These Paleo-friendly pumpkins muffins are gluten-free, refined sugar-free (sweetened with maple syrup), and delicious. They are great additions to your Holiday dessert menu. (Photo credit: leelalicious.com)
By Dagmar Alayash, e-Management
As the holiday season approaches, the e-Management Foodie Blog Team welcomes you in joining us in taking a look at an increasingly popular eating lifestyle called Paleo—add this to the endless list of eating lifestyles such as Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, the South Beach Diet, Macrobiotic Diet, and the DASH Diet, to name a few, all of which help to fuel the $60.5 billion weight loss industry in the USA. Call them fads or simply an increased interest in different eating lifestyles, we have so much to choose from now and as our eating habits evolve, we begin by looking at Paleo.
What Is This New Caveman Diet Anyway?
The Paleo lifestyle, also known as the “caveman” diet, emphasizes eating vegetables, a lot of grass-fed meat, and no grain, beans, or gluten, which means no cakes, rice, bread, or pasta. Did we hear a sigh or two? 
Our ancestors ate food that was not processed, refined, cooked with oils, or loaded with sugar. The Paleo lifestyle is intended to primarily be a healthier way to eat and not a weight-loss program.
No Coffee? Really?
Removing gluten from our diet has been reported time and time again to make many feel really good and have much more energy. Paleo experts and advocates talk about the “caveman” diet supporting many of its benefits with scientific studies. Though it’s hard to digest the fact that legumes and grains really are not good for us, and the biggest challenge of all for many, is perhaps the fact that Paleo expert Dr. Lorain Cordain states that coffee should be excluded by anyone seeking to achieve the most out of their Paleo lifestyle. 
Food for Humans?
On the other end of the spectrum, authors Melanie Tam and Henry Fong portray the Paleo lifestyle in a fun relaxed way that also help to demystify the concept of the diet. In other words, it’s not an attempt to replicate a Caveman diet, and the Paleo style doesn’t mean you become an insufferable bacon-eating carnivore. Check out their best-selling book Nom Nom Paleo – Food for Humans for recipes and tips.
Will I Stay Hungry Eating the Paleo Way?
Not at all. Check out these recipe ideas.
-
Paleo Friendly Cookies – coconut flour, oil, butter, and sugar make great cookies. Coconut flour is rich in protein, fiber, and fat; is a source of good saturated fat, vitamins, and minerals; and is gluten-free. Find tips on cooking with coconut flour and oil at Nourished Kitchen. Just a note here, coconut flour cookies don’t always rise, and some of them come out of the oven looking like caveman cookies, but still tasting really good …and healthy.
- Chocolate Truffles – one word, DE-LI-CIOUS!
- Pumpkin Muffins – easy to make and good.
- Chili – a tasty vegetarian chili dish, bursting with flavor. The addition of sweet potatoes is a nice balance to the heat of the chilies. Recommend adding ½ the quantity of sweet potatoes in recipe.
What Are Your Foodie Thoughts?
We welcome your feedback and comments. (1) What are your thoughts on the Paleo or other diets/lifestyles? (2) Are we becoming more aware of the foods we eat, where they come from, and how they make us feel? (3) With Thanksgiving approaching, do you have any amazing holiday recipes to share?
Tags: Dagmar Alayash, diet, , foodie, gluten-free, holidays, Ola Sage, Paleo, Thanksgiving
Dagmar, This is an interesting look into Paleo. Regarding your questions: (1) I think Paleo is suited for some; but I suspect most people are going to eat as they always have–even some of the people who have adopted Paleo will eventually move on…there is always a new “diet”…and people get bored. (2) I believe people are becoming more aware of food…but, I think because the media/press are constantly reporting new studies about food without the proper time needed for audiences/viewers to get a better understanding, many of us are left confused. If the average news stories on TV is 15-30 seconds…is that adequate time to talk about the benefits of Paleo or the South Beach diet??? Or the benefits of avocados? Grass-fed beef?? Probably not. (3) For people who like veggies, check out this site for vegan/vegetarian Holiday recipes. That’s all I’ve got.
This is a great article! I am always looking for new information regarding nutritional lifestyles. I wish I had a personal chef and more willpower.
Great post! As one who played sports from an early age, I’ve always sort of had in my head the idea of treating the body right. That being said, I am not always successful at the follow through. (1) The Paleo diet is not really that bad. For the most part, I would be able to do this without much effort. As much as I enjoy an nice Italian dish, I don’t actually eat a lot of pasta. (2) I think we have always been aware, we are just making a more conscious effort to eat healthier as healthcare costs rise. Preventative methods help you feel better and hopefully live longer. (3) I don’t have any recipes for Thanksgiving or for that matter any at all. lol Have a great holiday.
Dennis, thanks for your comments. I agree that there are so many eating lifestyles and that we tend to change rapidly from one to another, or just get bored and then the tendency is to slip back into the eating mode we are used to. What appealed to me about Paleo is the reduction of gluten, which can produce a ‘feel-good, energetic’ effect, although the downfall is how to keep the hunger pangs away? I think this is where the transition to a new eating lifestyle can become challenging; taking small steps at a slow pace can help, for example replacing regular potatoes with sweet potatoes, replacing rice with a grain; burghul, full of B vitamins and fiber and quinoa, a protein and vitamin packed grain are good options; also try avoiding recipes with an endless number of ingredients, some of which may be unpronounceable! Keeping it simple is a good mantra, repeat recipes you enjoy and forget the ones you don’t like, and then move onto the next. Enjoy exploring the food world at your own pace - have fun with cooking and eating.
Hi Freda, thanks for stopping by. A personal chef would be wonderful
and it definitely takes willpower to make any food changes, especially at this time the year.
Great article. I think we worry too much about what we eat. Paleo, non paleo, etc. Just eat healthy and in moderation and you should be all set!
Interesting. I’m a vegetarian but I’ll look into this.
Brian, thanks for your comments. I also believe that being involved in sports helps strengthen the link with ‘healthier eating’; this is a good reminder too that hand-in-hand with healthier eating it’s equally as important to fit in some kind of exercise, even if it’s just a daily walk! I think becoming more conscious of what we eat is due to a growing interest in preventive health measures, combined with all the information on food nutrients we are learning about, or as Dennis described the few seconds of TV Ads that constantly come our way - the Ads combined with multiple other sources for food information, including new restaurants and creative chefs that keep appearing all help to catch our attention and make us re-think our eating habits.
Ruben, thanks for your comments. I also think we worry too much about what to eat, and again we go back to the rush of Ads on TV that talk to us about all the different food we should be eating, no wonder we are worried! In spite of the media overload of information on food and eating lifestyles, it’s true that ‘everything in moderation’ continues to work well for many of us and if we want to splurge here and there that’s okay too
Dwayne, thanks for stopping by. The first time I heard about Paleo, my questions was, what if you are a vegetarian and don’t eat meat, or just don’t eat a lot of meat, can you still follow the Paleo lifestyle? I don’t know the answer, unless a modified version of the Paleo diet is followed. It’s just about balance and what works best for each of us.
Amazing article!
I am always aware and very careful of the food I eat and feed my family; as growing up in the Island until the age of 14, my body was very adoptive and use to non process food that was naturally grown. When my daughter was in 2nd grade I remember having her complete the “Science experiment for McDonald” because I wanted to show and teach why I don’t believe in purchasing fast food and to this day, she is 17 my son is 11 and both don’t believe or eat fast food.
I love this way of eating personally because you can see what process food is doing to our children, our bodies and our nation compared to others in around the world! I personally don’t drink coffee but again my goal was never to give into consumers and continue to put money in others pockets while destroying my body. Some folks won’t see the difference because we tend to be ignorant to what we don’t know or take the time to educate ourselves on. We turn a blind eye on education in many way, eating right and treating the body as a temple not just spiritual but also what we eat is no difference in many ways for some!
I don’t see why this way of living/eating would be an issue or hard for some, I think it’s actually cheaper, just the thought of putting more greens in your diet, and buying meat only grass-fed, how could that be hard! Some would say, it is but then I believe it’s hard buying cigarettes and Starbucks daily!
I do believe starting out with my green drink which I do daily, is a start. Celery, Kale, Spinach, Green Apples, Ginger, Flex Oil, 1/2 Lime. And now and then I tend to add berries, fresh berries. Each Morning that’s my drug and I have so much energy, it’s natural and a balance meal for breakfast!
I just for the first time this weekend saw coconut flour, never knew about it until this past weekend. I am going to test it out as well.
Great article!
I believe that what needs to be stressed is this: 99 percent of what you eat should be cooked by you. When I say cook, I mean create the meals with as little processed foods as possible. For instance, if you want garbanzo beans, get the dried beans, soak them for several hours and then cook them. Avoid the beans in a can! Yes, this requires some pre planning but don’t be lazy, plan! I see seasoned chicken being sold. What would prevent you from seasoning your own chicken with stuff that you like? I was amused when I saw diced onions being sold in a supermarket. What was troubling was not that it was diced, but that it was in a container with plastic wrapping….stuff that is only good for a landfill and environmentally unfriendly. We have got to change our love for the shortcuts and the convenient if we want to live healthy lives. Cooking should be viewed as a joy and an opportunity to create masterpieces rather than as a chore. I refuse to believe that folks are too busy to cook. We always find time to do what we really want to do! Healthy living in which healthy eating is a part of it should be part of our day to day lifestyle. Furthermore, there are economic benefits from cooking your own food. Why pay $30 for a plate of grilled salmon (most likely farmed salmon which is a no no) with brown rice and steamed broccoli when you can do the same thing at home in no time for much less and the savings could allow you to celebrate this thing called LIFE with a BOTTLE of your favorite wine!
Tamara, thanks for your comments. You seem to be doing a fantastic job with teaching your children about foods that are good for them, and starting at a young age really helps to establish a good eating pattern early on. There definitely is an abundance of processed food available to us; you just have to look at the list of ingredients on some food item packaging, and I agree it’s much easier to turn a blind eye on educating ourselves on eating right.
I think also that including more in-depth food education on school at a very young age would go a long way in stressing the importance of eating the right foods and how it affects your health. I agree that adding more greens to your diet, as you said is not so hard and you reap the health benefits just by making this simple change. Unfortunately, or fortunately for coffee-lovers
Starbucks will always be there, and however healthy we eat, I think it’s still fine to continue to enjoy your coffee, as long as it’s not 10 cups a day.
Your green drink resonates with me, this is my favorite combination. I use fresh ginger frequently; a great combination to ward of a cold is an old Asian remedy of chopped fresh ginger, chopped green onions, lemon juice and honey and hot boiled water – let seep for a couple of minutes before drinking. Enjoy cooking with coconut flour!
Keith, thanks for your comments. I’m with you on the bean-soaking! It’s true it only takes a minute to fill a bowl with water and soak dried beans overnight, (or just for a few hours) and then boil them and use in whatever dish you are making. I think they also taste more flavorful this way. You are right that it’s a huge cost-saving too, as a pack of dried garbanzo beans or any dried beans produces about 4 times as much as one can of already cooked beans at the same price! I can also never fathom why you would want to buy already seasoned meat, when it take a matter of seconds for you to season the meat yourself at home.
As you say it’s all about our love of taking shortcuts and convenience, which relates to the very busy lifestyle so many of us lead and at the end of the day, when it’s late and you are tired, it’s sometimes so much easier to pop something in the microwave. It really is about making the time, or finding the time. Cooking is fun I agree, and a wonderful outlet for creativity, casseroles with meat or no meat, tons of fresh vegetable and a handful of herbs is an easy dish, as it basically looks after itself while cooking – your fish dish, vegetable and a grain takes a few minutes to cook, just a couple of examples; we can try uncomplicated dishes, and then move on and experiment more, although sometimes the less complex recipes produce the best meals.