"Why Paleo? The Paleo diet, named for the Paleolithic period, mimics the hunt-and-gather food of our ancestors." This wide-ranging recipe collection includes meat, vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, and unprocessed fats and excludes processed foods, grains, dairy, beans and sugars. It allows you to start the day (it's all about breakfast) without counting or calculating. Just do it. The details of weight gain or loss, vitamin/mineral intake, energy and enjoyment will take care of themselves, and you won't need any special packets or portion counting.

Jane Barthelemy, who also wrote Paleo Desserts, has been a chef and food writer, well, not since the Paleolithic era, but long enough to be able to inform us sensibly about how to eat well. Her guide, promising “more than 150 easy favorites to start your day, gluten- and grain-free,” begins with a list of paleo necessities you will want to get to know, some of which you may never have heard of--goji berries, green powder and chia seeds--and some you will have heard of but not imagined their many uses in constructing a healthy diet--cacao powder, coconut milk, and good old honey, allowable as a sweetener because our ancient ancestors would definitely have been able to forage this delicacy from wild hives. There is a shopping checklist, menu ideas, and an equivalency table for sugar to honey in standard recipes.

But of course the bulk of her large book (with a series of color photos in the middle) is the recipes. If you imagine that all "diets" are boring, this compendium will prove you wrong. Even a Paleo has to get the day off to a good start, so you will find smoothies, parfaits, and French toast all prepared with natural ingredients, along with such mouth-watering offerings as Perfect Paleo Crepes, Cranberry Pecan Muffins, Spicy Southwest Breakfast Pockets (with sausage), and a classic Quiche Lorraine. Throw some Cauliflower Tater Tots on the side and you have meal fit for happy hunters, gaily gathering womenfolk, and the whole clan.

One especially useful chart rates ingredients and recipes by their acceptability for folks with various food-related preferences or ailments, thus, meat-free, gluten-free, diabetic- or candida-friendly.

Some of my clan are sold on the Paleo lifestyle and see the rewards in their happy, healthy children. You don't have to be a chef or a fanatic to dip into Paleo; as the old saying goes, "try it--you'll like it!" Good Morning Paleo is a useful addition to the Da Capo Lifelong Book series, and can help you get started on a wholesome approach to eating.