What Can You Eat (and Not Eat) on the Whole30 Diet?

Whole30 is one of the more restrictive diets you can follow – but the good news is that it’s only meant to be temporary.

What can you eat on Whole30, and what should you avoid? 

Foods to eat on Whole30 include unprocessed meats, seafood, eggs, nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruit, and non-grain/legume-based oils like olive oil and coconut oil.

Foods to avoid on Whole30 include all grains, pseudocereals, legumes, dairy, sweeteners (both regular and artificial/non-caloric), and alcohol.

We’ll review all of the foods to eat and avoid in more detail next, which will hopefully eliminate any confusion!

What is Whole30?

Whole30 is an elimination diet meant to be followed for 30 days. During those 30 days, you’ll avoid several types of food and then gradually re-introduce certain foods for ten days after finishing the first 30.

The premise behind Whole30 is to eat whole foods for 30 days (hence the name!) while identifying potential foods that might be interfering with your digestion, weight, or other aspects of your quality of life. For instance, you might learn that your mood improves when you cut back on alcohol, or that your digestion is healthier when you don’t eat dairy.

Many foods are avoided on the Whole30 diet, which means it’s very restrictive while you’re on it. Remember that it’s only meant to be followed for 30 days, followed by a gradual re-introduction of certain foods while avoiding any identified problem foods such as dairy, gluten, etc.

What can you eat (and not eat) on Whole30?

Food Group	Whole30-friendly foods	AVOID on Whole30
Meat/protein	All unprocessed meat/protein types, including beef, eggs, pork, poultry, fish, shellfish, etc. Minimally-processed soy (tofu, tempeh, etc) is allowed on the plant-based Whole30 plan	Meat with added ingredients that aren’t Whole30-approved like cheese, cream sauces, breading, etc. Processed meats that include sulfites (e.g. some types of sausages) Soybeans are avoided unless you’re on the plant-based Whole30 plan
Grains	Almond flour, coconut flour, tapioca flour, cassava flour, and other non-grain-based flours (not technically grains but are used similarly) Pasta made from approved ingredients like cassava, hearts of Palm pasta, etc.	All grains (bread, tortillas, cereals, pasta, etc) including wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, quinoa, rice, all gluten-free pseudocereals like amaranth, buckwheat, etc.
Vegetables	The majority of veggies are Whole30-approved, including starchy veggies like potatoes and green peas	Legumes (unless on a plant-based version – this includes peanuts, dried peas, lentils, soybeans, etc.) Any veggies with added ingredients that aren’t Whole30-approved like cheese, cream sauce, breading, etc.
Fruit	All fruit is Whole30-approved	Any fruit with added sweeteners, such as canned fruit in syrup, dried fruit with added sugar, etc.
Fats/oils	Olive oil, avocado oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, coconut oil, ghee (clarified butter)	Butter, legume- and grain-based oils like corn oil, rice bran oil, soybean oil, and peanut oil
Nuts and seeds	All nuts and seeds	Peanuts (technically a legume)
Dairy	Ghee (clarified butter); non-dairy milk alternatives like unsweetened almond and coconut milks	All dairy (cheese, yogurt, cream, cow’s milk, etc.)
Drinks	Water, sparkling water without artificial sweeteners, unsweetened teas, unsweetened coffee, coconut water, Whole30-approved kombucha, fruit juices	All alcohol, all sugar-sweetened beverages, all sugar-free beverages (e.g. sugar-free soda, etc.), coffee drinks with cow’s milk
Desserts	None, even if they’re made with Whole30-compliant ingredients. The idea behind Whole30 is to break away from highly processed/sugar-sweetened desserts, so creating them with Whole30-approved ingredients goes against this point.	All desserts, even if they’re sugar-free. This includes cakes, pies, ice cream, cookies, candies, etc.
Other ingredients	Herbs, spices, salt, seasoning blends free of non-Whole-30 ingredients	Artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, added sugar in any form (including natural sweeteners like maple syrup and honey), added ingredients like carrageenan, sulfites

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