Today, you would be hard-pressed to pick up a women’s magazine or walk into a gym and not hear about the Keto and Paleo weight loss diet plans.
Most people follow these diet plans because they are interested in losing weight and living a healthier lifestyle. Since both these diets are so popular you may be wondering what the differences are.
Here is a detailed comparison of each diet so you can choose which of these plans is better for your weight loss goals.
What is the Paleo Diet ?
The Paleo Diet sometimes referred to as the “stone age diet”, is based on foods that were available during the Paleolithic era.
The basic theory behind the Paleo diet is that these foods are not processed by modern food processing techniques that are harmful to your health and wellness.
So, if you adjust your food consumption to mimic the paleolithic hunter-gatherer, you will support your body’s natural biologic functions, to promote better digestive health.
Paleo eliminates grains, legumes, processed sugar, and most sources of dairy.
The main foods permitted on the paleo diet include:
- Meat and fish
- Eggs
- Nuts and seeds
- Fruits
- Vegetables — except corn, which is a grain
- Selected fats and oils, such as coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil, lard, tallow, ghee/butter
- Minimally processed sweeteners, including raw honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, raw stevia
What is The Keto Diet?
You may have heard of the high-protein, low-carbohydrate Atkins diet. The keto diet keeps carbohydrate levels low, but instead of ramping up the amount of protein in your diet, the keto diet increases the amount of fat.
A typical keto weight loss diet aims for meals with 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbohydrate.
Eating a high-fat diet can still mean eating healthy. Keto diet menu items often include
- seafood
- meat
- dairy products
- eggs
- vegetables
- and nuts
With the increased popularity of the custom keto diet, keto recipes are widely available.
The keto diet provides many health benefits. This weight loss diet can not only help you quickly lose weight but can also improve your overall health and help prevent disease.
What These Two Weight loss Diets Have in Common
Distinctly different, the Keto and Paleo diets actually have a lot in common. Here is a list of things they have in common.
Both Emphasize Organic Whole Foods
Organic whole foods are types of foods that are organically grown or have minimal processing when it arrives at your plate.
Both keto and paleo diets strongly encourage eliminating all ultra-processed foods and replacing them with whole foods like fresh vegetables, meat, fish, and nuts.
No Grain's or Legumes
For clearly distinct reasons, each diet restricts the intake of grains and legumes.
For the Paleo diet, these foods were nonexistent during the paleo period and they are full of anti-nutrients.
On the other hand, The keto diet also eliminates grains and most legumes, but this is because of their carbohydrate content.
Both Eliminate Added Sugar
For both diet plans, this largely falls under their shared message of avoiding heavily processed foods in general.
However, paleo is a little less strict on this because they do allow things like organic maple syrup and honey.
In keto, this is a strict no-no. This is due to added sugars containing large amounts of carbs.
Both Allow Healthy Fats
Keeping aligned with their similarities, Keto and Paleo both allow the intake of unrefined healthy fats and some refined oils.
The refined oils are items such as olive and avocado oils, as well as nuts, seeds, and fish.
Both are Effective for Short Term Weight Loss
Keto and Paleo both are effective for short-term weight loss, but there’s no clear evidence in any study that there is any effect for long-term weight loss.
One review on “High-Fat low Carb Diets” such as a ketogenic diet showed, that this type of eating was helpful for short-term weight loss.
Which Weight Loss Diet is Best for You?
The ketogenic diet is characterized by its high fat and very low carbohydrate content. It may be effective for weight loss and blood sugar control.
The paleo diet emphasizes eating whole foods that were thought to be available to humans in the Paleolithic era. It also encourages exercise and other wellness practices.
Both diets have the potential to positively impact your health when appropriately planned.
However, long-term research regarding the safety and efficacy of these diet plans is lacking and some of the restrictions can be difficult to maintain.
The bottom line is that it’s tough for us to choose which diet works best for you. It all depends on your current health situation and your ability to adhere to strict guidelines.
If you looking for a diet plan that has more flexibility while still reaching your weight loss goals, the Paleo diet is probably your best choice.
On the other hand, if you are the type of person that can adhere to strict guidelines to achieve rapid loss quicker, you should take the Custom Keto Diet Quiz and develop your very own custom keto diet plan with your favorite food choices.
