The Paleo/Clean Eating Lifestyle and the Hunter

The paleo “diet” has been all the rage the last few years. As the years go by, people are becoming more health conscious. They don’t want to ingest chemicals and ingredients that end in “fructose” that you can’t pronounce.

Eating Clean, eating healthy and providing our bodies with essential nutrients and healthy fats is on everyone’s minds.

The hunter has embraced this mentality since…well since the beginning of time.

Let’s face it. The hunting community is the original “Paleo Fad Diet” champions. Because to us – it’s not a fad diet. It’s our culture. And our way of life.

To us venison, elk, turkey, pheasant, duck, buffalo, sheep, boar, antelope, goat, caribou, and all the other species we hunt are staples in our pantry.

There’s nothing better than knowing exactly where your food comes from and knowing that what we are feeding our families is 100% natural, no chemicals, no steroids, no “flavor enhancements”.

The whole premise of the “Paleo Diet” is to eat like a caveman, to eat what our ancestors ate. There are many variations of the “Paleo Diet” and I personally follow the Paleo/Clean Eating version. Bottom line I don’t want to ingest garbage that Mother Nature didn’t intend for me to eat.

A diet consistently following the Paleo structure, and including wild game meats have been shown to significantly reduce cholesterol and certain health risks.

Research done at Perdue University showed that “They found that wild game, such as venison or elk meat, as well as grass-fed beef, contain a mixture of fats that are actually healthy for you, and, the researchers say, lower cholesterol and reduce other chronic disease risk. “

Unfortunately a lot of wild game recipes include heavy sauces and sugars to mask the “gamey” taste to make it more palatable to non-hunters. Which in reality is defeating the purpose of eating healthy, wild game. By adding a bunch of store bought marinades and a cup of sugar you’re completely defeating the purpose of eating healthy meats. If the meat is cared for properly there is no need for masking its flavor. Most meat that tastes “gamey” is a direct result of improper field care and over cooking the meat itself.

My answer to hunters and non-hunters alike that want me to douse dinner in some sugary mess is: “Go eat a hot dog instead. Quit wasting this natural resource.”

For the rest of us, we understand that hunting and eating what we hunt is the best diet a human can ingest.

Eat like a caveman?

No problem.