Caveman Diet Recipes

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caveman diet, caveman diet food list, paleo cookbooks, paleo cookies, paleo dessert recipes, paleo diet, paleo diet foods, paleo diet for athletes, paleo diet menu

The caveman diet is a diet that follows the principles of eating like our ancestors to achieve great health. Learn about it and enjoy great Caveman diet recipes.

The Caveman Diet

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caveman diet, caveman diet food list, paleo cookbooks, paleo cookies, paleo dessert recipes, paleo diet, paleo diet foods, paleo diet for athletes, paleo diet menu

Basic Nutrition Plan

The following diet is a general program for optimum health. If you have been tested for your individual food allergies, it will be necessary for you to modify the recommendations to conform to your avoidance of your allergens.

There are no menus for you to follow, no calories or carbohydrates to count; you need not measure or weigh portions of food. All foods are categorized into two easy-to-remember groups: Foods to Eat Liberally and Foods to Avoid.

Foods to Eat Liberally

Foods containing nutrients that enhance the body’s defenses against disease will be your mainstay.

Vegetables
Eat as much as you like and include six or more servings of vegetables each day. When fresh varieties are not available, use frozen or canned vegetables. Potatoes are excellent and provide the optimum nutritional value when baked or boiled with the skin intact. Green leafy and stalky vegetables are excellent, such as: cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, spinach, green beans, cabbage, mushrooms, brussel sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, bean sprouts, celery, turnips, dill, bell peppers,
squash, okra, tomatoes, and all raw salad vegetables (but not iceberg lettuce). Fresh and raw vegetables are the best choices for providing a large amount of bulk. Steamed vegetables are also good choices.
One vegetable serving each day should be a raw vegetable or vegetable salad (do not use iceberg lettuce). Tomatoes should be included frequently in this category, since they are an excellent source of Vitamins A and C. Also, raw green peppers can be added to your salad to supply the Vitamin C. Broccoli is one of the richest vegetable sources of both A and C.
Other vegetable servings should include, but need not be limited to, the dark green or yellow varieties for they are particularly rich in many valuable nutrients, such as iron, riboflavin and calcium.
Legumes are excellent sources of vegetable protein. They have good vitamin and mineral content. These include: peas, beans, soybeans, and almonds. Combining whole grains and legumes will provide high quality protein and can be used in place of animal protein. Another good combination for replacing animal protein is whole grains with nuts and seeds. CAUTION: DO NOT EAT ANY PEANUTS OR PEANUT BUTTER!
When vegetables are to be cooked, cook until just tender in as little water as possible to assure the best retention of vitamins and minerals. A good method is to bring the vegetable to a boil, turn off the heat, and allow to stand for 8 – 10 minutes. Stir-fried vegetables prepared in a “wok” are delicious and retain much of their vitamin and mineral content.

Fruit and Fruit Juice
When available, fresh fruit should be eaten three times daily, with meals or as a snack. Ideally, one serving should be of the citrus variety. Raw fruit is preferable to cooked. If canned fruit, frozen fruit, or refrigerated bottled fruit is used, select unsweetened varieties packed in their natural juices or water.
Fresh fruit is best and should be eaten with the peel, such as: apples, pears, nectarines, apricots, plums, strawberries and other berries, and peaches. Other fruits that are good are: oranges, grapefruit, cantaloupe, crenshaw melons, papayas, mangoes, pineapples. Vegetable and fruit juices serve as substitutes for undesirable beverages such as coffee, tea, soft and alcoholic drinks. Any kind of fruit juice, canned, frozen or fresh is acceptable if no sugar has been added.

Dairy Products
If you are not allergic to dairy, follow these guidelines. Use only certified pure raw milk, cottage cheese, white cheese, naturally flavored yogurt and buttermilk. Limit cheese to no more than 4 oz daily, as a meat or milk substitute. Avoid all processed cheese “food.” If you can scoop it out of a jar, squeeze it out of tubes or spray it out of cans, it isn’t food! If you are blood type “O,” all dairy products should be omitted.

Meat, Seafood and Poultry
Good sources for all meat and/or fish are Whole Foods Markets, Trader Joe’s, or Harmony Farms which supplies many health food stores. Commercially grown beef and chicken is filled with pesticide, hormone and antibiotic residues; commercially caught fish is often taken in polluted waters.
Non-commercial varieties of fowl and eggs are allowed. The parasites associated with cancer are present in large amounts in commercial eggs. Eggs should be fertile and are limited to 5 per week. Eggs furnish more nutrients per calorie than any other single food except milk.
For those who are dairy sensitive (where milk must be avoided), eggs become the most efficient food source available. Fowl should be limited to one serving per day.
Unlimited amounts of white fish that has been broiled or baked may be consumed; however, you need to make careful inquiry as to the waters the fish have been caught in. Many fish are taken from a polluted environment. Those chemical residues are harmful to you.
Red meats must be organically raised and lean. Limit your servings of red meat to one serving per week. Organ meat, particularly liver, is a good choice; however, liver must be organically grown calf liver ONLY.
Your total intake of meat/fish/fowl should be 10 oz. per day.

Whole Grains
These may be consumed freely and in unlimited quantities, providing they are organically grown and absolutely void of additives. No white flour refined products are allowed. Make your selections from: whole-grain breakfast cereals, wheat germ, shredded wheat, 100% whole wheat bread and flour, brown rice, millet, buckwheat and whole grain corn meal.
Whole grain cereals that require cooking, such as oatmeal and whole wheat cereals, are the most nutritious. You can obtain tasty “granola” that contains no sugar. Eat 100% whole wheat bread that contains no sugar or additives.
Nuts and Seeds These are valuable additions to your diet, and occasionally may be substituted for meat. They also supply essential fatty acids. Any of the dry roasted nuts (no peanuts), as well as raw sunflower seeds and raw pumpkin seeds, make nutritious between-meal snacks. Nibble freely on almonds, pecans, walnuts, pistachio nuts and cashews (avoid the varieties which have been cooked with oil, or to which salt has been added). Do not eat over 1/3 cup per day.

Fats
Maximum intake of vegetable oils should be limited to 3 tablespoons per day. Polyunsaturated oils should only be consumed uncooked, at least 1 tablespoon per day; stir fry should be prepared using only olive or sesame oil. Fats used as “spreads” on bread, potatoes, and for seasoning foods should be kept to a minimum. A limited amount of butter is preferable to products made from hydrogenated (saturated) refined vegetable oil.
Hydrogenated fats encourage a cholesterol problem as they disturb cholesterol metabolism.
The hydrogenation process whereby oils are hardened, creates indigestible fat molecules with completely foreign chemical bonds which the body is not equipped to break down. Margarine is not a food! The great bulk of fats in your diet will come from their use in cooking, salads and mayonnaise and you should be careful to select those fats from unrefined vegetable oils such as corn oil, peanut oil, sunflower seed oil, safflower seed oil and olive oil. Of these, corn oil, safflower and sunflower seed oil are the better choices since they contain the largest amount of
unsaturated fatty acids. All of these oils, however, increase your need for Vitamin E and you should be sure you are getting more than a token amount of this  essential nutrient. IMPORTANT NOTE: ALL OF THESE OILS MUST BE KEPT REFRIGERATED. Unrefrigerated oils become rancid very rapidly destroying your fat-soluble vitamins and increasing your risk of malignancy.

Sweets
The only sweets allowed consist of limited amounts of honey, natural maple syrup and unsulfured molasses.

Seasonings
Seasonings may include herbs, garlic, onions, chives, parsley and marjoram.

Beverages
Beverages may include herb teas, fresh fruit and vegetable juices and reverse osmosis carbon filtered water or distilled water. The quality of water is VERY important. Use only filtered or distilled water for cooking and drinking.

Foods to Avoid

Obviously, foods that increase the likelihood of disease should be avoided: sugar, white flour, hydrogenated fat, food preservatives (such as nitrates and nitrites), and the many artificial flavoring and coloring agents.
While it may be virtually impossible to eliminate all of these undesirable substances from your diet (it can be frustrating even to try), it is possible to cut intake as much as 85% by substituting food from the “Foods to Eat Liberally” category.
Of all the foods to be avoided, sugar and fat are the most harmful. Sugar is a prominent factor in the development of overweight conditions, diabetes, hypoglycemia, dental cavities, periodontal disease, kidney stones, urinary tract infections, cardiovascular disease, intestinal cancer, diverticulosis, indigestion, hormone disorders, and mental illness. Fat is associated with arteriosclerotic disease and cancer.

Sugar
Much harmful sugar is consumed unknowingly. Check labels carefully on the products you buy.
Select unsweetened varieties when you have a choice. Refrain from using table sugar and from adding it to home-cooked foods.

White Flour
Restrict your intake, as much as possible, of baked goods made from white flour: white bread, saltine and other crackers, rolls, buns, noodles, macaroni, spaghetti and sweetened baked goods.
Don’t let the label “enriched flour” fool you. Remember, of the twenty-odd different vitamins, minerals and amino acids removed during the transformation of wheat into white flour, only four are put back.

Hydrogenated Fat
Hydrogenated (hardened or saturated) vegetable oils, such as oleomargarine, solid cooking fat made from vegetable oil, and coffee whiteners (coffee, too) should be eliminated from your diet.

Meats
Beef, pork, ham, lamb, venison, bear and elk are to be strictly avoided unless organically grown and extremely lean. Portions should then be limited to once a week. Processed meats, such as: ham, bacon, frankfurters, corned beef and various luncheon meats, all have a high fat content and contain large quantities of preservatives (nitrates and nitrites) and must be eliminated from the diet. Commercial chicken and turkey are major breeders of the microbe progenitor cryptocides (a type of bacterial parasite often associated with malignant disease) and should be avoided.

Fats & Oils
Avoid all fats, grease, oils, etc., excepts as allowed on the “Foods To Eat Liberally” category.

Coffee & Tea
These are to be strictly avoided (herb teas are OK).

Salt
Everyone would benefit from a reduction in salt intake; it is mandatory for those with high blood pressure, or a tendency to retain fluid in their bodies. However, for people with adrenal problems, salt may be necessary. If you are in that category, you will find instructions on your personal therapeutic nutrition program.

Sodium Nitrate and Sodium Nitrite
These additives are used to cure, color, preserve and flavor many meat products. They are frequently found in ham, bacon, sausage, canned and sliced luncheon meats, corned beef, salami, bologna, most frankfurters, liverwurst, smoked fish, etc.
Nitrates and nitrites can combine with other chemicals in your body, or in these meats, to form nitrosamines which, in very small amounts, can contribute to cancer. Reading labels will enable you to select foods free of nitrates and nitrites.

Artificial Colors and Flavors
Some food manufacturers, since they are not required to state the presence of artificial colors and flavors on their product packaging, have package labels which are void of such information.
Where possible, it is best to avoid these foods, which more often than not contain such additives: most brands of ice cream, other frozen desserts, dessert and cake mixes, bakery products, oleomargarine, many breakfast cereals, gelatin desserts, candies, chewing gum, jam or jelly, luncheon meats, frankfurters, “kiddie” drinks, canned fruit juice punches and drinks. Many processed cheeses and cheese products, as well as colorful coated pills (including some vitamin products) also contain these harmful additives and should be avoided where possible.
Label reading will help to this extent: products free from artificial additives generally proclaim their “innocence” on the package. Try to limit your food purchases to those items whose labels boast of all natural ingredients.
One cardinal rule sums up what you need to know:
Avoid as much as possible those foods that have been refined or processed and that contain food additives and chemical pollutants. The less “doctored” the foods you choose, the less likely you’ll need “doctoring” yourself.

Foods to Avoid

Anything containing sugar or refined starches, such as:
Alcohol
Beer
Biscuits
Bread
(except 100% whole grain)
Breakfast cereals
(except 100% whole grain)
Buns
Cakes
Candies
Chocolate milk
Chocolate syrup
Cocoa
Coffee
Cookies
Corn flakes
Crackers
Doughnuts
Fruit cocktail
Fruit drinks
Fruits (sweetened or
canned)
Graham crackers
Gravy
Ice cream
Jams
JelliesJell-O
Kool Aid
Macaroni
Milk shakes
Muffins
Noodles
Pancakes
Pastries
Pies
Pizza
Potato chips
Preserves
Pretzels
Puddings
Rolls
Sherbet
Soft drinks
Spaghetti
Sweetened foods
Syrup
Waffles
White bread
White rice

For more information visit Paleo Diet Menu site