Sneaky Little Suspects

Eating clean Paleo and feeling great…mostly?

That seemingly benign multi vitamin you take on a daily basis could be the culprit.. as could the vitamin E tablet or the green powder you stir into your water every morning.  All with the best of intentions, yet you could be sabotaging your Paleo efforts.

How so?

Because all the supplements listed above and all supplements and vitamin pills and powders, for that matter, can sometimes contain additives and fillers like rice powder, soybean oil, yeast, dairy and wheat or barley grass, just to name a few.   If you’re particularly sensitive to any of those ingredients, even the trace amount found in your daily multi could potentially be enough to trigger a reaction.

Back in 2006 when I was only one year into Paleo, and was still sorting out the last few items in my diet that weren’t Paleo, like the occasional goat milk yogurt or rice cereal before a big day of training, it dawned on me to double check though the label of my vitamin.  It was ‘food-based’, but sure enough, it also contained rice powder as a filler and wheat and barley grass.  Yikes!  It just had to go.

There are Paleo-friendly options on the market for some supplements, but it requires your due diligence to scan the label and make sure it states clearly that the product is ‘guaranteed to be free of soy, gluten, dairy and so on’.

Another nice feature about the balanced approach to eating via the Paleo lifestyle, is that when executed properly, the food provides everything and anything your body needs to cover all the bases from antioxidants to vitamins.

More food, less tablets!