The two most discussed diets of recent years are the paleo (paleolithic diet) and the keto (ketogenic diet). If you’re like me, you may have trouble recognizing them. Let’s take a quick look at paleo vs keto and compare what these diets have in common and how they differ.
What is Paleo?
The Paleo diet is basically based on foods that were available to early people during the Paleolithic period (from 10,000 years to 2.5 million years ago!). As you can imagine, we consider this diet to be simple, even primitive – it includes anything that could be collected or caught – fruits, vegetables and meat. Many people follow the “ paleo path “ for reasons such as improved blood sugar, weight loss, better bowel function, and / or autoimmune health.
Foods banned from the paleo diet include cereals, refined sugar, beans and legumes, potatoes, processed foods, salt, refined vegetable oils, and dairy products. Paleo is generally a diet rich in protein, fiber and moderate carbohydrates ( less than a standard Western diet). Since all processed foods are banned in the paleo diet, the vast majority of carbohydrates come from vegetables and fruits.
What is a keto?
Most people adopting a ketogenic diet usually have one goal – to lose weight . Of course, diet offers many other health benefits, but weight loss is the most popular reason to try keto. The goal of keta is to enter ketosis , a metabolic condition in which your body burns fatty acids instead of glucose for energy, producing ketones that can help you lose weight fast.
The keto diet emphasizes your macros – and these can vary from person to person, but usually only 5% of the caloric budget is carbohydrates and most must be 75-80% fat. While no food group is banned in the keto diet, carbohydrate restriction will definitely force you to focus on that small amount. This means that you will probably have to reduce fruits and vegetables in your diet and give up foods such as rice, legumes and cereals.
Similarities
These two diets seem completely different, don’t they? Surprisingly, they have a few aspects in common. Both diets:
- They avoid cereals, legumes and refined sugar
- They emphasize healthy fats such as seeds, avocados, and unrefined oils
- They promote an adequate intake of animal protein.
- They encourage the consumption of low-sugar vegetables and leafy vegetables.
Paleo vs Keto: Differences
Of course, these diets have more differences than similarities. Here are just a few:
- Keto focuses on macros, while Paleo focuses more on the type of food consumed. Paleo is not quite a low carb diet, while keto is.
- Paleo bans dairy products, while full-fat dairy products are an integral part of the keto diet.
- The keto diet is done correctly by testing for ketones in the blood to confirm ketosis, while adhering to the paleo diet means only consuming specified types of food.
- In the paleo diet fruits and vegetables are not limited, while in the keto diet it is very limited (except for leafy and non-starch vegetables)
Can you stick to the paleo and keto diet at the same time?
If you really want to , definitely! It would be a very restrictive diet and would require a lot of planning, but it is possible. The Paleo-keto diet looks like this:
- Eliminate dairy products, except ghee and grass-fed butter
- If you need to harmonize, choose with zero calories (such as stevia)
- If possible, choose animal proteins fed by grass or pasture.
- Limit your carbohydrate intake to stay within the daily limit of keto makers to enter ketosis.
So what does all this mean? Basically, if weight loss is what you are looking for, a keto is probably your better option. You can definitely lose weight on the paleo diet, but most people choose it because of various health reasons or personal preferences.
Paleo vs Keto: Which one is better for weight loss?
If you decided to lose a few pounds before the summer, you are probably looking for an effective eating plan that will help you with that. It doesn’t make sense to go through the whole process if the weight returns once you start eating carbs, right?
When it comes to weight loss, both will bring you fantastic results. First it is the weight of water and then the excess fat. But once you’re done with restraint mode, you need to find a way to keep your weight out. This means that you will have to choose a sustainable diet that will fit your lifestyle.
So which will help you drop more and faster?
If you eat a lot of carbohydrates, whole foods and then switch to Paleo or Keto, both diets will work wonders. But remember that the Paleo diet alone will not guarantee you weight loss. The Paleo diet contains many great foods – nutritious fruits and vegetables, but if you do not pay attention to calories, you will not lose weight. You especially need to watch out for the habit of eating high calorie snacks, such as walnuts, hazelnuts, or pistachios. You can even gain weight on the Paleo diet if you are not careful enough!
When it comes to paleo vs keto and weight loss effectiveness, keto is a guaranteed winner. People on a keto diet usually don’t care about calories because they tend to eat less. The ketosis process itself also helps you lose weight (you use fat as fuel!). In addition, it is quite unlikely that you will eat snacks if you eat roast chicken, salads, or eggs. And because you don’t eat carbs, you really will eat less.
When it comes to the keto diet, there is another psychological advantage. Because the results arrive very quickly (you can literally see them within a week), you will feel motivated on the way the keto continues. The result is weight loss.
