Paleo Reset Diet

The Paleo Reset is a way of giving your body a rest from toxins in our food and in our environment. The goal is to be as close to 100% as possible in order to reduce the food induced inflammatory responses. It is best to continue this diet for a minimum of 30 days. It can take up to that time period to feel the benefits of the diet. You can continue the diet for longer if you feel you need a little more time. Once the 30 days has passed, you can slowly, with the help of your doctor, add other foods back into your diet. The reset time period helps brings the chronic inflammation to a rest. This allows you to recognize how well your body responds to a clean diet and what foods cause you symptoms as you attempt to reintroduce them. Not all foods are recommended to be reintroduced, but some, like 24 hour fermented organic dairy, are well tolerated by some. If you have an autoimmune condition there are a few other foods that you should avoid. AIP Autoimmune Diet

Eat Liberally: You can enjoy as much of these foods as you like.

Meat and Poultry. Beef, lamb, mutton, pork, chicken, turkey, duck, goat and wild game like venison. Chose organic, grass fed choices. It’s more important to choose the organic and grass when during the Reset because you are trying to minimize the toxins in your diet. However, if they are not available don’t let that stop you from taking this step.

Organ Meats (especially liver). Liver is the most nutrient dense food on the planet. It is the best source of iron, so it is incredibly beneficial if you tend to be anemic. If you don’t like its taste, chip fresh liver into half inch cubes and freeze them in ice cube trays. Once frozen you can pop them out and store in freezer safer bag. When you are making a meat dish, defrost a cube, chip it finely and mix it in. You won’t notice the taste, but you’ll get the nutrients. Do not choose organ meats if you have been diagnosed with iron overload or if you have been told you have high ferritin.

Bone Broth Soups. It’s essential to balance your intake of muscle meats and organ meats with homemade bone broths. Bone broths differ from stock in that they’re simmered for a long time, up to 48 hours, typically 24 hours. Bone broth is rich in glycine which is needed for maintaining a healthy gut lining.

Fish. Especially fatty fish, like salmon, sardines, mackerel, anchovies, and herring. Wild is best. Eat 3-6 oz of fatty fish per week to optimize fatty acids.

Eggs. These should be pastured and organic. Eat the whites and yolk. The yolks contain selenium, vitamin D, choline and other nutrients. These are potentially a problem with autoimmune conditions.

Starchy plants. Yams, sweet potatoes, tapioca, yucca, (also called cassava or manioc), taro, lotus root, plantains (ripe or unripe), and breadfruit. (Boil the yuca first for 30 minutes then roast or mash it before eating to remove toxic goitrogens, compounds that impair thyroid function in susceptible individuals. No white potatoes allowed during the Reset. They can be tried after being off of them for 30 days during the reintroduction phase.

Non-starchy vegetables. Cooked or raw including artichoke, asparagus, beets, broccoli, broccoli rabe, Brussels sprouts, cabbage carrots, cauliflower, celery, chilies, cucumber, eggplant, garlic, green onions, greens (beet, collard, dandelion, kale, mustard, turnip), jicama, leeks, lettuce (endive, escarole, iceberg, leafy varieties, radicchio, romaine), mushrooms, okra, onions, parsley, parsnips, peppers, pumpkin, radishes, rutabaga, scallions, spinach, summer squash, Swiss chard, tomato, turnips, and zucchini. Peppers, eggplant and tomatoes should be eliminated if you have an autoimmune condition.

Fermented vegetables and fruits. Sauerkraut (without vinegar), kimchi, curtido (form of cabbage relish), beet kvass, coconut kefir, etc. These contains good bacteria that help with gut health.

Traditional Fats. Coconut oil, ghee, red palm oil, pal kernel oil, macadamia oil, duck fat, beef tallow (from free range cows) and extra virgin olive oil.

Other. Olives, avocados, and coconuts. Including coconut milk. Sea Salt and spices.
Avoid sugar and artificial flavorings.

Eat in Moderation:
These can be eaten in moderation. The suggested amounts are listed in the food category.

Processed Meat. Sausage, bacon (both cured and uncured), salami, pepperoni and jerky. Make sure they’re gluten, sugar and soy free and organic and/or free-range meat. 2-4 serving a week is fine. If you have high cholesterol, this category needs to be eliminated.

Whole Fruit. Up to 4 servings per day, depending on your blood-sugar balance and the type of fruit. Choose a wide variety of colors: green, red, orange, and yellow. All fruit is permitted, but favor low-sugar fruits, like berries, grapefruit, oranges, and peaches over tropical fruits, apples, grapes and pears. If you have high triglycerides, elevated insulin, have been diagnosed with insulin resistance or PCOS or if you are diabetic or have been told you are pre-diabetic limit your fruit to 2 per day and choose from the berry category and avoid tropical fruits.

Nuts and Seeds. Allowed nuts include almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts (filberts), macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, and walnuts. Avoid peanuts, they are actually a legume, not a nut. Favor nuts with lower omega 6 content like hazel nuts and macadamia nuts and minimize nuts high in omega 6 such as Brazil nuts and almonds. Allowed seeds include chia, flax, pumpkin, sesame and sunflower. It is easy to overeat nuts and seeds but limit yourself to a handful per day. To help the digestion of nuts and to break down the phytates that prevent absorption of the nutrients in nuts soak them for 8 hours, seed for 4 hours, and then dry in low temperature oven, 150-170 or even better in a low temperate dehydrator where you can turn it down to 110-120 for 12- 24 hours.

Green beans, sugar peas, and snap peas. These are technically legumes, but they are usually tolerated well. You can eat 4-6 servings of these per week.

Coffee and Black Tea. All teas and coffee are permitted. You can drink them black or add coconut milk. Limit the caffeinated beverages to one 8oz cup per day and only before noon. However, if you experience fatigue, insomnia, anxiety, hypoglycemia, mood swings or depression you should eliminate all caffeine entirely. The caffeine can harm your adrenals worsening all these symptoms.

Vinegar. Apple cider, balsamic, red wine and other varieties. Use in small amounts each day as part of a salad dressing.

Restaurant food. Restaurants cook with processed industrial seed oils and vegetable oils, which can wreak havoc on your health. Avoid restaurants during your Reset diet, and when it is over you should not eat in a restaurant more than 2x/week including lunches in order to minimize the toxic tag a longs in restaurant meals.



Avoid Completely:
During the Reset period it is important to avoid these 100%.

Dairy. Including butter, cheese, yogurt, milk, cream, and any dairy product that comes from a cow, goat, sheep or other mammal. Ghee (aka butter oil) is permitted because it contains only trace amounts of dairy proteins (casein) and lactose and is well tolerated by all but the most sensitive individuals.

Grains. Including wheat, rye, barley, spelt, couscous, malt, graham flour, semolina, durham, oats, and non-gluten grains such as rice, corn, sorghum, teff, quinoa, amaranth, etc. No bread, pasta, cereal, or pizza. And for now, do not go shopping for gluten-free substitutes. Many gluten free alternatives contain many other non-gluten problematic ingredients.

Legumes. Including beans of all kinds (soy, black, kidney, pinto, garbanzo), peas, lentils, peanuts. Read labels; soy lurks everywhere. Soy can be found in miso, tofu, bean curd, natto, tamari, tempeh, texturized vegetable protein, and edamame and soy oil in in most store-bought salad dressings and many packaged foods).

Sweeteners, real and artificial. Including sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, dextrose, coconut sugar, molasses, maple syrup, honey, agave, brown-rice syrup, Splenda, equal, NutraSweet, xylitol, mannitol, erythritol, serve, and stevia.

Chocolate. Milk chocolate contains both dairy and sugar. Dark chocolate with greater than 75% cocoa content is nutritious however, many people who are intolerant to gluten are unfortunately also intolerant to the proteins in chocolate.

Processed or refined foods. If it comes in a bag or box don’t eat it. This includes highly process protein powder, energy bars, paleo bars, dairy free creamers and so on.

Industrial seed and vegetable oils. Soybean, corn, safflower, sunflower, rapeseed, peanut, cottonseed, and canola oils. Read labels. Seed oils are in almost all processed and packaged refined foods (which shouldn’t be eaten in this phase anyway).

Sodas, including diet sodas, and fruit juice. All forms including natural varieties. Fruit juice is high in sugar and easy to overconsume. Coconut water is fine, but limit yourself to ½ cup a day. Plain soda water or mineral water is fine.

Alcohol. In any form. This may be able to be added back in in the reintroduction phase.

Process sauces and seasonings. Soy sauce, tamari and other processed sauces and seasonings. These often have sugar, soy, gluten and GMO corn items in them.

For more information see "The Paleo Cure" by Chris Kresser
For specific conditions make sure you read the notes at the bottom of each food category.