These Holiday-Inspired Whole30 Recipes Won’t Leave You Deprived (2024)

FAQs

Can you have cinnamon on whole 30? ›

To keep your sauce and condiment situation on track, make sure you add the following to your Whole30 shopping list: Herbs and spices (such as basil, oregano, cinnamon, and turmeric)

On Whole30, you can eat meat, vegetables, fruit, tree nuts and seeds, and healthy fats. However, you must avoid sugar, grains, legumes, dairy, alcohol, and processed food additives. Although it would be difficult and very restrictive to maintain long term, the Whole30 is designed to be done only for 30 days.

What about bananas? Yes, both pickles and bananas are allowed on Whole30. Yet if they are a potential trigger food for you (for instance, the sweetness of bananas sets off a craving for other treats or makes you want to binge on the fruit), then you may consider including them on your “don't eat” list.

Are Potatoes Whole30? Yes! As of January 2021, all varieties of potatoes are included in the Whole30 diet. Yet, the catch is that fries and chips are not included in the diet as they are not considered to be “real” or whole foods.

What You Can Add to Whole30 Coffee. We've already quoted from Whole30's guidelines, which prohibit dairy products and sweeteners, but give the green light to unsweetened nutpods, unsweetened coconut or almond milk, cinnamon and vanilla beans. Those are just examples, though.

You can drink it black; add unsweetened compatible nutpods, coconut milk, or almond milk; blend in Bub's MCT oil; or add cinnamon or vanilla beans to the brew. Remember, Whole30 guidelines exclude milk, cream, non-compatible milk substitutes, and any form of added sweeteners.

Add a Whole30-compatible creamer.

One community favorite is nutpods, with unsweetened flavors ranging from French Vanilla to Toasted Marshmallow. Or try Bubs MCT Oil Powder, using an electric frother to combine—the longer you froth, the creamier it becomes.

The Whole30 and paleo diets are similarly structured around whole foods and offer comparable benefits, including weight loss. That said, they may also limit your nutrient intake and be difficult to sustain.

Though peanuts and peanut butter aren't allowed on the Whole30 program, other nuts and nut butters are. Cashew butter is loaded with nutrients like healthy fats, magnesium, manganese, and copper. Its smooth, sweet taste pairs well with apples ( 1 ).

Fruits Whole30-approved favorites include: Apricots. Blackberries. Blueberries.

What is the difference between the paleo diet and the Whole30 diet? ›

For example, no sugar is allowed in the Whole 30 but only refined sugar is cut out of the Paleo diet. The Whole 30 is meant to be consumed for 30 days, whereas the Paleo diet is designed to be a long-term diet. Both diets focus on eliminating grains, legumes, and dairy, processed foods, sugar, and salt.

While there are some beneficial aspects of the Whole30 diet that are good—namely that it promotes minimally processed foods—there are also downsides. You may crave the foods that you eliminated, and ultimately, it's not a sustainable way of eating.

Here's the rule in a nutshell: If you think your less healthy treat is going to be so delicious, so incredible, so worth it, and then you take your first bite and discover it's not… STOP EATING.

That's the premise of Whole30, a 30-day program created in 2009 by Melissa Hartwig Urban and Dallas Hartwig that challenges you to eat only whole, unprocessed foods. (1) Those foods include meat, seafood, eggs, fruit, veggies, and natural fats and seasonings.

IS POPCORN WHOLE30? No — popcorn is made from a whole grain (dried corn AKA popcorn kernels), and grains are eliminated on the Whole30 diet.

You can have bacon during your Whole30, provided that the brand you choose is compatible with the Whole30 program. Many brands of bacon contain sugar, so we've made it easy on you by partnering with brands that make a sugar-free option! (Check out our Whole30 Approved partners here!)