Don’t you just find it difficult to start a new diet? Well, this is especially true as this day and age come with so many variations of diet plans; honestly, there are just way too many that it starts to make the decision hard.
Recently, ketogenic and paleo diet are both starting to trend among people who thrive to be as fit as possible. Both have a lot in common and there are a lot of fitness enthusiast who tried both diets and seen great success.
But which one is better for you? Which one will help you lose weight? Which one will improve your health? If you want to know the answer, then keep on reading below as we take a look at how keto vs. paleo diets measures up against one another. Let’s begin by taking a closer look at what the diets are all about.
What is a Keto Diet?
The ketogenic diet, or better known as keto, is a diet made up mainly of fat. Yes, you heard it right! If you’re going to get on a keto meal plan, you’ll need to consume about 70 to 90% of your calories from fat while the remaining 10 to 30% of your calories will be divided between protein and carbohydrates.
Eliminating most carbohydrates from your diet will give your body lesser access to its preferred fuel source: glucose. You will be able to burn fat for energy since glucose is no longer present. Fat loss will only happen when you force your body to burn fat.
But take note that the fat I’m talking here is not just any fatty foods you eat for comforts, such as ice cream or French fries. This diet is even more limiting that you might have thought. You might even need to eliminate certain fruits and vegetables. Fats you can eat include avocado, nuts, seeds, etc. Keto diet is actually targeted primarily towards those who want to experience dramatic weight loss. Foods that you’ll need to avoid are sweet types of vegetables and fruits, high-carbohydrate dairy, grains and processed foods.
Anyway, just a fun fact! Do you know that keto diet wasn’t really developed for losing body fat like it is being used today? History of the keto diet is quite interesting. Most people aren’t aware that this diet has been created to help people control and reduce the effects of epilepsy. Studies have proven that keto diet can change the internal chemistry of the body as it greatly cut the dietary elements associated with worsening epilepsy without the individual having to fast.
What is Paleo Diet?
There are so much health benefits of a paleo diet. No wonder why it has been very popular among fitness groups, especially to hard-core CrossFit community since this diet is very good for those who want to stay active and doesn’t want a diet that is calorie-restrictive. What matters is what you eat!
This is why paleo diet has been referred to as the caveman diet or hunter-gatherer diet since its concept is very similar to the way hunter will only eat what he has gathered during the Paleolithic era. This diet really does get back to the basics. You will need to get rid of refined grains, sugars, most dairy products and processed foods but instead, focus on unprocessed or whole foods. Just like our hunter-gatherer ancestors, your diet will include grass-fed meat, fruits, non-starchy vegetables, seafood, nuts, etc. Even salt needs to be avoided when you’re on Paleo diet.
Difference Between Keto and Paleo Diet
1. Paleo diet doesn’t necessarily limit the number of carbs you can eat
Unlike keto, paleo diet doesn’t require you to go low-carb, high-fat. Though it may limit you from consuming refined sugar, grains, and legumes, you can eat any amount of carbs as long as it comes from fruit and starchy vegetables like squash, pumpkin, and sweet potato.
Natural sweeteners can also be used with Paleo diet, and you can use it liberally. These can be raw honey, pure maple syrup, and coconut nectar; take note that these sweeteners are higher in carbs.
So when you’re on a paleo diet, you will keep on burning glucose as energy.
2. Keto diet strictly measures fat, protein and carb percentage.
In order for the keto diet to be effective, there’s a particular macronutrient percentage that you need to follow, otherwise, your body won’t transition to ketosis. The standard percentage usually fall around 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbs.
Paleo, on the other hand, doesn’t require you to follow these macronutrient percentage.
3. You can have dairy products with Keto diet.
You don’t have to restrict yourself to full-fat dairy products when you’re on Keto diet.
Paleo diet’s main goal is to eliminate products that your body finds harder to break down and might wreak havoc on gut health and dairy products are one of them. Paleo dieters are strong believers that removing dairy products from our diet is highly beneficial to our health.
On the other hand, keto diet includes dairy products on the meal plan since they’re high in fats and at the same time low in carbohydrates. Hence, keto dieters always go for cheese as their snack food.
4. Keto diet focuses on burning more fat rather than carbs.
I believe this is the biggest difference between these two diets: keto’s desired result. As we have already discussed, going through the keto diet is a way of controlling your metabolism so your body can speed up fat loss. Though paleo diet also promotes weight loss especially that it is trying to cut out grain products like bread, pasta, oatmeal, etc. as well as refined sugar(which is one of the major reasons for weight gain and fat storage) but your metabolism will almost certainly continue to be on its default state: burning carbs for energy.
Can You Do Both Paleo And Keto At The Same Time?
To sum up keto vs. paleo, keto diet primarily focuses on working with three macronutrients, which are protein, fat and carbs. While paleo diet is all about choosing the right foods to eat. You can eat anything you want to balance these macronutrients, as long as you get rid of processed foods as well as dairy and grain products
But if you want to burn fat more effectively, you can follow Paleo diet and transition to ketosis stage at the same time. You just have to track your macros that I already mentioned above to stay within the range that will allow your body to enter ketosis and choose no-calorie all-natural sweeteners like green leaf stevia
Final Thought
So when it comes to keto vs. paleo diet, which do you think would be the most suitable for you? Well, there is no one specific diet that is perfect for everyone. The diet you should choose is the one you are can commit to for lifelong health and wellness.
But if you are curious about these two diets, here’s what I can recommend: if you want to drop so much weight as much as you can, I highly recommend you try out keto diet. Once you’ve reached the necessary weight, you can transition to paleo for a healthy lifestyle and maintain your weight. Whatever diet plan you choose, remember that it will need serious commitment; take note that you are going to remove some of the foods that you’ve perhaps find comfort or come to love eating. But both diets are both going to not only help you lose weight but also provide you with some potentially brilliant health benefits.
Anyway, I hope you have learned something new today and enjoyed reading this article. Please feel free to comment, I’d be very happy to hear your feedback. Please don’t forget to share this with your friends too!
And remember, always consult your physician or any registered dietitian first before you start your journey with your chosen diet, especially if you have any medical conditions.
