What is the Difference Between Paleo and Keto

The main difference between paleo and keto diet is that the paleo diet emphasizes whole food and eliminates processed foods, grains, and legumes, whereas the keto diet focuses on controlling the distribution of the three macronutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.

Paleo and keto diet are two types of eating plans which help to keep the body healthy. Furthermore, the paleo diet improves health and focuses on exercises as well while the keto diet is important for weight loss.

Key Areas Covered

1. What is Paleo
     – Definition, Significance, Importance
2. What is Keto
     – Definition, Significance, Importance
3. What are the Similarities Between Paleo and Keto
     – Outline of Common features
4. What is the Difference Between Paleo and Keto
     – Comparison of Key Differences

Key Terms

Exercises, Keto Diet, Low Carb Diet, Macronutrient Ratio, Paleo Diet, Whole Food

What is Paleo

The paleo diet or the caveman diet is a type of eating plan based on the principle of consuming food that was available to early humans. The main advantage of the paleo diet is the improvement of health. Since modern food production and processing processes harm human health, the consumption of whole food or the natural form of the food is beneficial. Therefore, an eating style which mimics the eating style of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers may improve digestion and health. More importantly, the permitted types of food in a paleo diet are meat and fish, eggs, fruits and vegetables, seeds and nuts, selected fats and oils, and unrefined sweeteners. On the other hand, this type of diet eliminate grains, legumes, most dairy sources, processed sugars and food.

Figure 1: A Paleo Diet

In addition to food, paleo diet strongly focuses on good lifestyle practices as well. Therefore, it follows intensive, but short-time exercises and mindfulness during daily activities.

What is Keto

Keto diet or ketogenic diet is a type of low-carb diet which puts the body into a ketosis stage. Generally, carbohydrate in the form of glucose is the main energy source of our body. However, ketosis is a condition of using fat as the main energy source of the body in the absence of sufficient amounts of glucose in the body. Interestingly, a diet plan with low carbohydrates and high-fat can induce ketosis. It means; the key focus of a keto diet is to control the amount of macronutrients, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, in such a way to induce ketosis. Therefore, a keto diet contains 5-10% carbohydrates, 2-30% proteins, and 60-80% fats.

Figure 2: A Keto Diet

During the keto diet, our body first uses fats from the diet as the energy source. After that, the fat deposits of the body are used as the energy source. Therefore, the keto diet becomes a key method to lose body weight. Also, it is important to control blood sugar levels since a keto diet consists of low carbohydrates.

Similarities Between Paleo and Keto

• Paleo and keto are two types of eating plans, which help to keep the body healthy.
• Both types of diets rely on the whole food sources while obtaining nutrients.
• Also, both eliminate carbohydrates in the diet including grains, legumes, and added sugars.
• However, they emphasize healthy fat.
• Therefore, both types of diet plans are effective for weight loss as well.

Difference Between Paleo and Keto

Definition

Paleo refers to a diet based on the types of foods presumed to have been eaten by early humans, consisting chiefly of meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit and excluding dairy or cereal products and processed food while keto refers to a diet high in fat and low in carbohydrates, which causes the body to break down fat into molecules called ketones. Hence, this is the fundamental difference between paleo and keto diet.

Focus on

While the paleo diet mainly focuses on ideology, emphasizing whole food and special styles of exercising, keto diet mainly focuses on controlling the three macronutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Thus, the focus is a major difference between paleo and keto diet.

Carbohydrates

Another difference between paleo and keto diet is the intake of carbohydrates. Paleo diet allows carbohydrate-rich sources including vegetables, fruits, and unrefined sweeteners while keto diet restricts all rich sources of carbohydrates. 

Dairy and Soy Food

Furthermore, the paleo diet does not permit airy and soy food while keto diet permits high-fat dairy and soy food including soybeans, tofu, and tempeh.

Flexibility

Moreover, paleo diet consists of more flexible choices of food sources and allows obtaining a wide array of nutrients while keto diet consists of less flexible food choices, making it difficult to obtain adequate nutrients. Thus, this is a very important difference between paleo and keto diet.

Exercises

Also, exercise is another difference between paleo and keto diet. Paleo diet consists of short period intensive exercises while a keto diet does not contain exercises.

Importance

Finally, the paleo diet is important for a healthy lifestyle while keto diet is important for weight loss.

Conclusion

Paleo diet is a type of eating plan which encourages a healthy lifestyle by emphasizing a wide array of whole food including meat, fish, and fresh vegetables. However, it eliminates grains, legumes, and processed food. In comparison, a keto diet is a type of ultra low-carb diet, which restricts the consumption of carbohydrates. Moreover, it is a type of high-fat-diet, which puts the body into ketosis. Therefore, the keto diet is important for weight loss. In conclusion, the main difference between paleo and keto diet is the type of food used and the outcome.

References:

1. Gunnars, K., “The Paleo Diet – A Beginner’s Guide Meal Plan.” Healthline, Healthline Media, Available Here
2. Mawer, R., “The Ketogenic Diet: A Detailed Beginner’s Guide to Keto.” Healthline, Healthline Media, Available Here

Image Courtesy:

1. “breakfast-healthy-smoked-salmon-1058726” (Pixabay License) via Pixabay
2. “food-cuisine-western-meat-pork-1257319” (Pixabay License) via Pixabay