When a person is trying the Paleo Diet for the first time, they might have some questions about the food that they can buy. This will be especially true for some common convenience foods, or snacks. While those who study the diet will understand that they need to stay away from certain obvious food groups, there will be some food groups that will fall under a fuzzy area in their minds. These are foods that on the surface might be okay to eat, but if a person is serious about adhering to a paleo meal for good health, they'll want to make sure that they are eating right.
Here's a listing of food products that can fall into a fuzzy area:
Lunch meat: These food products can cause a shopper to have a lot of questions and concerns, especially if they have children. Who doesn't feed their children lunch meat? Who doesn't enjoy a nice sandwich for lunch, or when they want a hearty snack? One would think that lunch meat would be okay, since they are usually sourced from lean meats. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind. First, a shopper can buy lunch meat to eat. However, they should buy lunch meat that is nitrate free, and free from other preservatives and chemicals. They should only buy lunch meat that is sourced from lean meat cuts, such as beef, chicken, or turkey. They should stay away from processed lunch meat products, such as baloney, salami, sausage, pastrami, etc. These popular cold cut meats are highly processed, and are made from animal scraps. Here's something to consider: You could always slice off some lean meat from a roast, and use this for your sandwiches, or for your snacks.
Bread or rolls: This can be very tricky for someone who wants to adhere to a paleo meal. The key is to purchase bread that is from sprouted grain. The bread should not be made from grains that are glutinous. One can search online, and seek out breads and rolls that are safe to eat with a paleo meal. These will more than likely be made with nut-based flours, since nuts are part of the paleo diet.
Cheese: These are out. Cheese is a processed food product. Although it's natural and from a cow, the cavemen didn't eat cheese.
Fruit cups and fruit based treats: Fruit is a part of the paleo diet. However, a shopper has to make sure that the fruit source is natural. This means that if they buy fruit snack cups or fruit cocktail, it should be packed in water, and not syrup. Fruit snacks such as fruit roll ups should be made from dehydrated fruit and pure fruit juice. Fruit popsicles should only be made out of pureed fruit and pure juice, with no sugar or sweetener added.
If someone wants to enjoy a fruit snack as a part of the paleo diet, they can buy or order dehydrated fruit. These are naturally very sweet, full of fiber, and a great way of including fruit in the paleo diet.
It might seem like there might be a lot of fuzzy area foods. Once you get used to creating a paleo meal on the Paleo Diet, you will realize very easily what you can include, and what you will have to forgo. But don't worry about missing out on eating tasty foods and treats. There are actually lots of natural tasty treats that you can enjoy.
