Paleo Cookbook For Dummies (31 page)

Foods with artificial sweeteners, specifically Acesulfame K (Sweet One), aspartame (Equal and NutraSweet), saccharin (Sweet'N Low), sucralose (Splenda), stevia, and those containing erythritol (such as Truvia).

Foods with soy, including soy, teriyaki, and hoisin sauces. Some tuna fish is packed in soy, so check labels.

Commercial condiments with sugars and artificial ingredients, such as ketchup, BBQ sauce, sweet and sour sauces, and bottled salad dressings and marinades.

Foods with cornstarch and other food starches.

All sugars except for raw honey and pure maple syrup, dark chocolate, and cocoa powder.

Less-processed, natural sweeteners like raw honey and pure maple syrup can stay, but don't eat them during your 30-Day Paleo cleanse (which I cover in
Chapter 4
).

Packaged processed foods, including microwavable meals or food bars (check all processed foods carefully because most have additives and gluten).

Sauces, soups, and stews (most have thickened flours).

Dressings (most are thickened with flour).

Canned foods with sugars and additives, including canned fruits packed in syrup.

Jam and jelly.

Clearing out the refrigerator and freezer

Emptying out the refrigerator and freezer can get dicey because you may feel like you're wasting the opened jars and containers. Those bottles of this and that all lined up along your refrigerator door make you inclined to think, “I'll wait to see whether this Paleo thing is really worth its salt.” When these doubts strike, remember that you're cleansing your refrigerator. Keeping non-Paleo foods isn't part of the plan.

The following are the items you need to chuck:

Any leftovers that aren't part of your healthy food plan.

Commercial dressings and sauces.