Paleo Friendly Carbohydrates

If you’re thinking of integrating a Paleo diet into your lifestyle, then you already know that there going to be some big changes for both your food choices and your digestive system. Your body is going to readapting itself to a metabolism more similar to your ancestors, tens of thousands of years ago, when the only food available to eat was what could be hunted in the forest, or gathered from trees and bushes.

This also means that you won’t be eating a lot of traditional foods sourced or derived from agriculture, such as foods made of grains, or dairy products that come from domesticated cows. That choice alone is going to eliminate many normal sources of carbohydrates from your diet, such as pasta, for example. But does that mean that carbohydrates are bad? Let’s take a closer look at the carbohydrate issue and how it relates to the Paleo diet.

The Carb Problem

Carbohydrates are, in and of themselves, not inherently bad. However, the processing of food in our everyday life for most carb rich sources is where the problems come in. Pasta is heavily processed, for example. As is bread, bagels, and other food.

But you do have alternative sources of carbohydrates in a Paleo diet, just not where you’d expect it from. Fruits are an excellent source of carbs, with raisins, dates and other dried fruit being right at the top of the list. Vegetables can also give you some of the carbs that your body needs, with cassava and taro root being good sources, though not as high in carbs per 100 grams of fruit would be.

The best part is, however, that you get these carbs with few downsides. The preservatives, glutens and other substances that would be present with carbs in modern, processed foods are absent with the carb sources in a Paleo diet. So you get high-quality carbs that your body needs, and nothing else!