If you’re looking for paleo beef jerky, then you should steer wide of commercially available products. Here’s the ingredient list for one of Australia’s most popular jerkies:
Beef jerky – original flavour: Beef, Sugar, Soy Protein, Salt, Hydrolysed vegetable protein (soy), flavourings (onion, garlic, spices), celery powder, hickory smoke flavouring, fruit juice powder, acidity regulatory (citric acid)
The most difficult thing here is knowing where to begin… One thing is certainly clear, this is not a paleo beef jerky. It uses normal beef (not grass-fed), lots of refined sugar, soy protein (?), artificial flavorings and additives. This jerky seems to be far more complicated than what is necessary, and wouldn’t meet the standards of most healthy diets.
KOOEE! makes paleo snacks
Jerky has its origins in North America. The Native Americans found a creative way to store their meat to prevent wasting a valuable food source. It demonstrates that jerky can easily be made paleo friendly without the crazy additions in many commercial products today.
At KOOEE! we have gone a long way to make our jerky one of few paleo snacks in Australia. We use:
- 100% Grass-fed Beef raised in Tasmania
- No added sugar (note: there are natural sugars in our product)
- No artificial preservatives (no nitrites, our only preservative is salt)
- No cereal grains (no soy sauce, we use coconut aminos instead)
Why is jerky an awesome paleo snack?
Jerky is the perfect paleo snack for those with an active lifestyle. It is a shelf stable snack that requires no special care, or refrigeration. This makes it the perfect snack to throw in the gym bag, in the car, in the office drawer, or in your hiking pack.
Jerky is high protein: Jerky is an incredible source of protein. It takes nearly 3kg of meat to make 1kg of KOOEE! jerky – that’s a lot of protein!
Eating Natural: Kooee snacks jerky contains no added preservatives, no added sugar, no hormones or GMOs. This means it’s quite simply beef, spices, salt and marinade.
What is the paleo diet?
The Paleo diet is often referred to as the “Caveman Diet”. It involves removing processed foods from our diet to lower stress, improve health and lower fatigue.
Unlike “Organic” or “gluten free” in Australia, there is no easy way to tell if a product is actually “paleo” or “paleo-friendly”. Fortunately, the paleo community has many forums and resources for those looking to determine what they should be eating. A few principles:
- Generally the paleo diet includes:
- wholefoods
- grass-fed meats and seafood
- seed
- nuts
- fresh fruit and vegetables
- eggs
- herbs and spices
- It avoids:
- cereal grains
- junk food
- take away
- processed food
- potatoes
- refined sugars
- dairy
- legumes