Everything You Need To Know About The Paleo Food Pyramid

The concept of eating paleo might seem alien to some. If you're curious but confused, not to worry!

In this guide, we hope to clear up any questions you may have about all things paleo. That includes what foods are permitted within the paleo diet and what foods you should be avoiding.

This is where we'll introduce you to the paleo food pyramid, making things much simpler to understand. We'll give you a quick overview of what foods the diet is based on. 

The paleo food pyramid is an extremely handy tool to have as it gives you all the information you need in an easy to understand format.

Let's get stuck in. We're going to look at all the ins and outs of this popular new diet and see how the paleo pyramid differs from other food pyramids.

The paleo diet may seem like a relatively new concept, but it's actually the oldest diet there is.

However, people have only recently started going back to it. That means there's some scepticism associated with eating strictly paleo. 

To follow a paleo diet, your foods should ticket certain boxes like being gluten, dairy, soy and preservative-free. In short, absolutely nothing processed! 

The bottom line is, if cavemen were able to forage for it, you can eat it.

The paleo food pyramid is just like the food pyramid we all studied growing up, showing the main food groups at the bottom and the foods we should eat less of at the top.

Now, contrary to popular belief, following a paleo diet is actually pretty simple, the main confusion mostly stemming from which foods are allowed.

With the paleo food pyramid, that confusion is practically eliminated. The food categories within the pyramid are as follows, beginning with the best foods to eat at the bottom of the pyramid, working up to the foods we should eat far less of.

Vegetables

Fill up on plenty of these for the obvious reasons. Vegetables were easily found and foraged for.

Including variety is key here as each different type of vegetable brings its own nutritional values.

Pastured Meats, Wild-caught Fish & Eggs

Animal meat was a large component of the caveman's diet.

Fruits

Wild figs, grapes and a variety of dates would have been available and are as natural as they come.

They bring with them natural sugars for energy, a sweet taste, and a whole host of beneficial antioxidants.

Nuts, Seeds, Healthy Fats, & Oils

Again available to eat and very nutritious, although these are high in fatty acids hence why they are at the top of the pyramid.

They are permitted, however, don’t gorge on them.

Aside from the fact that by following the paleo food pyramid you'll be eating natural, healthy, whole foods, there are actually anti-inflammatory benefits from eating all those fruits, vegetables, oils, nuts and seeds.

Also, consuming red meat will mean you’re increasing your iron intake.

As this diet is quite high in protein you'll be left feeling fuller for longer, sounds great for a diet!

The paleo diet is a low carb diet overall, and just eliminating processed foods will substantially reduce your intake of carbohydrates and fuel weight loss.

Aside from all the benefits mentioned, each individual fruit, lettuce, nut etc will do different things for your health, so pick and choose depending on your needs.

This is a great diet for anyone looking to cut out all processed foods and junk foods who's looking to get healthy and gain the benefits we mentioned.

However this wouldn’t be a very useful guide if we didn’t mention some of the downfalls.

The paleo diet isn't all that suitable for let's say, athletes. This is due to the restrictions on carbs.

To avoid fatigue, amongst other issues, athletes may want to consider varying this diet slightly.

There really shouldn’t be any reason you can't follow the paleo diet and food pyramid or at least use it as a base guide for your dietary choices.

After all, it’s the new exciting and popular craze right now, so why not give it a go? You might be surprised!