Find delicious veggie and protein options for your Paleo Diet with FitLife Foods. We deliver to most of Southeast North America and also have pickup locations!
You’ve probably heard about eating paleo in the last few years as this “Stone Age diet” has gained in popularity. Also known as the Paleolithic diet, the hunter-gatherer diet, and the caveman diet, eating like an early human has never been so popular.
So what is a paleo diet? And can aligning your food choices with the diets of early humans help you maintain a healthy life?
What is a Paleo Diet?
A paleo diet includes foods that could have been eaten by early humans during the Paleolithic era, which dates from 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago. A paleo diet typically includes lean meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, and nuts and seeds.
A paleo diet limits foods that became common when humans began to engage in farming 10,000 years ago. This means if you are eating paleo, you will mostly avoid grains, legumes, dairy products, refined sugars, and highly processed foods in general. Many paleo eaters also prefer wild-caught or grass-fed proteins, avoiding factory farmed animal and fish proteins whenever possible.
Since farming practices rapidly changed what people ate 10,000 years ago, the human body did not have time to adapt to new staple foods such as grains and legumes. As a result, many people have difficulty digesting some grains, legumes, and dairy products. Paleo diets limit or cut these food groups and focus on lean meats, fish, vegetables, and nuts and seeds instead.
Because paleo eating focuses on fresh, healthy ingredients, it can be a boon to your health. Paleo diets can help you lose weight or maintain your current weight. In addition, avoiding refined sugars and highly processed foods can help protect you from diseases associated with ultra-processed foods which include diabetes, heart disease, and vascular disease (including stroke).
Contrary to some popular representations of the paleo diet as mostly for avid carnivores, a paleo diet does not have to be meat-heavy. A healthy paleo diet can also focus on nutrient-rich vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Read on for some ideas about how to feature plant-powered foods in your paleo diet.
Paleo Cauliflower Meals
Cauliflower is a super healthy, highly-versatile vegetable. The blond cousin of broccoli has many health benefits, and you can incorporate it into your paleo diet with a variety of delicious preparation styles. Because of the mild, slightly nutty flavor of cauliflower, it can act as a blank canvas for your favorite cuisine styles and spice blends.
Cauliflower is delicious roasted or in casseroles, works beautifully when steamed or mashed, and is a fabulous rice substitute when grated. Cauliflower can also be used in lieu of grains to make a pizza crust.
Pureed cauliflower has a beautiful creamy texture that can be lovely in soups and even as a sauce for various proteins. The preparation possibilities for this versatile vegetable in paleo recipes are endless!
Nutritional Benefits of Cauliflower
Did you know that cauliflower is an offshoot of the same type of wild cabbage that’s also the ancestor of kale, Brussels sprouts, and kohlrabi? With this nutrition-packed family tree, it’s no wonder cauliflower is such a healthy vegetable. One serving of cauliflower is 1 cup, or about 100 grams, of chopped cauliflower.
One serving of cauliflower (raw or cooked) has 25 calories, 0 grams of fat, 5 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 2 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein, and 30 milligrams of sodium.
One serving of cauliflower is also packed with vitamins and nutrients. One cup of raw or cooked cauliflower has 100% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin C, approximately 25% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin K, 6% of your daily potassium, 3% of your daily magnesium, and 2% of your daily calcium and iron.
In addition to being a terrific source of fiber and necessary vitamins, 92 grams out of 100 grams of cauliflower are water, so cauliflower can actually help keep you hydrated.
Cauliflower can help protect your body and mind as you age. It contains choline, which is essential for learning and memory. Cauliflower also contains antioxidants and phytonutrients that can protect against cancer.
Finally, cauliflower and other vegetables in the brassica family contain glucosinolates. Glucosinolates are protective against certain kinds of cancers, and can help protect cells from damage. Glucosinolates have anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and antibacterial effects.
However, glucosinolates can be leached out of cauliflower and other brassica vegetables when the foods are highly processed. If you’re avoiding overly-processed foods and eating paleo, you’ll be able to access the full benefits of eating cauliflower.
Spaghetti Squash Meals
Cucurbita pepo, or Spaghetti squash, is a winter squash native to the Americas that usually becomes ready to harvest beginning in early autumn. When cooked, the fleshy interior of the spaghetti squash yields long strands that can be used as a delicious paleo substitute for pasta.
Spaghetti squash is a low-calorie food, but its high fiber content makes it quite filling. Many paleo eaters, and vegetable lovers in general, use spaghetti squash to replace noodles or pasta in a variety of dishes.
Paleo recipes that feature spaghetti squash often take advantage of the long strands of squash as a vehicle for meat or vegetable-based pasta sauces like spaghetti bolognese, spaghetti squash with kale and basil pesto, or spaghetti squash shrimp scampi.
For Asian dishes, you can skip the rice noodles in favorites like pad thai, pad see ew, or Korean spicy noodles with beef. Roasted and pulled spaghetti squash will allow you to create delicious paleo versions instead.
Spaghetti squash can also be roasted and eaten whole, shredded and added to vegetable soups, used in casseroles, or pulled and spiced for a topping on a variety of dishes including stuffed peppers or lettuce cups. The seeds of the spaghetti squash can also be roasted to create a delicious salad topping.
Nutritional Benefits of Spaghetti Squash
Spaghetti squash is a low-calorie food. Like all winter squash varietals, spaghetti squash is loaded with antioxidants. Spaghetti squash specifically contains beta-carotene, the cancer-fighting antioxidant that gives the squash its orange color.
One serving of spaghetti squash, equal to one cup or 155 grams of squash, contains 42 calories, 1 gram of protein, 0 grams of fat, 10 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, and 4 grams of sugar.
One serving of spaghetti squash also contains many vitamins and minerals including 11% of the daily recommended amount of pantothenic acid (a B vitamin), 9% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin B6, 8% of the daily recommended amount of niacin, 7% of the daily recommended amount of manganese, and 6% of your daily vitamin C.
Additionally, spaghetti squash contains small amounts of potassium, thiamine, magnesium, folate, calcium, and iron.
As a replacement for pasta in your paleo diet, spaghetti squash is a healthy, fibrous vegetable alternative.
Get Your Favorite Plant-Powered Paleo Meals from FitLife Foods
While there are endless ways to use nutrient-rich, paleo friendly vegetables like cauliflower and spaghetti squash to power your paleo lifestyle, you might not have time to prepare these delicious foods yourself. Between work and family obligations, it can be difficult to find time to grocery shop, let alone meal plan and prep. If you’re in a season of life where you want to eat paleo, but are struggling to find the time to prepare the healthy and delicious paleo meals of your dreams, you aren’t alone. It takes a lot of time, energy, and money to select paleo-friendly ingredients and prepare nutrient-rich meals.
FitLife Foods is here to help you meet your goals. Our fresh, chef-prepared meals never have artificial sweeteners, flavors, colors, or preservatives. We also have a “love it 100% or it’s on us” policy. How many prepared foods in the grocery can make the same claims?
Instead of rushing through the grocery store as you attempt to read the full ingredient list on every food to make sure it is paleo-friendly, let us do the work for you.
You can sort our menu of tasty fitmeals based on dietary preferences to find the meals that work best for your plant-powered paleo lifestyle. And if you’re in one of our many delivery areas, you won’t even need to leave home to receive your delicious paleo meals. With no prep, no mess, and no visits to the market, you can eat fresh, scratch-made meals without the hassles of cooking.
Think of all the goals you’d like to meet in your life right now. What could you achieve if healthy eating was checked off your list? What would you do with the time you saved if you could skip the store, skip the meal prep, and delegate the meal planning?
Let Fitlife Foods do the meal prep for you. With Fitlife Foods taking care of your healthy eats, you can focus on the other goals on your list!
