Keto vs Paleo

Keto vs. Paleo Which is the Better Diet for Weight Loss?

A few years ago, I became determined to focus more on my diet to reach the next level of my fat loss goals and overall health. After researching two popular eating regimes—Keto va Paleo—I knew that if I wanted meaningful results, I needed to understand their differences. Most importantly, which is better for weight loss?

Nevertheless, the online world wasn’t really giving me all the information I was looking for. So to save you from enduring a similar nuisance, I have compiled an extensive guide to the Paleo and Keto diets.

Table of Cont

What Is the Keto Diet?

The ketogenic (keto) diet has recently gained popularity, but its history dates back to the 1920s. Developed as an alternative treatment for childhood epilepsy. Still used today when pharmaceutical remedies are not appropriate or possible, this dietary regime has shown remarkable success over time.

The premise of this diet is quite straightforward. Drastically reduce or eliminate carbohydrate consumption and replace them with protein-rich foods and healthy fats. It’s one of the most uncomplicated diets to comprehend!

Your body is like a machine that needs the energy to operate. Generally, the human body uses carbohydrates as its main source of power during activity and other bodily systems. However, suppose carb intake is reduced or eliminated (such as in the keto diet). In that case, the body’s “starvation” mode kicks in so it can still function despite having limited resources for fuel.

The liver converts stored fat into fatty acids and ketones in this situation. The presence of these ketones causes the body to rely on fatty acids as its main energy source—a state called ketosis. Depending on your metabolism and how drastically you reduce carbohydrate intake. Entering a state of ketosis can take anywhere between 2-4 days.

If you go, carb it up with snacks like bread or pasta on your “cheat” day. Rest assured that all of your efforts to stay in ketosis will be lost. You’ll have to start all over again.

Here’s an example of the differences between recommended Macronutrient intake.

Here’s a look at some of the guidelines when it comes to Macros

Ketogenic Diet Daily recommended macro percentage of caloric intake

Going low-carb on a ketogenic diet means reducing your carb intake and increasing your fat consumption. Overall, any food is permissible as long as carbs are limited, with common menu items including:

• Avocados.
• Cheese.
• Meat.
• Coconut oil.
• Low-carbohydrate vegetables.
• Eggs.
• Seafood.
• Plain yogurt.

The focus of the ketogenic diet is to deplete your body’s stores of fat, converting it into an energy source. Through this process, weight loss is achieved. As a result. Thus making this regime one that can help you reach your desired physique. In conclusion, the keto diet fits the bill when it comes to busting fat and losing weight!

What Is the Paleo Diet?

If you thought the keto diet was outdated, think again. The Paleolithic (Paleo) Diet is even older. Dating back to 10,000 years ago, and has been referred to as the “caveman” or “hunter-gatherer” diet because it includes only foods that were available during this period. It may be a challenge, but if you are up for an adventure. Paleo can provide all of your nutritional needs while taking you back in time!

Through modern scientific breakthroughs, we can delve into our past with greater accuracy than ever before. However, it is impossible to determine precisely what our forefathers ingested. Fortunately, we can make some educated assumptions. They likely ate whole foods that were unprocessed or refined in the No microwaveable meals here!

By consuming food items that are unprocessed and untouched. One can potentially increase their health and overall well-being due to the higher levels of nutrients found in these products. Those who follow a paleo diet believe that eating foods from Paleolithic times is more suitable for our bodies. Since it was not designed to digest preservatives, colors, flavorings or other additives found in manufactured goods.

Rather than focusing on macronutrients, this diet emphasizes consuming whole foods. Commonly consumed dishes while following the paleo lifestyle are:

• Fruit.
• Meat.
• Vegetables (not including grains).
• Eggs.
• Fish.
• Nuts.
• Healthy fats (coconut oil, avocado, olive oil, lard).
• Natural sweeteners (honey, stevia, maple syrup).

Research shows that the Paleo diet may be better than a Westernized diet. This eating pattern has been linked to weight loss and decreased risk for many chronic diseases.

What Do the Paleo Diet and Keto Diet Have in Common?

Traditionally believed to be fundamentally different, the Paleo and Keto diets share many similarities. Although their respective origins differ significantly. One developed from treatment for epilepsy, while another evolved from Stone Age eating habits. The similarities between these two nutritional strategies are remarkable when examined more closely.

1. Both Diets Promote Eating Healthy Fats

In keto, this is no surprise since the diet utilizes fat as the fuel behind day-to-day living. 

Where paleo is concerned, the diet appreciates that fats are required for overall well-being. As long as these fats existed 10,000 years ago and are unrefined.

Get this.

Paleo

Archaeological evidence of the paleo diet of cavemen can be seen in the remains of food found in ancient human settlements. Also, in the bones and teeth of early humans.

For example, the discovery of fossilized wild game remains, such as bison, deer, and mammoth, suggests that early humans consumed a significant amount of lean meat. The presence of fish bones and shells from mollusks and crustaceans suggests that early humans also ate a lot of seafood.

In addition, the remains of various fruits and nuts have been found in ancient human settlements. Providing evidence of the consumption of these foods. For example, the discovery of acorn shells in early human sites. Suggests that acorns were a staple food in the paleo diet.

Finally, the absence of remains from grains and legumes in ancient human settlements supports the idea that early humans did not consume these foods. Instead, they focused on eating whole, nutrient-dense foods high in protein, healthy fats, and low in carbohydrates. And, of course, free from artificial additives and preservatives.

Archaeological evidence of the paleo diet in cavemen supports that early humans ate a diet high in animal protein, healthy fats, and nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables and low in grains, legumes, and processed foods.

Keto

The keto diet is well-known for utilizing healthy fats to its advantage. The high fat content of the diet increases satiety and helps promote the production of energy from fat, which can reduce overall calorie intake. Additionally, because dietary fat provides essential nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins A, D, and E, it has been proven to aid in normal bodily functions such as boosting cell membranes, helping muscles recover from strenuous activity, and even keeping skin healthy. In other words, eating healthy fats isn’t just about getting jacked; it’s about living healthier and fuller for longer.

When comparing the paleo and ketogenic diets, it’s crucial to understand that they both emphasize only natural fats. Unhealthy vegetable oils (such as cottonseed and sunflower). Have been hydrogenated should be avoided at all costs since research has demonstrated their negative effects. Obesity, heart disease, and preventing the absorption of beneficial nutrients.

Instead, healthy unsaturated fats found in avocados, fish, olives, and nuts are favored.

2. Paleo and Keto Both Avoid Grains

Both the ketogenic diet and the paleo diet avoid grains for a number of reasons.

One reason is that grains are a source of carbohydrates. Both diets aim to limit carbohydrate intake in order to promote weight loss and optimize health. By reducing or eliminating grains from the diet, both diets aim to keep carbohydrate levels low. Both encourage the body to burn fat for energy instead of glucose from carbohydrates.

Another reason is that many grains, particularly wheat. Wheat contains gluten, which can be difficult for some people to digest. For individuals with celiac disease or gluten intolerance, consuming gluten can cause various symptoms, including abdominal pain, bloating, and diarrhea.

The ketogenic and paleo diets aim to eliminate foods that can cause digestive issues or negatively impact health. For this reason, they both avoid gluten and other grains that contain it.

In addition, many processed grains contain added sugars, artificial ingredients, and preservatives. This stuff is a no-no in ketogenic and paleo diets. Instead, both diets emphasize consuming whole, nutrient-dense foods—meats, seafood, fruits, and vegetables to promote optimal health and wellness.

3. Keto and Paleo Diets Agree on Additional Sugar

Both the ketogenic and paleo diets agree on limiting or avoiding added sugars, as they are seen as detrimental to health.

Added sugars are often found in processed foods and drinks. Contributing to several health issues, such as weight gain, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and inflammation. Additionally, added sugars are high in calories and provide little nutritional value.

The ketogenic diet aims explicitly to reduce carbohydrate intake and limit the body’s production of insulin. Which can be raised by consuming high levels of added sugars. The ketogenic diet promotes weight loss and optimizes the body’s metabolism by avoiding added sugars.

Similarly, the paleo diet emphasizes the consumption of whole, nutrient-dense foods and avoids highly processed foods and drinks that contain added sugars. By limiting added sugars, the paleo diet promotes a healthy, balanced diet that supports optimal health and wellness.

Both the ketogenic and paleo diets prioritize consuming natural, unprocessed foods and avoiding added sugars, as they can negatively impact health. Instead, they encourage the consumption of healthy fats, moderate protein, and low to moderate amounts of carbohydrates to promote a healthy and balanced diet.

Where Do the Paleo and Keto Diets Differ?

While the paleo and ketogenic diets share some similarities, such as focusing on whole, unprocessed foods and avoiding added sugars, they differ in their underlying ideologies and specific guidelines.

The paleo diet is based on the idea that our ancestors from the Paleolithic era ate a diet of whole, unprocessed foods and were healthier. The diet eliminates grains, legumes, and dairy products and emphasizes the consumption of meats, fish, vegetables, and fruits. The goal of the paleo diet is to promote optimal health by consuming a diet similar to that of our ancestors.

On the other hand, the ketogenic diet primarily focuses on macronutrient ratios, specifically high levels of healthy fats, moderate amounts of protein, and low levels of carbohydrates. The ketogenic diet aims to induce a state of ketosis, where the body burns fat for fuel instead of carbohydrates. The diet emphasizes healthy fats, such as olive oil and avocado oil, and limits the consumption of carbohydrates, including starchy vegetables and fruits.

While the paleo diet is based on consuming a diet similar to our ancestors, the ketogenic diet focuses more on the physiological effects of macronutrient ratios on the body. Both diets prioritize the consumption of whole, unprocessed foods and the avoidance of added sugars. Still, the paleo diet emphasizes food quality and ancestral eating habits, while the ketogenic diet focuses on macronutrient ratios and their effects on metabolism.

Carbohydrates

The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that restricts carbohydrates to a very low level, usually less than 50 grams per day, to induce a state of ketosis. In this state, the body burns fat for fuel instead of glucose derived from carbohydrates. The ketogenic diet aims to promote weight loss and improve various health markers by regulating insulin levels and reducing inflammation.

The paleo diet, aka “caveman Diet,” also restricts carbohydrates, but mainly in the form of grains and legumes. The paleo diet is based on the idea that our ancestors from the Paleolithic era ate a diet of whole, unprocessed foods and were healthier as a result. I mean, cavemen weren’t going around eating Subway sandwiches. Grains and legumes were not part of their diet and were therefore excluded from the paleo diet. However, the paleo diet does allow for the consumption of non-starchy vegetables and fruits, which are sources of carbohydrates. All stuff that humans inherently love, like berries, pears, and grapes.

While both diets limit carbohydrate intake, the ketogenic diet places a greater emphasis on low-carbohydrate intake, while the paleo diet is more focused on avoiding certain types of carbohydrates, specifically grains, and legumes.

Dairy Foods

The views on dairy in the paleo and ketogenic diets differ.

The paleo diet generally prohibits the consumption of dairy products. The reasoning is that our ancestors from the Paleolithic era did not consume dairy, which is therefore not considered a “whole food”. Some paleo diet proponents argue that dairy products can cause digestive problems and contribute to inflammation in some individuals. See, this is where the Paleo diet kills me, lol. I like cream in my morning coffee, and I love yogurt, and well… who doesn’t love ice cream?

On the other hand, the ketogenic diet has a more relaxed view of dairy. While some dairy sources, such as heavy cream and butter, are encouraged on the ketogenic diet due to their high-fat content, other dairy products, such as milk and cheese, are often limited or avoided due to their higher carbohydrate content.

It’s essential to be mindful that everyone tolerates dairy products differently. While both diets recognize their potential problems, some might find it innocuous, while others must abstain from all dairy to maintain their health.

Which Diet Is Better for Weight Loss?

When it comes to weight loss, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. The keto and Paleo diets can be effective for those looking to shed pounds – but key differences in their key components should be considered when choosing which one is better for you. The keto diet is a very low-carbohydrate diet designed to produce rapid weight loss. Conversely, the Paleo diet encourages high protein and healthy fat ratios over simple carbs. While both emphasize whole-food nutrition, the main takeaway is that keto centers around an ultra-low-carb way of eating, while Paleo takes things a step further by emphasizing healthy carbohydrates.

Ultimately, it’ll depend on your unique needs, so evaluate key differences and talk to your doctor before determining which one is right for you! I’ve tried both diets, and Keto definitely will show you faster results if you wanna drop some weight before a wedding or an event. With that said, If you follow the Keto rules and get the body into actual ketosis. That can trigger the dreaded “Keto Flu.” That’s when your body is going through a “WTF” stage of having no carbs for energy, and you start feeling like crap. Please don’t get scared. It goes away in about 3 to 5 days. If you can get past that, then you’re on your way to new jeans, baby!

Paleo, on the other hand, I feel is just more sustainable because you don’t have to constantly worry about slipping out of ketosis. This stone age diet reflects how humans were supposed to eat before diets were even invented. Paleo predates fast foods and everything that contributes to the obesity problem in America.

Which Diet Gives the Worst Side Effects?

Paleo

In theory, this diet is a great way to transition to a healthy lifestyle by basically eliminating processed and unhealthy foods. However, the risks associated with this diet should be considered in particular because it is an extremely low-carb diet devoid of much carbohydrates. Some of the side effects of being on the Paleo diet can include:

-dehydration

-fatigue

-dental problems

-nutrient deficiency.

Most of these issues arise when dieters fail to supplement and replace some key missing nutrients. Therefore, if pursuing this diet plan, it’s important to remain conscious about your intake and adjust as needed.

Keto Diet

The keto diet is an increasingly popular way to achieve healthy outcomes by drastically reducing the intake of carbohydrates in favor of healthy fats and proteins. But it’s not all sunny skies – like any major dietary adjustment, the keto diet can bring on some uncomfortable side effects.

Commonly known as “keto flu,” temporary symptoms include decreased energy, difficulty concentrating, and constipation caused by dehydration since cutting carbohydrates can mean a lack of electrolytes necessary for healthy digestion. Achieving healthy food choices through a nutritious ketogenic meal plan could yield healthy outcomes over time – don’t forget your sports drink, or you might be sorry!

Which Is the Healthier Option?

Comparing paleo and keto diets, there is no definite answer as to which one yields optimal health results.

Keto

However, research has revealed that the ketogenic diet can be beneficial in numerous ways. It can lower body fat content, suppress hunger cravings, improve mental well-being and reduce triglycerides – a major cause of heart disease. Moreover, it increases good cholesterol levels while decreasing insulin levels for diabetics and reducing blood pressure overall.

Paleo

Moreover, the paleo diet can provide numerous health benefits, including weight loss, decreased triglyceride levels, better blood pressure regulation, stabilized sugar levels in your body fluids, and improved overall mood.

While both diets offer health benefits, the dilemma lies in practicality; from a nutritional viewpoint, following a keto diet will take mindful and thorough planning. Not just keeping track of your macronutrient intake but also making sure you are not lacking vital micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals that may be omitted from this type of eating plan.

In addition, ketosis triggers frequent urination that expels minerals like potassium and magnesium from the body.

Staying entirely healthy on the keto diet requires a comprehensive approach to your nutrition, balancing both macronutrients and micronutrients while making adjustments with food choices or extra supplementation where needed.

Furthermore, the keto diet can be difficult if you’re trying to shed a few pounds. Consuming even one slice of pizza or pasta dish will push your body out of ketosis and require you to start anew with the four-day process. This means any health benefits from weight loss are less likely to be realized promptly.

Following a ketogenic diet is tough enough when you’re at home, but it becomes even more difficult to stay away from carbs while vacationing or attending parties. On the other hand, Paleo has much greater flexibility and still allows for consuming foods in all three major food groups so that hitting micronutrient targets can be achieved easily. Of course, certain items must be avoided (dairy products, refined sugars, etc.). However, this form of eating overall offers far more options than any other regimen.

Additionally, you have more options for eating out than when on the keto diet. This makes it easier to stick to your dietary plan and reap all of its health benefits.

Paleo vs. Keto: Summary

Keto and Paleo diets are both nutritional plans that are popular for achieving healthy outcomes. The keto diet focuses on drastically reducing carbohydrate intake, while the Paleo diet centers around eating whole, unprocessed foods. Although research has revealed that the ketogenic diet can lower body fat content, suppress hunger cravings, improve mental well-being, and reduce triglyceride levels, it requires a more mindful approach to dietary planning to ensure adequate nutrition.

The Paleo diet offers more flexibility regarding food choices, allowing for consuming all three major food groups and providing numerous health benefits, including weight loss and better blood pressure regulation.

However, practicality is also essential when comparing these two diets, as following a keto diet requires more stringent tracking of macros and micronutrients. Additionally, this eating plan may be challenging to stick with while vacationing or attending parties since carbs will push the body out of ketosis and make any weight loss benefits harder to achieve.

For those looking for an easier way to maintain their health through dietary changes, the Paleo diet could be the ideal choice due to its greater flexibility when choosing food items and being able to eat out without worrying about breaking dietary rules. Furthermore, it is important to remember that both diets offer beneficial health outcomes as long as they are followed diligently with nutritious meal plans and appropriate supplementation.

I would give Keto a shot first because it’s a little more complicated. If you can live that Keto lifestyle, then more power to ya, and Your waist will see the difference. With that said, the Keto diet is one of the easiest diets to fail, so keep that in mind. Remember, you want to get in shape and stay in shape, right? My rule of thumb is if you need to shed some weight for an upcoming event, then Keto up! But the winner goes with Paleo over the long haul. Good luck, and thanks for reading!