Keto vs. Paleo – Which is Better

It can be overwhelming trying to decide which diet is the best to follow. Everyone is different. We all have different goals and different lifestyles. It’s important to pick a diet that is realistic for your lifestyle to be able to stick to it. You also have to consider how active you are and what state your health is in. At first glance the paleo and keto diets look very similar. They’re both low carb and whole food based. They also both help you attain a healthier diet and lifestyle. However, when you look further into them they are very different. The paleo diet is meant to bring us back to basics, the pre-agriculture way. The keto diet is about getting your body into the metabolic state of ketosis to burn fat and reduce sugar intake. We’re going to go over both diets so you can find out which is better for you.

What is the Paleo Diet

A paleo diet is based off of what our ancestors ate during the Paleolithic era (about 10,000 years ago). It resembles the “hunter-gatherer” meal plan of only foods that could be hunted and gathered. This includes lean meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. The idea of this is to bring us back to what early humans ate to survive. When farming started it changed everything about the human diet and took us away from whole, unprocessed foods. With the paleo diet, it is thought that today’s diet does not match what our bodies genetically require. This diet has evolved a lot over the years and is dependent on where humans were geographically and what was available to them during that time period.

Why Choose the Paleo Diet? 

People choose to follow the Paleo diet for multiple different reasons. One of the biggest would be to lose weight or to maintain a healthy weight. Some studies have suggested it can also improve overall health and minimize your risk to chronic diseases. 

The premise of a Paleo diet is to increase protein and fiber intake and decrease carbohydrates and sodium intake. In the hunter-gatherer days, protein made up a much higher percentage of a human’s diet than most people get today. A lower carb intake helps to lower your glycemic index and avoid blood sugar spikes. You’ll be increasing your intake of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants as a whole.

 

Approved Paleo Foods

  • Meat
  • Fish and Seafood
  • Eggs
  • Vegetables
  • Fruits
  • Tubers
  • Nuts and Seeds
  • Healthy Fats and Oils
  • Salts and Spices

What to Stay Away From 

  • Refined Sugars
  • Vegetable Oils
  • Legumes
  • Grains
  • Dairy
  • Potatoes
  • Salt
  • Highly Processed Foods

What is the Keto Diet?

The Ketogenic diet is a low carb, high fat diet that helps you burn fat more efficiently for energy. During this diet you’ll keep your carbs under 50 g per day, although multiple diet guidelines call for keeping carbs under 30 g per day. You will be replacing most of your carbs with fat which eventually puts your body into a metabolic state called ‘ketosis’. This increases the amount of ketones in the body which serve as a fuel source for your body, especially the brain. In ketosis your body doesn’t have enough glucose for energy so it starts to burn fat instead.
 

Why Choose the Keto Diet?

The most popular reason people switch to a keto diet is to lose weight. It’s also known to keep people more energized throughout the day and keep you alert and focused. It may provide a number of health benefits, especially neurologically related. The keto diet has also been known to help people who have type 2 diabetes and prediabetes by boosting insulin sensitivity.
 

Approved Keto Foods

  • Meat
  • Fatty Fish
  • Eggs
  • Cheese
  • Nuts and Seeds
  • Healthy Oils
  • Avocados
  • Low Carb Veggies
  • Condiments

What to Avoid

  • Sugary foods
  • Grains and Starches
  • Legumes
  • Fruit
  • Root Vegetables
  • Alcohol

Which One is Better?

Even though these diets are very similar, their goals and philosophies are very different. The paleo diet is based on increasing your protein and fiber intake while decreasing your carbs. It brings us back to hunter-gatherer times, before processed foods existed. A keto diet has the goal of getting your body into a ketosis state so it will efficiently burn fat for you energy. It focuses more on your carb and fat intake and switching your body’s fuel supply to fat. While both diets are going to help you, the right diet will depend on what your goals are.
 
If you’re looking for fast weight loss the best option would be the keto diet. This diet, if followed correctly, will help you drop fat from your body pretty quickly. You will see results from the paleo diet, just not as quickly. If you’re looking for more flexibility in your everyday diet the paleo diet would be the way to go. The paleo diet allows for a little higher carb intake and gives you more flexibility when it comes to fruits and veggies. With the paleo diet, it might take a little longer to see the weight loss but it’s much more sustainable long term. As for health benefits both diets can really help you depending on what your needs are. The keto diet can really help if you have type 2 diabetes or prediabetes. The paleo diet can help prevent a lot of chronic diseases and make you feel better overall. In the end, they are both going to improve your health by cutting out all processed foods and refined sugar. Your health and life will benefit from having a cleaner diet and weight loss from either diet.
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