Is Green Chef Paleo?

Paleolithic eating seeks to replicate the diet of Paleolithic humans before we moved to the Neolithic age when farming and agriculture began to appear. The diet is heavy on meat, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Paleo eaters avoid all dairy, grains, and legumes, in addition to sugar, processed foods, and salt. According to the Mayo clinic, a Paleo diet can result in more weight loss and improved glucose tolerance versus a normal healthy diet that includes dairy, grains, and legumes. The diet also necessarily includes drinking plenty of water and getting daily physical exercise.

A Paleo diet is very different from a Keto diet both in its requirements and its effect on the body. In a ketogenic plan, you will remove almost all carbohydrates from your diet. Afterward, your body will enter a state of ketosis, in which fat is metabolized in the liver. A Keto dieter could not follow a Paleo plan because a Paleo diet allows more vegetables and fruit, and it would be difficult to remain in a state of ketosis.

There may be some logical flaws in the foundational theory of eating like Paleolithic humans. However, there are definite benefits to the diet and no nutritional danger, though the Mayo Clinic notes more long-term study is needed.

Green Chef offers a selection of six different Paleo recipes each week. A quick look at the menu reveals a mix of proteins, including chicken, shrimp, and sirloin steak. Mustard sauces and cashew cremas replace dairy, and root vegetables get riced, mashed, and French fried. On the recipes I could see, shrimp and cod play the seafood roles. Hopefully, there are more diverse options that include the fatty fishes so beneficial to the Paleo plan.

Green Chef isn't the only meal kit service offering a Paleo plan. Sun Basket, another organic delivery kit service, also provides a dedicated Paleo menu. Sun Basket has a wider selection of recipes, nine per week for Paleo eaters, and the menu is very similar. It includes meat and poultry proteins with various slaws, salads, or cauliflower preparations. Hopefully, future weeks offer a wider selection of seafood options.

Why not? Paleo recipes will seem mostly familiar, not like you are making dramatic substitutions or leaving out key components. Paleo is a healthy way of eating that doesn't exclude nutrients and has real benefits. You may not feel you need to eliminate dairy, grains, and legumes from your diet. But, if you want to shake up your routine and try some new, healthy recipes, a Paleo plan won't leave you missing anything.