Low-Carb Living

Lesson 2: What To Eat

Lean Meats

Lean meats include wild game, skinless poultry, fish, and seafood, as well as lean beef and pork with the fat removed. The reason authorities on the paleolithic diet recommend removing the skin and fat from fatty meats is to replicate the wild game eaten by our ancestors. One of the reasons that wild game is healthier for us than domesticated livestock is because wild game animals survive on wild plants which are more nutritious than the domesticated grains fed to domesticated livestock.

Today’s meats are far higher in unhealthy saturated fat and contain imbalanced ratios of poly-unsaturated omega 6 and omega 3 fats. Meats from range-fed or free-range animals will have a healthier balance of fats than grain-fed. See page 102 in The Paleo Diet, for a chart on fat and protein content of meats, Appendix B for a comparison of fat in domestic and wild meats, and pages 169-180 for lean meat recipes.

Organ meats are particularly healthful, but since many people find them unpalatable, lean meats can be rubbed with healthful oils such as flaxseed, canola, or olive to provide the benefits of eating the organs (including brain and marrow) as did our ancestors. See pages 104 and 105 in The Paleo Diet, for a list of specific meats, page 115 for a list of mail-order companies that offer free-range meats, and pages 117 and 118 for a list of mail-order suppliers of game meats. See pages 177-179 for organ meat recipes.

Luncheon meats and other processed meats such as bacon, sausage, and ham are not recommended because they often contain additives such as sugar and salt that adversely affects our health. Many processed meats also contain problematic additives such as gluten (grain protein) and nitrites.

Fish and seafood are similar to lean game meat in composition: high in protein, low in fat, and high in omega 3 fats. Farmed fish, however, are often lower in omega 3. Unfortunately, fish and seafood are often contaminated by environmental pollutants such as mercury and pesticides. Older fish, predatory fish, and fatty varieties of fish contain the most concentrated levels of these contaminants. To minimize your risk of eating contaminated fish and seafood: avoid freshwater fish, choose fish that come from cleaner waters such as the Pacific Ocean and Alaska, and choose non-predatory species. See pages 120-122 in The Paleo Diet, for information on choosing fresh, unspoiled fish, and pages 163-169 for fish and seafood recipes.

Our pre-agricultural ancestors consumed just over half of their calories from animal foods. For those who are or have been vegetarian, I recommend the Beyond Vegetarian website at http://www.beyondveg.com.

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