Paleo Cookbook For Dummies (22 page)

If you're on a strict budget, meat is where I recommend you shell out the extra bucks. Healthy meat is more difficult to find on a budget than other healthy Paleo-approved conventional foods are. If your grocery budget doesn't allow you to invest in higher-quality protein right now, that's okay. If you must buy conventionally raised meat, you can find tips to help improve its healthfulness in
Chapter 5
.

Focusing on quality produce

Because the 30-Day Reset's focus is on balance, simplicity, and quality, choose fruits and veggies that are in season for the freshest, most nutritious options. And if your favorite isn't available fresh, frozen fruits and vegetables — because they're flash-frozen in season just after picking — are a solid, nutritious alternative to fresh.

Non-starchy vegetables are yours for the taking. Try new and interesting vegetables to keep it exciting. The best rule of thumb when you think vegetables is to think rainbow. Get as many different vegetables in as many different colors as you can. These bright colors are an indication of the phytonutrients the foods contain; more color means more good stuff. Focus your starchy vegetable intake (sweet potatoes, winter squash, and other roots and tubers) in the post-workout eating window to minimize their blood-sugar-raising effect. Try kohlrabi or jicama for a new and different starchy vegetable.

All fresh Paleo-approved fruit is okay during the Reset, but my favorite choices during the 30 days are those that have a minimum impact on blood sugar and add great flavor: lemons, limes, berries, avocadoes, apples, and grapefruit. Avoid fruit juices, sweetened fruits, and dried fruits during the Reset to avoid blood sugar swings.

Eat no more than two servings of fruit per day. Break those servings up across meals and snacks to distribute your sugar intake and release less insulin. The later section
“Sizing Up Reset-Friendly Portions”
has details on appropriate serving sizes.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG;
www.ewg.org/foodnews/
) did testing on produce and found which types are most beneficial to buy organic because of high pesticide contamination. You can find the EWG shopping list recommendations in
Chapter 5
.

Seeking Reset spices

Spices are an especially nice addition during your 30-Day Reset because of the additional healing they may provide. During this time, your body is focusing on healing and regulating. Spices such as cinnamon, ginger, and turmeric can help heal your body as well as provide flavor. For more information on spices, head to
Chapter 5
.

Fixating on Reset-friendly fats

All Paleo-approved fats are approved for the Reset, including the following (see
Chapter 5
for more details):

Coconut fats

Olives and avocadoes

Animal fats

Nuts, seeds, nut and seed oils, and nut and seed butters

Cooking at high heat can damage some oils, causing oxidation that makes otherwise-healthy oils likely to cause inflammation. Avoid cooking with extra-virgin olive oil and nut oils; instead, use those oils to toss on salads or drizzle over cooked food. For high-heat cooking — on the stovetop or grill or in the oven — use saturated fats from animals or coconut-sourced fats.

High-heat oils:
Coconut oil, palm oil, ghee (clarified butter), and animal fats

Low-heat oils:
Macadamia nut oil and avocado oil

No-heat oils (cold use only):
Olive oil, walnut oil

These oils are so bad, they don't even belong in a landfill. Keep these out of your house during your Reset and beyond: