Please read first: This article is general information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian before you start any diet, especially if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have diabetes, kidney or heart conditions, or take regular medication. Low carb diets can change how some medicines (such as diabetes and blood pressure tablets) work, so your doses may need checking.
The paleo diet is built around foods people could hunt, fish or gather: meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds. It leaves out grains, pulses, refined sugar and most processed food. Many versions also skip dairy, though a lot of people in India keep ghee and butter. This plan does too.
This is not a weight loss promise. It is a sample week to show what paleo eating can look like with familiar Indian flavours.
Who this plan is written for
To keep the numbers concrete, we used the reference adults from the ICMR-NIN 2020 Nutrient Requirements for Indians: a woman of about 55 kg and a man of about 65 kg. For height, think of a woman around 155 cm and a man around 165 cm, which is close to typical Indian adult heights reported in national surveys. For a sedentary adult, ICMR-NIN estimates about 1,660 kcal a day for the woman and about 2,110 kcal a day for the man.
The plan below is built at about 1,650 to 1,750 kcal a day, which suits the reference woman. The reference man can add roughly 350 to 400 kcal a day by increasing portions of protein and fat (for example one more egg and a handful of nuts). Your own needs depend on age, height, weight, activity and health, so treat these numbers as a starting point, not a target set for you.
The 7-day plan
Numbers are estimates per day for the portions described, worked out from USDA FoodData Central and IFCT values. Cooking fat is about 2 to 3 tablespoons of ghee or oil across the day. Net carbs means total carbohydrate minus fibre.
| Day | Breakfast | Lunch | Snack | Dinner | Approx. kcal / protein / fat / net carbs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | 2 eggs scrambled in ghee, sauteed spinach | Grilled chicken (150 g) with cucumber and tomato salad, coconut oil dressing | Handful of almonds (25 g) | Fish curry in coconut milk, steamed beans | ~1,700 / 95 g / 115 g / 55 g |
| Day 2 | Banana with 1 tbsp almond butter, 1 boiled egg | Mutton pepper fry (120 g), cabbage poriyal | Coconut pieces and a few walnuts | Chicken soup with carrot and pumpkin | ~1,750 / 90 g / 110 g / 75 g |
| Day 3 | Omelette (2 eggs) with onion, tomato and pepper | Baked sweet potato (150 g), chicken keema with mixed vegetables | Apple with pumpkin seeds (15 g) | Grilled fish, sauteed greens in coconut oil | ~1,650 / 95 g / 90 g / 95 g |
| Day 4 | Chia pudding: chia seeds (20 g) soaked in coconut milk, berries | Egg curry (3 eggs), stir fried okra | Handful of cashews (20 g) | Chicken tikka (oven), mint chutney, salad | ~1,700 / 90 g / 105 g / 60 g |
| Day 5 | Almond flour dosa made with almond flour, coconut chutney | Prawn or fish masala, cauliflower rice | Orange and 2 Brazil nuts | Mutton or chicken stew with vegetables | ~1,700 / 90 g / 110 g / 60 g |
| Day 6 | 2 boiled eggs, papaya bowl | Grilled chicken with roasted pumpkin and onion | Guava and a few macadamia nuts | Fish fry in coconut oil, avial without curd | ~1,650 / 95 g / 95 g / 75 g |
| Day 7 | Vegetable omelette, half avocado or a few olives | Chicken biryani style bowl with cauliflower rice and onion and cucumber salad | Coconut flour muffin made with coconut flour | Egg bhurji with sauteed greens | ~1,700 / 90 g / 110 g / 65 g |
How the numbers add up
A few reference values we used, so you can adjust portions yourself:
- One large egg: about 72 kcal, 6 g protein, 5 g fat, under 1 g carbs (USDA).
- Cooked chicken breast, 100 g: about 165 kcal, 31 g protein, 4 g fat (USDA).
- Almonds, 28 g: about 164 kcal, 6 g protein, 14 g fat, 6 g carbs including 3.5 g fibre (USDA).
- Ghee or coconut oil, 1 tablespoon: about 120 kcal, all fat (USDA).
- Baked sweet potato, 100 g: about 90 kcal and 21 g carbs (USDA).
- Banana, one medium: about 105 kcal and 27 g carbs (USDA).
Tips for the week
- Drink enough water. Adding fruit and vegetables at every meal keeps fibre up even without grains.
- Pulses and dairy are left out, so watch calcium. Greens like drumstick leaves, sesame and small fish eaten with bones help.
- Season with turmeric, pepper and rock salt. Turmeric powder, pepper powder and rock salt are easy staples.
- If you want a ready made start, the Monthly Paleo Combo from Paleo Bay bundles several pantry items.
Products used in this plan
- Cow Ghee and Virgin Coconut Oil for cooking
- Almond Flour 500g and Coconut Flour 500g for grain free dosa and baking
- Premium Almond, Walnut Kernels 500g, Cashew Nut 500g, Brazil Nut 200g, Macadamia 200g
- Chia seeds 500g and Pumpkin seeds 250g
- Paleo Diet Book if you prefer reading in Tamil
Before you begin: This article is general information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian before you start any diet, especially if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have diabetes, kidney or heart conditions, or take regular medication. Low carb diets can change how some medicines (such as diabetes and blood pressure tablets) work, so your doses may need checking.
Sources
- ICMR-NIN, Nutrient Requirements for Indians (RDA and EAR), 2020: nin.res.in
- USDA FoodData Central: fdc.nal.usda.gov
- ICMR-NIN, Indian Food Composition Tables (IFCT 2017): nin.res.in
- National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019 to 2021: rchiips.org/nfhs
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Diet Review: Paleo Diet: nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu
