Paleo vs. Keto

What is the difference?

A ketogenic diet is a diet that puts the body in a state of nutritional ketosis. That means a state that primarily uses ketones (i.e., fat) for fuel, rather than glucose. To do that, you need to change the RATIO of macros, so that about 70% of your calories are from fat, 20% from protein, and 5% from carbs. The carbs are optional, so you can distribute that 5% across the other two macros instead. However, no matter what, your calorie intake should be IDENTICAL to a normal healthy intake, unless you also need to lose or gain weight, in which case it should be less or more, respectively.

This is not open for debate. That's the definition.
Here's a tip: doctors use ketogenic diets for epilepsy, to treat electrical problems in the brain. Trust me: they're not relying on whether someone can eat a block of butter to cure an electrical storm.

The paleo diet is a nutritional approach that focuses on eating only foods that are high in nutrients, unprocessed, and based on the foods that were available and eaten by humans in Paleolithic times. The main idea behind the paleo diet is that if humans were not able to consume a food thousands of years ago- before industrial agriculture, the domestication of animals, and modern food processing existed- than humans should not consume these types of foods today, because the human body is not adapted to them.

Foods considered paleo:

• Grass-produced meats (high quality meats, not any processed type like hot dogs or most cold cuts)

• Fish/seafood (all kinds)

• Fresh fruits (all kinds)

• Fresh vegetables (all non-starchy kinds, starchy kinds in moderation)

• Eggs

• Nuts (does not include peanuts which is a legume)

• Seeds

• Healthy oils (olive, walnut, flaxseed, macadamia, avocado, coconut)

• Natural forms of unrefined sugar in moderation (raw honey, real maple syrup for example)

Foods not considered paleo:

• Any grains at all (oats, wheat, quinoa

• Any legumes/beans (including peanuts)

• Any dairy (cheese, milk, yogurt, ice cream)

• Refined sugar or artificial sugar subs (also includes all sugary processed foods like soda or candy)

• Potatoes/starchy vegetables (only paleo and okay in moderation for those who don’t need to lose weight)

• Processed foods of any kind (if it’s not natural, it’s not paleo)

• Overly Salty Foods

• Refined vegetable oils (palm oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, etc.)

• Alcohol (all kinds)

What foods can, and can’t, people on the paleo diet eat?

Since followers of the paleo diet today try and replicate the same diets of prehistoric people, they consume and avoid the same foods listed above.

The exact foods that are considered paleo and not paleo are as listed below:

This means that some typical meals that many people eat today that would not be considered paleo could include: chicken parmesan, pizza, cheeseburgers, French fries, milkshakes, candy, cereal with milk, any bread/grain/pastry, any sort of beans, any sort of dairy including yogurt or cheese, etc. Some typical meals that would be considered paleo could include: steak with vegetables, fish with salad, omelets (with no cheese), fruit salad, nuts, bacon and eggs, chicken breast, etc.

Why aren’t grains, dairy, and beans paleo?

These controversial groups of foods cause digestive and health issues for many people. While typically they are promoted as being healthy, it’s now believed that they have the opposite reaction in many people. The reason for this is because humans are not intended to eat these foods since they require a long growing, cleaning, preparation, and cooking period, all of which weren’t possible in Paleolithic hunter-gatherer times.

For many people, these foods cause adverse effects like issues with managing blood sugar, low energy levels, food cravings, IBS and other digestive problems, autoimmune reactions, and more. On top of that, they contain less vitamins, minerals, protein, and antioxidants than other paleo approved foods do, so it’s best to get your calories from foods that are more beneficial.