Paleo Freindly

The paleo diet, also known as the caveman diet, was Google’s most searched-for weight loss method in 2013. The diet consists of foods that can be hunted and fished – such as meat and seafood – and foods that can be gathered – such as eggs, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices.

It’s a regime based on the supposed eating habits of our hunter-gatherer ancestors during the paleolithic era before the development of agriculture some 10,000 years ago. That means cereal grains including wheat, dairy, refined sugar, potatoes, salt – as well as anything processed – are off the menu.

There is no official "paleo diet" but it is generally seen as a low-carb, high-protein diet, essentially Gluten Free, Dairy Free and Legume (peas, beans and peanuts) Free. After this point there is a great deal of debate it the paleo community as to what is allowed and what is not.

With so much ongoing debate, here are the grey area ingredients that SecretChefDelivered have considered paleo freindly:-

EXCLUDED - pretty much universally excluded ingredients

wheat, grains, dairy, legumes (peas, beans and peanuts) soy, sugar, seed oil, processed foods, potatoes

INCLUDED - grey area ingredients that we have allowed

gluten free cornflour, vinegar, wine, olive oil, salt, bacon

For ease of search, we have listed dishes in the following order: MAINS (beef, chicken, lamb, pork, veal), then SIDES & SALADS.

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Paleo Diet

Advocates say the paleo diet is a long-term healthy eating plan that can help you lose weight and reduce your risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other health problems. Most studies on the paleo-type diet are small and more long-term research is needed to show conclusively whether or not it is as effective as some people claim. One 2008 study suggested that the paleo diet “could help reduce the risk of heart disease”. However, several limitations in the study meant it was not possible to say whether the paleo diet was any more effective than any other low-calorie diets.

Pros:

The paleo diet encourages you to eat less processed food and more fruit and vegetables. Reducing your consumption of high-calorie foods will reduce your calorie intake and help you to lose weight. The diet is simple and doesn’t involve calorie-counting. Some plans go by the “80/20” rule whereby you’ll get 99% of the benefits of the paleo diet if you adhere to it 80% of the time. This flexibility can make the diet easier to stick to so you are more likely to be successful.

Cons:

There are no accurate records of the diet of our Stone Age ancestors so the paleo diet is largely based on an educated guess and its health claims lack scientific evidence. Most versions of the diet encourage large amounts of meat, which runs counter to current health advice on meat consumption. Many versions ban dairy products and whole grains, which form part of a healthy balanced diet. Like all high-protein diets, the paleo can be expensive depending on your choice of meat cuts. It's impossible to follow without eating meat, seafood or eggs so it’s not one for vegetarians!

Grey Area Ingredients

So, why have we included these ingredients? Well, given that there is debate these ingredients can't be all bad and basically our recipes use just one or two and not that much of any of them.

Anyway, you can check out our thinking by following the links below to reputable Paleo sites:-

gluten free cornflour

For Paleo, strictly speaking pretty much all flour is out, so if you want to be hard core, then few of our meals are for you.

However, for over 10 years we have used a gluten free cornflour in our cooking, invariably just 50g per 14kg of any dish (i.e. 0.35%).

So if you accept the 80/20 Rule there is no need to miss out on our great food.

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Paleo Grey Area Ingredient