What Is Paleo?

The Paleo diet gets thrown around a lot these days. Some people think it means eating like a caveman. Others think it’s just a trendy way to avoid carbs. The truth? Paleo is actually pretty straightforward. It’s about eating real food. Food your body recognizes. Food that doesn’t make you feel terrible afterward.

If you’re new to it, here’s the quick version:

Paleo = whole, unprocessed, nutrient-dense food.

Or more bluntly: you eat stuff that grows, runs, swims, or falls off a tree. You skip the modern industrial food products that your body never signed up for.

What Do You Eat on Paleo?

This isn’t complicated. You focus on:

• Meats, poultry, fish
• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Nuts and seeds
• Healthy fats (olive oil, avocado, coconut oil)
• Eggs

If your great-great-great-grandparents wouldn’t recognize it as food, it probably doesn’t belong.

What Don’t You Eat on Paleo?

This is where things get a little trickier, especially if you love baked goods.

Paleo skips:

• Grains (wheat, rice, oats, corn, etc.)
• Dairy
• Legumes (beans, peanuts, soy)
• Refined sugar
• Processed foods, artificial sweeteners, and chemical additives

Notice that grains and gluten are both off the table here — but Paleo goes further than gluten-free.

Why Do People Follow a Paleo Diet?

For a lot of people, Paleo isn’t just about losing weight or looking good on Instagram. It’s about feeling better. A lot better.

People turn to Paleo for:

• Digestive health
• Reducing inflammation
• Managing autoimmune conditions
• Stabilizing blood sugar
• Cutting out ingredients that trigger chronic issues

It’s not magic. It’s just eating in a way that minimizes stuff your body struggles to process. For many, the results speak for themselves.

Paleo vs Gluten-Free: Not the Same Thing

Quick myth-buster: Paleo and gluten-free aren’t interchangeable.

• Gluten-free means no wheat, barley, or rye. You can still eat plenty of gluten-free grains (like rice or oats) and plenty of ultra-processed junk foods that just happen to leave out gluten.

• Paleo means no grains at all. Period. And definitely no weird processed gluten-free substitutions.

That’s why even a lot of gluten-free baked goods don’t qualify as Paleo. They swap wheat flour for rice flour, corn starch, or questionable fillers, but they’re still full of ingredients Paleo folks avoid.

Why Paleo Baking Is So Hard

Let’s be honest: Paleo baking can get weird. You’re taking out gluten, grains, dairy, and refined sugar — all the things traditional baking relies on for structure, flavor, and texture.

This is why so many Paleo “treats” end up dry, crumbly, overly eggy, or feel like you’re chewing on a damp sponge. They’re technically Paleo, but they don’t taste good.

At Sweet Chaos Bakery, we refused to settle for technically Paleo. We wanted bagels that don’t just check the box but actually deliver on taste, texture, and bagelness.

We spent years obsessively testing flour blends, sweeteners, boiling times, freezing methods, and toasting behavior. Because Paleo should never mean giving up simple pleasures like a chewy, golden bagel that holds your avocado and doesn’t disintegrate halfway through.

What Makes Sweet Chaos Bakery Paleo?

We bake like your gut health depends on it. Because it does.

Every bagel we make is:

• Gluten-free
• Paleo-friendly (grain-free, dairy-free, soy-free)
• Organic and non-GMO
• Freezer-tested and toaster-approved

These aren’t “good for paleo”, they’re good. Period.

Paleo Doesn’t Mean Giving Up Baked Goods

That’s why Sweet Chaos Bakery exists. You don’t have to miss out on comforting, satisfying baked goods just because you follow a Paleo diet. You just have to find the ones made with real ingredients and real care.

You deserve something better than dry flax seed crackers pretending to be bread. We made these bagels for our own family first. Now we’re sharing them with yours.