Paleolithic Food List

*Among the list of foods you should avoid, I believe it’s important to
mention that I do regularly eat Sweet Potatoes and disagree that they
should be avoided. Most everything else is spot on in my opinion. –Rob

Below is a list of foods that are encouraged or discouraged in the Paleo diet.
This list was obtained from the book Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain (Wiley and
Sons, New York 2002 pages 104-112).

Encouraged Foods Encouraged Foods

Lean Meats Nuts and Seeds
• Lean beef (trimmed of visible fat) • Almonds
• Flank steak • Brazil nuts
• Top sirloin steak • Cashews
• Extra-lean hamburger (no more than 7% • Chestnuts
fat, extra fat drained off) • Hazelnuts (filberts)
• London broil • Macadamia nuts
• Chuck steak • Pecans
• Lean veal • Pine nuts
• Any other lean cut • Pistachios (unsalted)
• Lean pork (trimmed of visible fat) • Pumpkin seeds
• Pork loin • Sesame seeds
• Pork chops • Sunflower seeds
• Any other lean cut • Walnuts

Lean poultry (white meat, skin removed)

• Chicken breast
• Turkey breast Foods To Be Eaten In Moderation
• Game hen breasts Oils
• Olive, avocado, walnut, flaxseed, and
Eggs (limit to six a week) canola oils (use in moderation—4
• Chicken (go for the enriched omega 3 tablespoons or less a day when weight
variety) loss is of primary importance)
• Duck
Beverages
• Goose
• Diet sodas (These often contain artificial
Other meats sweeteners such as aspartame and
saccharine, which may be harmful;
• Rabbit meat (any cut)
you’re better off drinking bottled and
• Goat meat (any cut)
mineral waters.)
• Coffee
Organ meats
• Tea
• Beef, lamb, pork, and chicken livers
• Wine (two 4-ounce glasses; Note: Don’t
• Beef, pork, and lamb tongues
buy “cooking wine,” which is loaded with
• Beef, lamb, and pork marrow
salt.)
• Beef, lamb, and pork “sweetbreads”
• Beer (one 12-ounce serving)
• Spirits (4 ounces)
Game meat
• Alligator
Paleo Sweets
• Bear
• Dried fruits (no more than 2 ounces a
 • Bison (buffalo) day, particularly if you are trying to lose
• Caribou weight)
• Elk • Nuts mixed with dried and fresh fruits
• Emu (no more than 4 ounces of nuts and 2
• Goose ounces of dried fruit a day, particularly if
• Kangaroo you are trying to lose weight)
• Muscovy duck
• New Zealand cervena deer
• Ostrich Foods You Should Avoid
• Pheasant
• Quail Dairy Foods
• Rattlesnake • All processed foods made with any dairy
• Reindeer products
• Squab • Butter
• Turtle • Cheese
• Venison • Cream
• Wild boar • Dairy spreads
• Wild turkey • Frozen yogurt
• Ice cream
Fish
• Ice milk
• Bass • Low-fat milk
• Bluefish • Nonfat dairy creamer
• Cod • Powdered milk
• Drum • Skim milk
• Eel • Whole milk
• Flatfish • Yogurt
• Grouper
• Haddock Cereal Grains
• Halibut • Barley (barley soup, barley bread, and
• Herring all processed foods made with barley)
• Mackerel • Corn (corn on the cob, corn tortillas,
• Monkfish corn chips, corn starch, corn syrup)
• Mullet • Millet
• Northern pike • Oats (steel-cut oats, rolled oats, and all
• Orange roughy processed foods made with oats)
• Perch • Rice (brown rice, white rice, top ramen,
• Red snapper rice noodles, bas mati rice, rice cakes,
• Rockfish Rice flour (all processed foods made
• Salmon with rice)
• Scrod • Rye (rye bread, rye crackers, and all
• Shark processed foods made with rye)
• Striped bass • Sorghum
• Sunfish • Wheat (bread, rolls, muffins, noodles,
• Tilapia crackers, cookies, cake, doughnuts,
• Trout pancakes, waffles, pasta, spaghetti,
• Tuna lasagna, wheat tortillas, pizza, pita
• Turbot bread, flat bread, and all processed
• Walleye foods made with wheat or wheat flour)
• Any other commercially available fish • Wild rice

Shellfish Cereal Grainlike Seeds

• Abalone • Amaranth
• Clams • Buckwheat
 • Crab • Quinoa
• Crayfish
• Lobster Legumes
• Mussels • All beans (adzuki beans, black beans,
• Oysters broad beans, fava beans, field beans,
• Scallops garbanzo beans, horse beans, kidney
• Shrimp beans, lima beans, mung beans, navy
beans, pinto beans, red beans, string
Fruit beans, white beans)
• Apple • Black-eyed peas
• Apricot • Chickpeas
• Avocado • Lentils
• Banana • Peas
• Blackberries • Miso
• Blueberries • Peanut butter
• Boysenberries • Peanuts
• Cantaloupe • Snowpeas
• Carambola • Sugar snap peas
• Cassava melon • Soybeans and all soybean products,
• Cherimoya including tofu
• Cherries
Starchy Vegetables
• Cranberries
• Starchy tubers
• Figs
• Cassava root
• Gooseberries
• Manioc
• Grapefruit
• Potatoes and all potato products
• Grapes
(French fries, potato chips, etc.)
• Guava
• Sweet potatoes
• Honeydew melon
• Tapioca pudding
• Kiwi
• Yams
• Lemon
• Lime Salt-Containing Foods
• Lychee • Almost all commercial salad dressings
• Mango and condiments
• Nectarine • Bacon
• Orange • Cheese
• Papaya • Deli meats
• Passion fruit • Frankfurters
• Peaches • Ham
• Pears • Hot dogs
• Persimmon • Ketchup
• Pineapple • Olives
• Plums • Pickled foods
• Pomegranate • Pork rinds
• Raspberries • Processed meats
• Rhubarb • Salami
• Star fruit • Salted nuts
• Strawberries • Salted spices
• Tangerine • Sausages
• Watermelon • Smoked, dried, and salted fish and meat
• All other fruits • Virtually all canned meats and fish
(unless they are unsalted or unless you
Vegetables soak and drain them)
• Artichoke
• Asparagus Fatty Meats
• Beet greens • Bacon
• Beets • Beef ribs
• Bell peppers • Chicken and turkey legs
• Broccoli • Chicken and turkey skin
• Brussels sprouts • Chicken and turkey thighs and wings•
• Cabbage • Fatty beef roasts
• Carrots • Fatty cuts of beef
• Cauliflower • Fatty ground beef
• Celery • Fatty pork chops
• Collards • Fatty pork roasts
• Cucumber • Lamb chops
• Dandelion • Lamb roasts
• Eggplant • Leg of lamb
• Endive • Pork ribs
• Green onions • Pork sausage
• Kale • T—bone steaks
• Kohlrabi
• Lettuce Soft Drinks and Fruit Juices
• Mushrooms • All sugary soft drinks
• Mustard greens • Canned, bottled, and freshly squeezed
• Onions fruit drinks (which lack the fiber of fresh
• Parsley fruit and have a much higher glvcemic
• Parsnip index)
• Peppers (all kinds)
Sweets
• Pumpkin
• Candy
• Purslane
• Honey
• Radish
• Sugars
• Rutabaga
• Seaweed
• Spinach
• Squash (all kinds)
• Swiss chard
• Tomatillos
• Tomato (actually a fruit, but most people
think of it as a vegetable)
• Turnip greens
• Turnips
• Watercress