy well)
• Guacamole

Tip: “Can’t I just buy These at the store?” Yes, nowadays there are Paleo-friendly staples found in most grocery stores, but not all, and they can also come with a higher price tag. If you do go the store-bought route, read the labels carefully, and watch out for sugar and soy!

If you’re eating Paleo, you’re already picky about the oils you put in your mouth. Yes on olive, coconut, and avocado; nix on corn, soybean, and “vegetable.” But what about the oils you put on your skin?

There are lots of Paleo-friendly oils and fats that you can use as no-fuss, all-natural moisturizers and even cleansers. But there's not a huge amount of research-backed information about which ones to choose. So here’s a look at how different oils affect your skin - which to choose, which to skip, and which to test thoroughly before you put them on your face.

A Paleo approach to skincare

This is a post about putting oil on your face, but it’s worth noting that the first step to great skin is to eat well - massive blood sugar spikes are a major factor in acne and other skin issues, and some specific foods (especially dairy) can also precipitate skin flare-ups. But even with a great diet, topical treatments can still be helpful. Of course, nobody really knows what actual cavemen used on their faces, but if you think about what Paleo skincare might look like, try a few ideas taken from the Paleo approach to food:

• Don’t take strong medications with serious side effects (e.g., skin-irritating acne treatments) to fix a problem if you could prevent the whole issue by eating better in the first place (this is where the diet paragraph above comes in).
• Without being unreasonably fanatical about it, prioritize things with few ingredients that haven’t been stripped of their natural properties or nutrients.
• Don’t spend a ridiculous amount of money on fads and “super” products - they’re mostly scams. Consistently doing what works is key, not constantly jumping from trend to trend

With that in mind, using plain plant oils on your skin is one super Paleo-friendly approach to moisturizing and protecting your face and body. Oils like jojoba oil, coconut oil, and sesame oil are cheap compared to most commercial skincare products, don’t have any dyes or emulsifiers that might irritate sensitive skin, and do have a bunch of natural antioxidants and other good stuff straight from the plants. Here’s a look at some plain Paleo-friendly fats and oils that might be helpful for your skincare routine.

What oils can do for you: moisturize and reduce oxidative stress

Provide antioxidants/reduce oxidative stress

The antioxidant activity of your skin is critical to preventing sun damage and premature age-related changes (with the caveat that nothing can completely prevent aging, which is fine because aging is a normal part of human life and not a disease).

This paper stressed that all oils affect the antioxidant activity in the skin differently, but that applying the right types of fatty acids to your skin can actually have an antioxidant effect, not to mention the antioxidants naturally in the oil itself.

Moisturize

Oil can be a powerful moisturizer. For one thing, just rubbing the oil on your skin works as an occlusive moisturizer - it physically prevents water loss through the skin. The fatty acids in oil also act as an emollient - they help make skin softer by smoothing out tiny gaps between the skin flakes in the top layer.

Other compounds in plant oils can also help protect or heal the skin barrier, so that it can keep water in more effectively. In this case, as weird as it might sound to Paleo ears, Omega-6 oils aren’t actually the bad guys. There’s actually some evidence that linoleic acid (Omega-6 fat) improves skin barrier function when it’s applied to the skin. For example, O-6-rich sunflower oil improves skin barrier function in newborn babies, some of the people with the most vulnerable skin barriers around.

Are plant oils comedogenic?

If something is comedogenic, it means it clogs up your pores and makes you more prone to acne. We’ve all seen “non-comedogenic” labels on skincare products, but did you ever wonder exactly what that means?

Unfortunately, there’s no super great animal model of human comedogenicity. This study also found that a lot of products classified as comedogenic didn’t actually cause acne when applied to real people’s bodies. Also, considering the different reactions that different people have to skincare products, it’s almost impossible to say with certainty that something is or isn’t comedogenic for everyone.

This is a very frustrating conclusion, but the only real way to find out what works for your skin is to take different things for a test drive. If you’re really acne-prone, try a small patch test first somewhere generally hidden by your clothes.

Plant oils for skincare: Paleo suggestions

Coconut oil

Probably the most common oil used in “natural” cosmetics, coconut oil is known not just for its moisturizing properties but also for its mild antimicrobial action. Read up more on the benefits of coconut oil
here: the short version is that it’s a decent moisturizer, even for skin conditions that go beyond the standard “the central heating in this office sucks every drop of water out of my pores” type issues.

In studies, coconut oil was as good as mineral oil for xerosis (itchy, cracking, or dry skin, often at the knuckles or elbows), better than mineral oil for dermatitis in children, and more powerful than olive oil as an antimicrobial and all-purpose skin quality improver. Coconut oil has mild antimicrobial properties thanks to monolaurin, a fatty acid that makes up almost half its fat. For people with skin conditions that make them more prone to skin infections, this could be helpful as a preventative.

Shea butter

Shea butter comes from the shea nut, which is grown in western Africa. It’s mostly used for cosmetics in the US, but it’s actually also edible, which is nice for safety purposes.

Shea butter is notable not just for its moisturizing qualities but because it contains compounds called triterpenes, which have anti-inflammatory effects. One study found that the triterpenes from shea butter strengthened the skin barrier and protected collagen - that’s the protein that makes skin elastic and smooth. On the other hand, that article was written by employees of a cosmetics company, so a giant grain of salt is definitely warranted. But other papers from different groups have also found that the triterpenes in shea butter reduce inflammation.

Shea butter also has a lot of unsaponifiable lipids, which make it even more anti-inflammatory.

Runners up: sesame oil, Argan oil, almond oil, and pomegranate seed oil

These are oils where there isn’t a huge amount of human research in their favor, but just anecdotally a lot of people use them and like them and there’s a little bit of research in their favor. For example, a couple studies have shown that applying argan oil every day increases skin softness and elasticity. Another study found that massage with bitter almond oil reduced stretch marks, but just rubbing almond oil on the stomach itself did nothing. It had to be with massage. This study also showed that a moisturizer containing sweet almond oil was helpful for hand dermatitis (when your hands get all irritated from washing them too much), but the moisturizer also had other ingredients.

Since everyone’s skin is so different, one of them might absolutely be your holy grail for skincare!

Just say no to...olive and avocado oil

Olive oil is chock full of antioxidants, which is very healthy when you eat it, but oleic acid, the main fat found in olive oil, disrupts the skin barrier function. That’s a big deal because the skin barrier is how your skin prevents moisture loss and keeps itself hydrated. Oleic acid increases total water loss from the skin, causing a dehydrating effect. This study even found that “topical treatment with olive oil significantly damages the skin barrier.” Ouch!

Avocado oil is also very high in oleic acid, making it another bad choice for skincare. Olives, avocados, and the oils made from them are perfectly fine foods and totally Paleo-friendly, but research suggests that you should leave them in the kitchen and use something else on your skin.

How to use oils for skincare

You don’t actually need to buy special body butters made with all these things - especially for people with chemical sensitivities, all the fragrances and ingredients in commercial moisturizing products can be a minefield.

The simplest way to use oils or shea butter as a moisturizer is to just rub a little bit (a very little bit! You don’t need a huge glob, so start with less than you think you’ll need) into your skin after a shower. For your body, you can also use a favorite oil as a massage oil (with or without a drop of essential oil to make it smell nice)

There are also techniques like the oil cleansing method (rub oil into your skin thoroughly, then wipe it off with a damp washcloth) that use the oil as more of a soap substitute.

What’s your favorite oil for no-fuss Paleo skincare and how do you like to use it? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter!

“What should my macros look like on Paleo?” - it’s a common question and it’s sometimes frustrating to hear that there really is no one “right” answer. As far as anyone can tell, Paleolithic hunter-gatherer diets probably had a wide range of different macronutrient ratios, depending on the season and the geographic location of the tribe. That’s certainly how it works with modern hunter-gatherer groups - groups closer to the equator generally tend to eat more carbs, while groups closer to the poles generally tend to eat fewer carbs.

But Paleo isn’t even really about imitating hunter-gatherers, ancient or modern; it’s about how humans can eat to be healthy and strong. And the research here also backs up the “different strokes for different folks” theory of macros. Different people have hugely varying “optimal” macro ratios, and some lucky people who are relatively healthy can adjust to a huge range of equally acceptable options.

But with all that said, there are a few big macronutrient patterns that tend to emerge within the Paleo/keto/ancestral health community because they work well for a lot of people and offer some kind of structure for people just starting out. For example, a lot of people adapt Paleo food choices to a ketogenic (keto) macronutrient pattern. But there are a lot of Paleo-friendly macro choices that aren’t anywhere near keto. Paleo is a way of thinking about food that could theoretically be adapted to a wide range of macros, while keto is a specific set of macronutrient ranges - you can combine the two, but you can also do Paleo in a non-keto way.

Here’s a look at 5 keto and Paleo macronutrient ratio plans that might work for you - try them, modify them, or throw them out the window and do your own thing!

1. Extreme low-carb/carnivore

Protein: 20-40% (depends on whether you’re eating lean or fatty meat)
Carbs: ~1% (you will get trace amounts of carbs from eggs, dairy if you eat dairy, etc., but the total amount is extremely low)
Fat: 60+%

This is the most extreme approach to a nearly 0-carb diet you can get - basically the concept is to eat only meat, no plants, and particularly no plant foods that contain any amount of carbohydrate. Salt is allowed and encouraged. Some people modify it a bit with eggs, dairy, and/or or spices.

This is a very extreme approach and it’s worth noting that there’s almost no research on the long-term efficacy or safety of carnivore diets - and nothing on long-term consumption by overweight people in the 21st century looking to drop a few pants sizes. One of the best long-term accounts we have is the notes taken by Vilhjálmur Stefansson back in the early 1900s - his report on the Inuit diet is interesting and cool but not really a great scientific foundation by modern standards. There are a lot of unanswered questions here about nutritional deficiencies, especially if you're not eating a lot of organ meats.

The carnivore diet is probably best for people who want to try an interesting new diet experiment and really like meat but aren’t afraid to quit and try something else if it doesn’t work. If you want something low-carb but better-researched and less extreme, you could always try...

2. Basic keto

Protein: ~15%
Carbs: <5% (under 20 grams net carbs, not counting fiber)
Fat: 80+%

This is how most people do keto - enough wiggle room in the carb count that you can at least have a salad and some cauliflower pizza crust, but not enough wiggle room to actually go out of ketosis. Unlike the carnivore plan, the goal of garden-variety isn’t to eat only meat and avoid plant foods; the goal is to get a specific set of macros (high fat, very low carbs).

This plan has more fat and less protein than the pure carnivore plan, and likely less meat: even fatty meat isn't all that fatty by keto standards (for example, a nice juicy grilled T-bone is a whopping 38% protein, although you can lower that percentage rapidly by adding butter on top). With keto, you don’t necessarily eat a whole pile of T-bones; it’s more like half a T-bone with a lot of butter and some avocado and spinach salad.

Sample meals

• Chorizo and spinach omelette - 16% protein, 5% carbs (7 grams), 79% fat
• Baked salmon with avocado salsa - 29% protein, 3% carbs (6 grams), 68% fat
• Salt and pepper pork belly - 7% protein, 2% carbs (6 grams), 91% fat

If that's still a bit too much fat for you, or if you like really big salads with more roughage, what about...

3. Low-carb, not quite keto (aka keto with more vegetables)

Protein: 15-30%
Carbs: 10-15% (typically under 75-ish grams of carbs in total)
Fat: 55-75%

This type of macro scheme works well for people who want to avoid dense starchy sources of carbs (potatoes, rice, bananas) to keep their blood sugar under control, but who  still eat more fresh vegetables than they can fit into a traditional keto plan. If you’re not aiming for keto specifically, you also have way more flexibility with protein - ramping up the protein content can help prevent hunger, and maintain muscle mass during weight loss.

Sample recipes

• Tex-Mex Stuffed Peppers - 32% protein, 17% carbs (17 grams), 51% fat
• Slow-cooker Cuban-style beef - 34% protein, 11% carbs (19 grams), 55% fat

4. Moderate-carb Paleo

Protein: 20-30%
Carbs: 15-30% (up to 150-ish grams of carbs)
Fat: 40-65%

On this type of plan, you get to eat not just low-carb vegetables but also more carb-dense foods like potatoes (sweet or white), bananas, plantains, and dried fruit. A whole lot of people just feel better eating like this, particularly people who do a lot of sports, people with active jobs, pregnant women, and children and teenagers.

This is also a good starter plan for people new to Paleo who are worried about the “low-carb flu.” You almost certainly won’t have that problem on this type of plan.

Sample recipes

• Paleo sausage quiche - 22% protein, 24% carbs (19 grams), 54% fat. Serve with roasted delicata squash (adds 12 grams of carbs and a bit of extra fat) as a side.
• Creole jambalaya - 30% protein, 18% carbs (20 grams), 52% fat. Serve with garlic green beans (adds 13 grams of carbs and a bit of extra fat) or your other favorite greens.

5. Carb cycling

Protein: 20-30%
Carbs: Depends based on the day/time
Fat: Varies based on carb level

This is a little different from the other types of plans because it adds a timing dimension. The goal isn’t just to eat X amount of protein, fat, and carbs in a day; the goal is to eat those nutrients at certain times and not at others.

This plan is good for people who want the benefits of low-carb eating most of the time but struggle with lack of energy during workouts or recovery from hard workouts. Timing carbs just around your workout can get you over that hump but still give you the benefit of low-carb eating for most of the day.

This type of plan is also good for people who like periodic planned “cheat” meals for their own mental health. If a big carby dinner on Saturday night keeps you on the straight and narrow the rest of the time, then it can be a great psychological tool for long-term consistency.

Sample recipes (low-carb phase)

• Salmon with lemon-butter capers - 29% protein, 2% carbs (4 grams), 68% fat
• Balsamic chicken salad - 18% protein, 11% carbs (15 grams), 71% fat

Sample recipes (high-carb phase) - just add any of these to your other food whenever you need more carbs

• Grilled zesty sweet potatoes - 33 extra grams of carbs
• Hasselback potatoes with Paleo sour cream - 66 extra grams of carbs
• Curried purple sweet potatoes - 22 extra grams of carbs

Pick what works for you.

Paleo really isn’t about any single macronutrient ratio - a ketogenic Paleo diet is definitely one way to go, but you don’t have to do keto to be Paleo. The five macro schemes above are five common plans that work well for a lot of people: if you’re new and don’t know how to start, you could do a lot worse than picking one of those, giving it a college try, and tweaking it to make it perfect for you.

Hankering for a bite of Paleo bread but not so big on cooking it yourself from scratch? Take a peek at 5 brands of pre-made Paleo bread and bread mixes. Our taste-tester tried all five and wrote up some thoughts!

This is not a sponsored post. None of these brands provided any food for free, paid anything for a good review, or influenced the reviews in any other way. All opinions are honest, uncensored responses to the food.

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Super quick nutritional overview:

Brand & flavor	Pre-made or mix?	Nuts?	Coconut?	Net carbs, per 1 slice
Mikey’s Muffins Cinnamon raisin	Pre-made (frozen)	X	X	6 (per 1 muffin)
Julian Bakery Coconut	Pre-made (frozen)		X	1
Paleo Baking Co. Banana Bread	Mix	X (hazelnut flour in mix)	X	17.5
California Country Gal Rustic Bread	Mix	X (almond flour in mix)	X	2.1
Legit Sandwich Bread	Mix			14

1. Mikey’s Muffins: Cinnamon Raisin Muffins

These are pre-made muffins that you can buy in the freezer section of a grocery store. The same brand also makes a plain flavor and a toasted onion flavor.

Nutrition Facts (per 1 muffin):

• Protein: 8 grams
• Carbs: 6 grams net carbs (10 grams total - 4 grams fiber)
• Fat: 12 grams

Taste-Tester’s Notes

Here’s the thing about these muffins; they’re good, but they don’t have that traditional fluffy, just-a-bit-sourdough-y flavor of traditional English muffins. If you want a tasty breakfast food as a vehicle for honey or almond butter, these fit the bill. But if you’re specifically hankering for something that tastes just like Thomas’ English Muffins, you’ll be disappointed in these.

With that said, the cinnamon/raisin flavoring came through nicely and the texture reminded me a bit of whole-wheat bread. It was a very “unprocessed” type of texture; it tasted almost homemade. They were good with both butter and honey.

Tasty with butter and jam; they’d probably also be good with honey or almond butter.

2. Julian Bakery: Coconut Bread

This is a pre-made bread that you can buy frozen from a grocery store or online. The same brand also makes a bunch of different Paleo breads and wraps.

Nutrition Facts (per 1 slice):

• Protein: 5 grams
• Carbs: 1 gram net carbs (6 grams total - 5 grams fiber)
• Fat: 1 gram

Taste-Tester’s Notes

I could not find a way to make this bread palatable.

Just defrosted without any intervention, it was floppy and spongy. I tried one bite and realized I was going to have to gussy it up if I wanted to get it down the hatch.

First I tried toasting it in a regular toaster. This yielded a product something like a warm sponge. I tried toasting it longer but got a weird burning smell so I stopped. I tried putting avocado on it but quickly gave up on the bread and just ate all the avocado off the top. It was a tasty avocado. The bread went in the trash.

One problem with toasting it was that the bread tended to fall apart in the toaster. So as an alternative method of toasting, I stuck it on a baking sheet under the broiler, thinking this would be a little bit gentler, but I STILL couldn’t get it toasty. I left it there until the edges were literally burned black, which is objectively way over-toasted, but the middles were still soggy and floppy. All I really succeeded in doing with this was making toast that was simultaneously burned and soggy, not a pleasant eating experience.

I tried oven-toasting it for a little less time with different toppings, but still no dice:

I also tried making croutons with it to see if that would produce something I wanted to eat, but the croutons just weren’t great. I put them on a tasty salad (butter lettuce, red onion, mushrooms, salt and pepper vinaigrette, leftover rotisserie chicken) and ended up with a sad pile of unwanted croutons at the bottom of the salad bowl.

Overall, I don't recommend this bread.

3. Paleo Baking Company: Banana Bread mix

This is a mix that you can buy online. You'll also need 6 eggs, ⅔ cup of coconut oil, ⅔ cup of honey, and about 2 bananas. The same brand also makes a blueberry bread/muffin mix.

Nutrition facts:

For prepared bread (1/18 of the whole mix, which is a snack-sized piece of bread):

• Protein: 4.3 grams
• Carbs: 17.5 grams net carbs (22 grams total - 4.5 grams fiber)
• Fat: 15.7 grams

Taste-Tester’s Notes

This bread fell apart a bit while I was taking it out of the baking pan, but I very quickly forgot that because the bread itself was delicious. It was sweet but not too sweet, dense the way I would expect from banana bread, and with just the right amount of banana flavor. 10/10 on taste!

The only downside was that it kept falling apart; it was hard to get a piece bigger than bite size to hold together when I picked it up. When I tried picking up the slice above, it broke in half. My solution was to embrace the crumbliness and break it into little pieces and then cover those with cream for dessert, kind of like a banana bread crumble. I added some frozen blueberries because it was about 95 degrees on the day I taste-tested this:

This was extremely delicious but not a great solution if you want a piece of banana bread to hold and spread butter on. I followed the recipe exactly as written, but the package also suggested using the mix to make muffins instead of one large loaf. I feel like the muffins might hold together better (and in any case, they’d be in little paper cups for easier eating), so if I make this again, I’ll definitely go that route.

4. California Country Gal: Rustic Bread Mix

This is a mix that you can buy online. The same brand also makes a regular sandwich bread mix. You'll also need 1 cup of eggs or egg whites + 3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar.

Nutrition facts:

As prepared with whole eggs (for 2 tbsp. of dry mix, which makes roughly 1 slice):

• Protein: 3.5 grams
• Carbs: 2.1 grams net carbs (5.1 grams total - 3 grams fiber)
• Fat: 6.1 grams

As prepared with egg whites (for 2 tbsp. of dry mix, which makes roughly 1 slice):

• Protein: 3.3 grams
• Carbs: 2.1 grams net carbs (5.1 grams total - 3 grams fiber)
• Fat: 5 grams

Taste-Tester’s Notes

This bread had easily the best crust of all of them. It was perfectly brown and crispy and just begging to be bitten into. Very toothsome, to use a great old word that doesn’t get enough use.

The recipe suggested adding herbs for variety, so I made two mini-loaves: one plain for reference and one with rosemary and olives. I used to love rosemary and olive bread before committing to Paleo but I hadn’t had it in years.

The recipe called for 1 cup of either whole eggs or egg whites, with a warning that whole eggs would produce a denser bread. I used whole eggs to get all that wonderful nutrition in the yolk and also because philosophically I just don’t believe taking out healthy fat from whole foods. But as it turns out, I might have to rethink my position on egg whites in bread specifically, because this bread turned out a bit too dense in the middle with the whole eggs. Next time, I would get over myself a bit and just buy some whites to put in. So for everyone else cooking this, I strongly suggest you use only whites.

Other than that, the recipe was great. The plain and the rosemary-olive loaf both turned out very tasty. I didn’t use nearly enough rosemary (just 1 sprig) or enough olives (about ¼ cup chopped), but that’s on me.

The plain loaf with a smear of jam:

5. Legit Bread: Sandwich Bread Mix

This is a dry mix that you can buy online. The same brand also makes a "blonde" mix.

Nutrition facts:

For prepared bread (1/16 of the loaf, roughly 1 slice):

• Protein: 3 grams
• Fat: 4.6 grams
• Carbs: 14 grams net carbs (16 grams total - 2 grams fiber)

Taste-Tester’s Notes

Of all the breads I tested, this is the one I would recommend if you want to make a sandwich, or even if you just want a nice toasted delivery vehicle for butter or jam.

It didn’t taste exactly like the kind of sandwich bread you’d buy in a store, but it tasted really good and it held together well enough to toast in a normal toaster. If you think of how whole wheat bread is a little more “rough” or “natural” than white bread, then this bread is a step up in texture from normal whole-wheat bread, with a similar taste. It was really good, if that’s what you want in bread!

There's not a huge amount to say about this - it's a very no-fuss, easy recipe that gives you tasty bread. Taste-tester approved with butter, honey, and jam!

Histamine sensitivity is tricky to diagnose, because the symptoms are often very vague, and not obviously connected to any particular food. Some people notice allergy-like reactions (itching, rashes, wheezing, or skin sensitivity); others have totally different symptoms like constipation, stomach upset, or brain fog. Histamine intolerance is quite rare, but it does exist, and even doctors don’t have a better method of diagnosis than an elimination diet (on the bright side, at least this means that you can get the most advanced method of treatment at home!).

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Avoid foods very high in histamines:

Aged or Fermented Foods:

• Kimchi, sauerkraut, yogurt or kefir, kombucha, aged cheese, alcohol of any kind, vinegar, coconut aminos, and cured meat.

Meat:

• Fish and seafood (especially canned or smoked fish)

Reduce foods moderately high in histamines:

Vegetables:

• Spinach, eggplant, mushrooms, tomatoes, and canned vegetables.

Fruits

• Avocados, dried fruit, citrus fruit*, papaya, strawberries, and pineapple.

Other Foods:

• Protein-containing leftovers, chocolate and cocoa*, nuts and seeds*, and raw egg whites*.

* Technically, these foods are not high in histamines per se, but they contain some other chemicals that can make a histamine intolerance reaction worse.

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It’s impossible to give exact numbers for histamines, because the histamine content of foods is so variable. Some histamines occur naturally in foods; but others are formed as a food ages (explaining why aged, fermented, and smoked foods are among the worst offenders). Biological aging is an imprecise process, so estimating the amount of histamine in a food is very tricky.

Even leftovers from low-histamine foods can be high in histamines if they’ve been sitting around in the fridge for long enough.

Another crucial point about histamine intolerance is that it’s cumulative. It’s not like a peanut allergy where the tiniest exposure is dangerous. When your system is over- loaded with high-histamine foods, even a little additional histamine can be bad. But if you get rid of the worst offenders, you might be able to enjoy the moderate-histamine foods without an issue.

So it’s always to pin down exactly what you need to eliminate. But as this study shows, most histamine-sensitive people can find relief just by eliminating or even reducing the very high-histamine foods, and by choosing low-histamine foods as their staples. It’s all about finding which foods you really have to eliminate, and then enjoying the rest.

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Cooking on a Low-Histamine Diet

This section has two parts. Part 1 contains recipes that are low in histamines as written; Part 2 will help you lower the histamine content of common recipes without losing flavor, by using a clever substitute for vinegar or other tangy foods.

Part 1: Low-Histamine Recipes

These recipes don’t include anything on the “very high” list. A few of them contain small amounts of foods on the “moderate” list; those recipes are marked with a *. The recipes with a * should be fine for almost everyone; you’ll only need to avoid them if you’re extremely sensitive.

Main courses

• Sirloin steak with avocado salad* (lemon juice)
• Hearty beef stew* (tomatoes)
• Roasted bone marrow
• Moroccan-style roast chicken
• Chicken curry rolls* (lime juice in the chutney)
• Chicken Tajine with apricots
• Roast chicken with grapes
• Cinnamon chicken
• Spicy drumsticks
• Duck confit
• Spiced duck breast
• Zucchini and sweet potato frittata

Soups, Salads and sides

• Butternut squash soup
• Zucchini cakes
• Chicken salad* (lemon juice, and the mayonnaise also contains a little lemon juice)
• Blueberry cucumber smoothie* (lemon juice)
• Kale chips* (lemon juice)
• Butternut squash fries, sweet potato fries or spicy sweet potato wedges
• Warm broccoli and carrot slaw
• Roasted cauliflower with mint and pomegranate
• Roasted acorn squash
• Chicken and vegetable soup* (tomatoes)
• Egg drop soup
• Leek and sweet potato soup
• Irish kidney soup* (lemon juice)
• Baked apples with cinnamon

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Part 2: Strategic Substitutes for Vinegar

Substituting the moderate-histamine vegetables is fairly simple. Lettuce or chard can stand in for spinach; summer squash or zucchini for eggplant. Relatively few vegetables are really problematic, so you can usually find a safe alternative without a lot of fuss.

“Tangy” tastes are another story, though. The characteristic “bite” of vinegar and probiotic foods comes from the same fermentation process that rules them out from a low-histamine diet. Even citrus can be out, depending on how sensitive you are. So how can you get that delicious hint of tang in your recipes without setting off an inflammatory reaction?

Your new best friend on a low-histamine diet: ascorbic acid.

Ascorbic acid is basically Vitamin C. There’s quite a substantial debate over whether or not it’s a complete form of Vitamin C, but for the purposes of cooking, it doesn’t matter since you’re not using it as a vitamin supplement anyway.

Ascorbic acid powder is found in most Vitamin C supplements, but a better alternative is to buy the powder itself; you can find this in health food stores or on Amazon (note that if you’re concerned about eating genetically modified organisms, you might have to spend a little extra time hunting down a non-GMO brand).

To make low-histamine “vinegar,” try a 12:1 ratio of water:ascorbic acid powder by volume.

• 2 tablespoons of “vinegar” = 5.5 teaspoons of water + 0.5 teaspoons of ascorbic acid.
• 1 cup of “vinegar” = .9 cup of water + 3.5 teaspoons of ascorbic acid.

You can then flavor this “vinegar” to fit your recipe. So for example, if you want apple cider vinegar, replace some or all of the water with apple juice.

This simple substitution opens up a whole world of possibilities when it comes to salad dressings, marinades, and condiments. Try:

• Veal Paupiettes: just replace the white wine vinegar with 1 tablespoon of “vinegar” from ascorbic acid.
• Chicken artichoke panzanella: replace the white wine vinegar with 2 tablespoons of “vinegar” and enjoy!
• Paleo meatloaf: instead of vinegar in the homemade ketchup, use “vinegar.” Tomatoes are on the “moderate list,” but since you’re only using 1⁄2 a cup of ketchup in an entire meatloaf recipe, the amount of tomatoes that you get in each serving should be fine for most people.
• Pork and apple skewers: replace the vinegar in the marinade, and enjoy the double tanginess of the apples and the “vinegar” in the finished product.

If you react even to a little lemon juice in a recipe, you can also use this “vinegar” to replace it – the flavor won’t be quite the same, but it’s a lot better than nothing at all.

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Do you have a favorite vinaigrette recipe that you've modified? Have you succeeded in finding the perfect substitution for a marinade or dressing? Let us know your low-histamine culinary masterpieces on Facebook or Twitter.

If you’re a bit lost with the low-carb life and don’t know where to start, here’s a 101 guide to the produce section. It doesn’t cover every single low-carb vegetable (you’d be here all day and probably forget most of them by the end of the list) but it does hit 5 basic staples that every low-carber should at least try. Start out with these and you’ll always have something in the fridge that you can throw together as a side dish or a quick salad.

1. Cauliflower, the amazing rice replacer

Use cauliflower as an easy low-carb substitute for all kinds of white starchy foods (potatoes, rice, pizza crust…). You can even buy it pre-grated into rice-sized grains now, no elbow grease required! It’s also tasty just tossed in the oven to roast with some olive oil and black pepper.

Carb count: Per 1 cup chopped raw cauliflower: 3.2 grams net carbs (5.3 grams total - 2.1 grams of fiber = 3.2 grams net)

Nutritional highlights: cauliflower is high in vitamin C and some B vitamins. It’s also rich in antioxidants, especially if you steam it or stir-fry it instead of boiling it to death. On the other hand, cauliflower can be hard to digest for some people because it’s high in FODMAPs, so if you have a really sensitive stomach, it might not be for you.

Recipe inspiration:

• Cauliflower shepherd’s pie
• Keto cauliflower pizza
• Keto creamy mashed cauliflower

Substitutes: Broccoli or Brussels sprouts for something quick to roast; nut flours for Paleo/keto baking.

2. Spinach, the speed demon side

Spinach is incredibly easy and fast to cook, goes with almost everything, and makes a perfect delivery vehicle for butter. Or eat it raw as a more nutritious lettuce substitute in salads.

You can also buy bricks of frozen spinach and just throw them in a pot of soup or chili for some extra nutrition - it looks like a lot of spinach, but it really almost vanishes in the pot.

Carb count: Per 1 cup raw spinach: 0.39 grams of net carbs (1.09 grams total carbs - 0.7 grams of fiber = 0.39 grams net)

Nutritional highlights: Spinach is full of essential minerals, like magnesium and copper. It’s also high in folate and other B vitamins (notably B2 and B6) and even some iron (although the iron isn’t very easy to absorb, so you’re still better off eating meat). It’s pretty low in FODMAPs, so it should be fine for people with IBS or FODMAPs sensitivity.

Like other intensely green vegetables, spinach is also rich in chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is how the plant makes energy out of sunshine, but it’s also a powerful antioxidant. No need for an expensive greens supplement when you could just eat some leaves!

Recipe inspiration:

• Keto smoked salmon salad with spinach and mushrooms
• Creamy mushroom and spinach chicken
• Chorizo and spinach omelette
• Keto ham and spinach egg cups

Substitutes: lettuce for eating in salads; beet greens, kale, or chard for cooking.

3. Cabbage, the savior of grocery budgets

Cabbage is incredibly easy on the food budget. If you shop sales, you can get a big head for 40-50 cents/lb and sometimes even cheaper in the late fall when it’s in season. For budget-conscious shoppers, cabbage is definitely the vegetable to stock up on.

Carb count:Per 1 cup raw cabbage: 2.96 grams net carbs (5.16 grams total carbs - 2.2 grams of fiber = 2.96 grams net)

Nutritional highlights: Cabbage gives you all the benefits of other cruciferous vegetables - broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and the better-known members of the “superfood” crowd - at a budget price. It’s particularly full of vitamins K and C, plus anthocyanins, glucosinolates, and other antioxidants. Unfortunately, it’s also high in FODMAPs, so this would be another one to avoid if you’re sensitive to them.

Recipe inspiration:

• Keto slow-cooker cabbage casserole
• Simple keto coleslaw
• Cabbage-wrapped salmon (leave out the onions and peppers to reduce carbs if necessary).
• Keto egg roll in a bowl

Substitutes: Celery or cucumbers for something crunchy to eat cold. If you're looking for more budget-savers, frozen vegetables are typically just as nutritious as fresh (since they're picked at peak ripeness, so they lose nothing in travel/sitting in the store) and typically cheaper.

4. Zucchini, the noodlemaker

Zucchini is one of the best vegetable choices for making low-carb noodles (“zoodles”). Cauliflower might be great for other recipe replacements, but it’s pretty hard to make satisfactory noodles out of a cauliflower - zucchini is a little bendier and generally more suited to spiralizing. You can even buy it pre-noodled now, which is convenient for everyone on the run.

Carb count:Per 1 cup raw zucchini: 2.66 grams net carbs (3.86 total - 1.2 grams of fiber = 2.66 grams net)

For anyone wondering, zucchini is lower in carbs than spaghetti squash (the other vegetable typically used in Paleo noodles). 1 cup of raw spaghetti squash has about 5.5 grams of net carbs, compared to about 2.7 in raw zucchini. Or if you take them cooked, you’ll get just under 8 grams of net carbs in a cup of spaghetti squash, compared to about 3 in a cup of zucchini.

Nutritional highlights: One nutritional highlight of zucchini is everything it doesn’t have. Zucchini is OK for basically anyone to eat. Keto? Autoimmune protocol? FODMAPs sensitivity? No problem!

Recipe inspiration:

• Zucchini fries
• Keto zucchini noodles with tomato-basil sauce
• Lemon chicken kebabs with grilled zucchinis
• Zucchini gremolata
• Garlic shrimp with zucchini noodles

Substitutes: yellow squash (they’re basically the same thing) or spaghetti squash for a slightly higher-carb noodle substitute.

5. Avocado, the high-fat, low-carb fruit

Avocado is the only item on this list that’s technically a fruit and not a vegetable. In fact, it’s one of the few fruits with a low enough carb count that you can actually eat it on keto (read more about fruit on keto here).

Carb count: 3.65 grams net carbs (17.15 grams total carbs - 13.5 grams fiber = 3.65 grams net)

Nutritional highlights: The big selling point for avocados, other than the fact that they're delicious, is the fat. Avocados are packed with monounsaturated fat, the same kind found in olive oil, making it absolutely perfect for low-carb, high-fat diets. Particularly for people who don’t like eating a ton of butter or other animal fats, an avocado here and there is a great way to up the fat content in your diet.

Avocados are also a great source of vitamin E (especially important if you don’t eat a lot of nuts). Here's a more in-depth look at all their nutritional benefits.

Recipe inspiration:

• Grilled lamb burgers with avocado sauce
• Keto avocado egg salad
• Keto baked salmon with avocado salsa
• Avocado vegetable dip

What’s in your fridge?

What’s your favorite low-carb pick from the produce section? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter!

Autoimmune diseases are tricky – for some people, a basic Paleo diet is all the help they need, while for others, a stricter autoimmune protocol is necessary, at least for the first few months. To put it very briefly, the autoimmune protocol eliminates a lot of foods that can be fine for healthy people, but very damaging if you already suffer from autoimmune-related inflammation.

What Should I Avoid?

On the autoimmune protocol, you should avoid:

Non-Paleo Foods:

• Grains (including corn), legumes (including peanuts, peas, and beans), dairy (including butter and ghee), seed oils, and alcohol

Nuts and Seeds:

• All nuts and seeds, and all spices made from nuts and seeds like anise seed, annatto, caraway, celery seed, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, fenugreek, mustard seed, nutmeg, poppyseed, and sesame seed.

Gray Area Foods:

• Spices from berries and fruit: allspice, star anise, caraway, cardamom, juniper, black pepper, white pepper, peppercorns, and vanilla bean. Most people can handle these just fine; some will need to eliminate them.

Nightshade Vegetables:

• Eggplant, tomatoes, all varieties of peppers and spices made from them (red pepper flakes, chili powder, paprika, cayenne, and curry powder), white potatoes (but sweet potatoes are fine).
• Some other slightly less common vegetables like ashwaganda, bush tomatoes, cape gooseberries, cocona, garden huckleberries, goji berries, kutjera, naranjillas, pepinos, pimentos, tamarillos, and tomatillos.

Other Foods:

• Eggs and processed meats (these are usually cured with spices from the nightshade family.)

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Cooking on the Autoimmune Protocol

In terms of cooking, the hardest part about the autoimmune protocol is the spices. Cooking without chili peppers or paprika is hard! But herbs come to the rescue in autoimmune-friendly recipes, with savory flavors like basil and thyme, and sharp notes like garlic and ginger perking up the dishes instead.

This list is divided into 2 parts. Part 1 has recipes that are autoimmune-friendly as written; Part 2 has recipes that you can easily modify to fit the protocol, usually with some strategic replacements for spices, peppers, or tomatoes.

Part 1: Autoimmune-Friendly Paleo recipes

These recipes are completely or almost completely autoimmune-friendly as written. Most of them call for “black pepper to taste;” black pepper is a gray area food but it should be fine for almost everyone. None of them rely heavily on black pepper, so if it bothers you, just leave it out. If you’ll need to make any other minor substitutions, they’re marked.

A note about alcohol: alcoholic drinks are prohibit- ed on the autoimmune protocol, but cooking with alcohol is allowed, because all the actual alcohol burns off during the cooking process. So you’ll see some recipes below with alcohol in them. If you have another reason to avoid alcohol (e.g. a sulfite intolerance), just skip them.

Main Courses

• Lemon and Thyme Lamb Cutlets
• Bulgogi
• Roast Beef with Thyme, Garlic, and Red Wine (use beef tallow instead of the butter, and leave off the optional Worcestershire sauce).
• Beef Stroganoff (use tallow or another cooking fat in place of butter).
• Steaks with Mushrooms and Red Wine
• Roasted Bone Marrow
• Liver Pâté (leave out the optional nutmeg in the first recipe)
• Zaatar Grilled Chicken – this is a fantastic recipe to make if you’re missing spices, since it creates an amazing effect with just herbs.
• Chicken with Mushroom Cream sauce
• Lemon Chicken Kebabs with Grilled Zucchinis
• Braised Chicken with Fennel and Sweet Potatoes
• Roast Chicken with Grapes
• Quick and Creamy Chicken stew (leave out the peas and the optional almond flour)
• Olive, Garlic, and Lemon Chicken
• Duck and Carrot Confit
• Ginger-Citrus Roast Chicken
• Pork and apple skewers
• Fish in a Pig
• Mussels in White Wine sauce
• Tuna steak with avocado and Cilantro Marinade

Salads, Sides, and Other Dishes

• Spinach, Strawberry, and Avocado Salad
• Shrimp and Mango Salad
• Apple-Cinnamon Fruit Rolls
• Grilled Peaches with Prosciutto and Basil
• Kale Chips
• Warm Broccoli and Carrot Slaw
• Butternut squash Fries or Sweet
  Potato Fries
• Sweet Potato Lime Soup
• Butternut Squash Soup
• Fruit Salad with Mint and Lime
• Sardine and Garlic Spread
• Guacamole with Radish and Oranges

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Part 2: Modifying Recipes For the Autoimmune Protocol

Now comes the hard part: finding recipes that aren’t autoimmune-friendly and modifying them so that they are. First up for replacement are the vegetables. The autoimmune protocol eliminates nightshades, so bell peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes are all out. To substitute for these, try:

• Eggplant: zucchini or yellow squash. No, it doesn’t have the color, but if you’re just using some eggplant in a soup or stew, summer squash will give you the same texture and a similar flavor.
• Bell peppers: if you’re looking for added crunch, try onions. If you’re making a “bowl” to stuff with something else, consider sweet potatoes or acorn squash.
• Tomatoes: If tomatoes are the central focus of a dish, they’re pretty much impossible to replace, but if they’re just one ingredient among many, you have options.For tomato paste in soup, try some pureed sweet potato or another root vegetable for texture + a dab of umeboshi paste (made from plums, so it’s autoimmune-friendly) for flavor. To add a raw crunch to salads, try cucumbers or carrots.

You can also experiment with replacing spices. According to the Cook’s Thesaurus, some strategic substitutes are:

• Anise seed: star anise
• Dill seed: dill leaves (use more, since the leaves are not as strong-tasting)
• Fennel seed: stalks of the fennel plant (use more, since the stalks are not as strong-tasting)
• Mustard seed: wasabi powder or horseradish
• Cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes: black pepper (if it works well with your recipe, also try adding some ginger or garlic for extra heat)

Some examples of these substitutions at work:

Veal Paupiettes (replace 1 tbsp. ground nutmeg with 1⁄2 tbsp. ground cinnamon)

Herb and Prosciutto-Stuffed Steak (replace the red pepper cubes with onions)

Tuna avocado Boats (leave out the paprika, and use olive oil instead of the mayonnaise, since mayonnaise contains eggs)

Fresh Garden Vegetable Salad (substitute steamed asparagus for the red bell pepper)

Cabbage Soup (substitute more onions and carrots for the bell pepper)

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Not every recipe can be modified so easily, but you’d be surprised at what you can come up with when you start getting familiar with the substitutions.

Do you have a favorite family recipe that you’ve modified to fit your new lifestyle? Or are you struggling to find the right substitutions? Share your triumphs and puzzles with us on Facebook or Twitter.