4. Eat dairy sparingly, if at all.
Paleo experts are divided on whether dairy can be a healthy part of the diet. Cavemen didn’t keep cows or other livestock, and there’s some evidence to suggest our ability to tolerate lactose wanes as we age. But more relaxed practitioners say milk, yogurt and cheese are fine in very small amounts—if your system can handle it. “My take is, if you can find good sources of high-fat, raw, natural dairy and you don’t have the problem of lactose intolerance, then by all means, include dairy in part of your regimen,” says Sisson.
As Sisson mentions, any Paleo Diet dairy would be consumed raw and unpasteurized to avoid filling fats and important nutrients being stripped away—but this can be downright impossible unless you become pals with an organic farmer (or if you live in California, the only U.S. state where it’s legal to sell raw dairy). The everyman fix is to look for full-fat yogurts and milk, and to buy organic to avoid hormones.
