The holidays are a time for celebration, gatherings with family and friends, and, of course, lots of food. If you are someone following the Paleo diet, you will likely encounter more challenges to your diet at this time of year than any other, but hope is not lost. If you are not sure where to start, we are here to help with 7 tips for surviving the holidays on a Paleo diet. You will find that staying true to yourself and your diet is generally easy and painless with these suggestions.  Bring Snacks The number one secret weapon to surviving the holidays is to make sure that you bring a lo ..read more

If you have come across the terms cocoa, cacao, and carob, you are likely to have thought there was a spelling error for at least two of these terms. Most likely, you would have considered that cacao was misspelled cocoa. However, these three terms are different in meaning, which we will look into in this article. So, if you love chocolate or want a healthier version of chocolate, you might want to keep reading. Difference between Cocoa and Cacao Cocoa and cacao come from the same type of beans, theobroma cacao, but they differ because of the processing that each goes through. Cacao is process ..read more

Are you tired of always thinking (or maybe hearing): "What's for dinner tonight?" If so, you're not alone. Millions of men and women are faced with that same vexing question every day. Many wonder if there is some way to eliminate the frustration that they feel when they don't know what to prepare for themselves and their families.  Fortunately, there is: meal planning. Let's talk about what meal planning is, and how you can make it work for your unique situation.  What is Meal Planning? Meal planning is just what it sounds like: It's the process of planning out your meals for one we ..read more

Eating paleo is, for many of us, one of the best dietary choices we've ever made. Cutting out bread, legumes, dairy, and other digestively agitating foods can eliminate food allergy symptoms and other modern ailments that come from a too-modern diet. Of course, living on fresh natural foods can get fairly pricy if you're new to paleo grocery strategy.  Most of us paleo pros quickly get the hang of shopping for meat and produce from local sources and in bulk to keep the price of good food in a reasonable budget range. For those of use who are shopping on a careful budget, there are plenty ..read more

If you are participating in the autoimmune protocol (AIP) diet, you may have a lot of questions about which foods to eliminate, and which foods to use as substitutes. One common question that many people have is about coffee: Is it okay to drink on the AIP diet? If not, why not? What are the different replacement options out there? Let's briefly review what the AIP diet involves, and then talk about why you may need to eliminate coffee from your daily intake. Then we'll discuss some of the potential substitutes for your coffee habit.   What is the AIP Diet? The purpose of the autoimmune p ..read more

Collagen is the connective substance that holds people and all other animals together. On the outside, collagen increases elasticity in the skin and strength in the hair. Inside, collagen has a wide range of benefits from strengthening the walls of your internal organs to increasing the tensile strength of your tendons and ligaments. There are a lot of ways to get collagen into your diet, but the old ways of our ancestors are mostly gone by the wayside. We don't much eat the chewy connective tissue in meat, stew up organ meats, or make sausage from the less edible meaty regions. But we can sti ..read more

Tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and several other vegetables that are a common part of the human diet belong to the nightshade family. Nightshade vegetables contain trace amounts of toxic alkaloids, nitrogenous organic substances, that can cause health concerns like inflammation, migraines, leaky-gut syndrome, joint swelling, and osteoporosis. These veggies are extremely healthy on one hand in that they are high in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber. They can be problematic, however, for those whose bodies cannot properly process the alkaloids. For that reason, people with a nightshade ..read more

White potatoes have conjured up quite a bit of controversy in the Paleo community.  Are they Paleo or aren't they?  The Paleo Foundation did a bit of research on this and carefully considered the criteria before making a decision.  The arguments on both sides of the controversy had validity but one side was a little stronger. The Paleo Foundation determined in their findings that 72% of the Paleo community determined the white potato as being Paleo friendly.  However, the minority gave a strong argument to the contrary. Potatoes Should Not Be Included as Paleo Po ..read more

The beneficial effects of carob on blood sugar and cholesterol means it may be a healthier alternative to chocolate. Since it contains no caffeine but is rich in antioxidants and fiber, it could be your best snack whenever the craving for chocolates crawls up on you and strikes. Of course carob isn't as tasty as chocolates but its health benefits are worth all the trouble. What is carob? This nutty, chocolate-like flavored fruit grows on the Ceratonia siliqua L tree native to the Mediterranean region. But you won't necessarily need to travel to the temperate regions to have a bite of the carob ..read more

Sticking with a diet might seem tough, especially if you're focusing on what you can't have. Many of our favorite breakfast classics, like eggs, pastries, and cereal, are not compliant with the autoimmune protocol (AIP) version of the paleo diet. But, don't despair-- there are plenty of delicious, healthy breakfast ideas that can help you satisfy your morning meal cravings.  Here are six great AIP paleo breakfast ideas to help inspire you to stay on track without forcing you to sacrifice on good flavor or variety: Fruit Smoothies Do you find yourself in too much of a hurry to si ..read more