Paleo vs Keto: Which Diet Should You Go For?

The internet is overcrowded with diet plans for a healthier lifestyle. Two popular diets taking the internet by storm are paleo and keto diets.

These two diets focus on limiting certain food groups' consumption and practicing mindful eating for a healthier body and mind.

But when it comes to paleo vs. keto, which diet is more suitable for you, and how does it help? Here is a comparison of the two popular diets.

What Is a Paleo Diet?

The paleo diet also called the caveman diet follows a fundamental principle of the pre-agricultural Paleolithic era when the hunter-gatherers only consumed food readily available.

This dietary pattern involves the widespread belief that processed food is harmful to our health. Therefore, the paleo diet consists of meat, fish, vegetables, seeds, and nuts that promote the body's biological function. The paleo diet eliminates processed sugar, processed dairy products, grains, legumes, etc. The food groups included in the paleo diet are the following.

Fish and meat Eggs Seeds and nuts Vegetables Fruits Coconut oil, olive oil, ghee, butter, avocado oil Selected fats Unprocessed sweeteners like honey, coconut sugar, maple syrup, raw stevia

What Is a Keto Diet?

A ketogenic diet follows a low-carbohydrate principle. This diet consists of high fat and low carb foods that promote fat loss in the body. A keto diet limits your carbohydrate intake to burn your body fat for energy. When you consume fewer carbs, the body starts to burn fat molecules to provide energy for vital bodily functions. This fat-burning metabolic state is called ketosis.

In ketosis, the liver burns fat molecules into ketones that work as your body's energy packets. This diet is beneficial to people who want to lose body fat without restricting their calorie intake. But the keto diet is effective when you follow a specific macronutrient intake. Here's a keto diet macronutrient breakdown. 65% to 90% fats 10% to 30% proteins Less than 5% carbohydrates

Differences Between Paleo and Keto Diet

One of the most significant differences between the paleo and the keto diets is their ideology. A ketogenic diet promotes the change of dietary habits, while a paleo diet is more of a lifestyle. People who follow the paleo diet encourage high-intensity workouts to burn body fat, while the keto diet burns body fat by a different metabolic state.

The dietary components of these two diets also vary. For example, the keto diet explicitly limits carbohydrates, while paleo allows the carb intake as long as they come from whole foods. Besides this, the keto diet encourages using dairy products such as butter, yogurt, full-fat milk, etc. In contrast, the paleo diet guidelines do not mention the use of dairy.

In addition, the paleo diet restricts soy foods such as soybeans and tofu while keto promotes them.

Benefits of the Paleo Diet

If you want to stick to a diet that limits your processed food intake, the paleo diet is just what you need. The many benefits of the paleo diet include cutting down on processed foods as they harm our bodies.

Overconsumption of processed food leads to a high risk of obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and digestive issues, including inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer.

The paleo diet is beneficial for people with type 2 diabetes and poor cardiovascular health because it regulates blood glucose levels. Besides this, the paleo diet also promotes weight loss.

Benefits of the Keto Diet

Besides rapid fat loss, the keto diet can also control your appetite, maintain muscle, and control blood glucose levels. Moreover, ketosis starts after three to four days of limiting carbohydrate intake. Here are the many benefits of the keto diet. Reduces seizures Prevents acne Reduces the need for insulin Improves cardiovascular health Improves cholesterol levels Helps lose weight Improves cognitive function Supports weight loss

Paleo vs. Keto Diet: The Downsides

Like most diet plans, there are numerous things you should look out for when you restrict certain food groups. For example, a paleo diet restricts grains and legumes, creating a vitamin B deficiency.

Your diet lacks thiamine, niacin, riboflavin, and folate. You may also be at risk for low calcium and vitamin D levels.

Moreover, the high meat intake increases some health risks. These include higher cholesterol levels, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and cancers such as colorectal cancer.

Similarly, the keto diet also has some drawbacks. For example, it can cause nutrient deficiency as you limit your carbohydrate intake. When you eliminate fruits and grains, you do not consume enough magnesium, phosphorus, selenium, vitamin C, and vitamin B. Moreover, metabolizing high fat affects your liver, while high protein metabolism affects your kidneys. Therefore, the keto diet isn't recommended for people with kidney or liver problems.

Final Words

The paleo diet and the ketogenic diet can help you practice mindful eating. But eliminating a food group from your diet has its drawbacks. Before deciding which diet to follow, you must consult a dietician to learn about your body's nutrient needs.