What is the Paleo-Mediterranean Diet?

Are you searching for a diet to help you lose weight? Do you just want to feel better overall physically? The Paleo-Mediterranean diet might just be what you’ve been searching for! This way of eating focuses on favoring as much clean and unprocessed food as possible, among other things. We’re going to go in-depth about this diet and how it can help you on the way to a healthier lifestyle.

What is the Paleo-Mediterranean diet?

As mentioned, this approach focuses on clean eating. You will want to find foods that are non-GMO and organic. You can look for items that are steroid, antibiotic, and hormone free. Your food should be as clean and unprocessed as you can get.

While this is the goal, eating this way 100% of the time isn’t sustainable. It’s more realistic (and a lot less stressful) to shoot for an 80/20 approach.

What can I eat on this diet?

There are plenty of whole foods you can enjoy on the Paleo-Mediterranean diet. They include proteins, fruits in moderation, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and fats.

When it comes to quality protein, you’ll want to mostly favor lighter protein options. Those include chicken, turkey, and fish. You can eat some pork and red meat every once in a while. Serving sizes average around 3 ounces, which is the size of a deck of cards or the palm of your hand.

While you don’t want to go too crazy, a small amount of fruit is good for you on this diet. Some of the best low glycemic index fruits include berries, lemons, limes, avocados, and green apples. Other fruits you can incorporate sparingly are melons, kiwis, plums, pears, pineapple, and bananas.

The bulk of the Paleo-Mediterranean diet is lots of veggies. You can’t get too many with this approach! Some of the best vegetables to incorporate are leafy greens, like collards, kale, and spinach. Here are some of the other veggies you’ll be able to enjoy (always favor what is in season):

• Green Beans
• Chard
• Zucchini
• Eggplant
• Fennel
• Beets
• Broccoli
• Brussel sprouts
• Cabbage
• Lettuce
• Bok choy
• Carrots

One of the other important components of this diet is consuming adequate healthy fats, like olive oil, coconut, nuts, and avocados. You may also use honey, agave, and organic maple syrup in moderation. If you want to have nuts and seeds, you can have sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, Brazil nuts, pecans, and almonds.

What can I not eat on this diet?

As with any eating regimen, there are certain foods you should stay away from or limit. On the Paleo-Mediterranean diet, you will eat as little grain as possible. If you do find yourself craving pasta or bread, you could choose paleo options, like brown rice pasta, rice, or oats.

Some people may want to eliminate any cow dairy, like milk, butter, and ice cream, and then slowly introduce it back in to see if there are any negative effects. If so, you could continue to eliminate, and then test until you can determine if this is a temporary or long-term sensitivity. Either way, it is best to favor sheep or goat dairy products.

You’ll also want to stay away from eating too many “gluten-free” substitute foods for crackers, cookies, etc., unless they are labeled Paleo. Paleo foods will be made with flours from root vegetables, nuts, coconut etc., that are lower glycemic index than the typical gluten-free substitute flours like potato, rice, and corn. In general, you’ll want to avoid eating too many potatoes and corn.

If you’re considering this eating style for weight loss or weight management, the sweet spot to lose weight is keeping your carbs between 50-75 grams per day. You may be able to go up to 100 grams per day when you work out, but no more. When people don’t have success, it normally is because of all the “hidden” carbs that are adding up. When you are hungry and have a carb craving, eat some lean protein and a bit of fat. An example would be a few olives or tuna and some sweet potato. But another really great solution would be to have a teaspoon or 2 of ketone esters. It’s also excellent for giving your brain what it needs for enhanced cognitive function and can help enhance the efficacy of your workout!

Of course, since the heart of this diet is “clean” food, you’ll want to avoid any commercially made foods, frozen meals, fast food, artificial foods, chemical food additives, canned or processed food, etc.

By switching to the Paleo-Mediterranean diet, you could begin to see positive changes not only in terms of your energy levels and metabolism but also in terms of digestive health, emotional regulation, and on many other levels. Your body and mind could feel so much better because of it! To find out if this diet could be beneficial for your unique body, needs, goals, and genetic predispositions, get in touch with MTC to begin creating your Personal Transformation Plan. If you want more hands-on guidance with implementing this diet change, learn more about our monthly TransformLifestyle sessions on how to implement Paleo-Mediterranean into your life!

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