Paleo Diet Vs Keto Diet – The Ultimate Face-Off
Paleo and Keto diets are two of the most popular ones since eternity. But what is the difference between Keto and Paleo diets? Is one better than the other?
We’ll have a face-off between the two in this article, but before that, let’s understand the two diets.
The Keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet. Under this diet, your body stops feeding on glucose (carbs) and starts feeding on Ketones. They are metabolized by fats, therefore they burn fat for energy, not the usual glucose.
The Paleo diet (or the caveman’s diet) says no to the consumption of processed foods and everything that wasn’t available to our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Thus, depending more on foods like fruits, vegetables, and meat for nourishment.
What Are The Major Differences Between Keto Diet & Paleo Diet?
| Paleo vs Keto | Keto Diet | Paleo Diet |
| Sustainability | Less Sustainable | More Sustainable |
| Ease of Use | Not easy. Requires calorie counting which can be a hassle. |
Easy. No calorie counting required. |
| The Concept/Ideology | Focus on just a diet with less carbs, more fat. | Focus on a lifestyle with a healthy diet and healthy habits like meditation. |
| Nourishing Soy and Dairy Products | Allowed | Not allowed |
| Speed of Weight Loss Results | Faster Results | Slower Results |
| Cost | Budget-Friendly | Expensive |
1) The Paleo diet is more sustainable than Keto.
A keto diet plan forces a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet with only around 20 to 50 grams of carbs per day.
To stay below this limit, Keto dieters need to avoid traditional carbs like bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes. Don’t forget, even though healthy in nature, fruits, legumes, and vegetables are also high in carbohydrates.
Since these foods are the average person’s diet, it is difficult to suddenly stop eating them and enjoy Keto. In fact, at the beginning of the diet, you may also experience Keto flu symptoms.
The Paleo diet, in contrast, encourages the use of whole food carbs. This means no Keto flu, lots of nutrients, and a more flexible and sustainable diet.
2) Paleo doesn’t require any counting. Keto does!
A Keto diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet with 70–80% fat, 15–25% protein, and 5% carbohydrates. Firstly, that’s quite a scant amount of carbs – about the amount present in one apple.
The point is, though, that it’s necessary to make sure you are taking the right amount of macronutrients according to this diet. Otherwise, your body won’t enter Ketosis, and you may lose the benefits that come with the Keto diet.
Paleo doesn’t involve any counting. All you need to make sure is you are eating the right foods that suit your body.
3) Paleo is more about lifestyle ideology. Keto is about macronutrients.
While Keto focuses on macronutrients, Paleo is more about lifestyle. The Keto diet has nothing to help you overcome the stress of daily life or the discomfort that comes from the Keto flu.
Paleo encourages exercise and meditation to help you with any stress – be it from the modern world or just from following a new diet. Thus, helping you maintain your health more flexibly.
4) Keto allows soy and dairy foods. Paleo doesn’t.
One important difference between Keto and Paleo is that Paleo doesn’t allow soy or dairy products.
Soy and dairy products are substantial sources of protein and healthy fats. However, they can be processed, making them a no-no for Paleo diets.
But many people may need the nutrients from soy and dairy products. The calcium in milk, for instance, is crucial for the strength of our bones and teeth. And soy is remarkable for people suffering from PCOS and cardiovascular diseases. So, if you need these benefits, Keto is the way to go.
5) Keto shows faster results for weight loss than Paleo.
The Paleo diet shows a balanced reduction in weight and shows results in a few months because it doesn’t burn fat but focuses on digestion and helps you have a fulfilling meal.
But when you follow the Keto diet, your body goes into ketosis and burns fat. This helps you keep losing weight aggressively after just the first few weeks.
The only con of Keto for weight loss is that during the first few weeks you may rapidly lose water weight. And that can cause dehydration. Don’t worry though, you can find your way out of that by using Keto electrolytes.
6) Keto can be cheaper than Paleo.
Do you know what’s the difference between Paleo and Keto when it comes to your home budget? Well, Paleo can damage it.
While it is a fantastic long-term diet, Paleo involves high-quality food sources. For instance, grass-fed meat instead of regular processed meat. It doesn’t allow dairy products as well. This means if you want to benefit from milk’s nutrition, you will need to depend on plant-based milk like almond, coconut, and cashew.
All this can get expensive because this is not what the average person eats.
Keto involves regular food, just in different quantities of the macronutrients. And thus can be more affordable.
Similarities Of Keto And Paleo Diets
1) Both help with obesity and related diseases.
Ketosis, along with the intake of fulfilling food, ultimately reduces your appetite and helps lower your weight.
Apart from fat loss, the Keto diet fights diseases like Type-2 diabetes, PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), and some types of cancer. This is because, with minimal carbs, this diet helps balance the otherwise imbalanced hormones like insulin.
The primary foods allowed in the Paleo diet are meat, fish, nuts and seeds, fruits, vegetables, eggs, and selected oils like olive and coconut. For sweeteners, it includes raw honey, stevia, and coconut sugar. All these are high in nutrients and improve digestion.
The Paleo diet is not just about food, it is also about lifestyle choices, like exercising and not engaging in smoking and alcohol. The diet and lifestyle helps keep your waist size controlled and manage your heart, brain, and mental health.
2) Both Keto and Paleo eliminate grains and legumes.
For those following a Keto diet plan, eliminating grains and legumes is essential because they have much more carbs than allowed.
For Paleo dieters, the notion that grains and legumes were unlikely to be part of the early human diet is the reason.
Another reason the Paleo diet avoids these foods is because of the presence of anti-nutrients.
Compounds such as lectins and phytates are anti-nutrients. When consumed in significant numbers, they can obstruct your body’s capacity to absorb minerals and nutrients. Plus, they may create digestive trouble.
3) Both promote whole foods and banish processed food from the diet.
The term whole food refers to foods that have undergone very little processing before you eat them. Both Keto and Paleo promote the use of whole foods because they are full of nutrients.
Processed foods are big no because of the presence of harmful chemicals, low nutrients, and added sugar in them.
Which Will Be Good For You – Keto Or Paleo?
Now that you know what is the difference between Keto and Paleo diets, it’s time to choose your pick.
While both diets are incredible, the winner of the battle of Paleo vs Keto depends on your particular goals regarding health.
If your goal is to lose weight quickly, then Keto would prove amicable. However, if you aim for better health and lifestyle while maintaining weight, the Paleo diet won’t disappoint you.
But if you don’t like both, we suggest you learn how to do intermittent fasting or monk fasting.
Happy dieting!
Come on in for free!
Read, learn and become a better version of yourself by getting great trends on nutrition and wellness straight to your inbox.
Related Articles
