Today, people worldwide try to look slim and beautiful. They start following various types of diets such as cabbage, buckwheat, honey, or apple diet. All of them have their pros and cons, though cons prevail because of the monotonous food preference. Consequently, the organism lacks other essential vitamins and minerals. What about trendy keto and paleo diets? Are they healthy and effective? What is the difference between the keto and paleo diets? This article provides all answers to the most frequent questions.
What is Keto and Why People Are So Crazy About It?
To answer this question, it is necessary to understand the basis of such a process as ketosis. How do people get their daily energy? Food. Most doctors do not recommend excluding healthy carbs from daily meals because they supply human organisms with vital energy. A keto diet does the opposite. According to its recommendations, a person should prefer food that is high in fats and lacks carbs. How do people survive then?
If a person believes that carbs are not necessary, he or she will contrast the paleo diet vs keto rations to select the most beneficial and suitable for personal tastes. Keto is strict and demands 70% of fats in a daily ratio. Such meals perfectly suit people who crave fatty meat, eggs, avocados, nuts, sunflower seeds, and milk products that are tastier when they contain more fat. Due to this, a person always feels full.
Most diets reduce the amount of fat. So what is the purpose of a keto diet? The reason is simple. One should force the organism to get energy from fats instead of carbs. It means that the body will consume body fat, including the liver. Besides, the liver guarantees the result. Rich in healthy fat and casein food improves digestion and provokes fast weight loss.
That is why people like it, especially at the beginning when a person keeps to an egg and cheese diet that lasts 3-5 days but burns many kilos without extra effort.
What is Paleo? Who Can Follow It?
The name of the diet derives from the historical period called the Paleolithic. The creators of this diet believed that the human organism could digest and function well only due to the products that existed at that time. There were no artificial carbs, fast foods, cereals, grains, dairy, etc. in the paleolithic age. The ancestors ate things they could catch or find in their environment. It could be wild animals, fish, seafood, vegetables, fruit, and greenery.
People also started consuming some nuts, legumes, and their derivatives later, so they are taboo on this diet as well. The developers regard these products as harmful as pastry and dairy because they provoke severe allergy reactions and inflammations. Consequently, it is healthier to avoid them and prefer natural products.
When a person compares the paleo vs keto diet, they will find many common and distinctive features. That is why it is required to find a specialist who will create a meal plan that can help to prevent breakdowns but achieve the desired results. Besides, it is necessary to consult a health advisor, who will examine the organism and either approve or decline the diet. Both diets are based primarily on fats, so a person must be sure that such food will not worsen the health condition.
Almost all people can eat the recommended paleo food, though it must vary. For example, animal food is not only pork but also poultry, eggs, game meats, crayfish, fish, and beef.
Paleo Diet vs Keto: Similarities
People often fail to follow one of the diets because they confuse them. It often happens to those who experiment and try a variety of rations to either lose weight or become healthier. Before learning about the difference between the paleo and keto diets, one should know what makes them so similar.
- Both diets accent on whole foods that one can find in supermarkets (seafood, meats, eggs).
- Daily ration prevails in fats, but they must be healthy and natural (egg yolk, avocado, meat, nuts, vegetable oil, etc.).
- Both plans include certain nuts and seeds.
- Dieticians never include rich in starch products into daily meals.
- Legumes, grain, and sugar are taboo for keto and paleo followers.
Experts usually call them ‘clean eating meal plans’. What does it mean? It means that a person buys fresh meat, vegetables, seafood, eggs, and other allowed products and cooks them or consumes them without any processing. Such food is very healthy compared to canned and even frozen. The disadvantage of such food is its price.
People on both diets get their vital energy from fatty food. This fact confuses them a little because amateurs publish recipes which ingredients do not fit the keto but are excellent for paleo and vice versa. So, if one decides to keep to one diet, it will be obligatory to study as much information as possible to prevent health problems and promise the best outcome.
Difference Between Paleo and Keto Diet
What is the difference between the paleo diet and the keto diet? Both of them are based on healthy fats. Nevertheless, keto is more “picky” because it requires fish and meat that have more fats. While people on paleo can eat ham, keto followers should better prefer pork and bacon. The same concerns fish. There are six distinctive features between these two diets:
- keto provides energy only from fat (up to 70% of daily calories) while paleo involves both fats and protein;
- keto does not welcome carbs while paleo considers a person’s activity when calculating the daily need for carbs;
- keto egg plus cheese diet guarantees quick results in five days, while paleo works a bit slower;
- paleo excludes dairy while keto fast weight loss is based on eggs and cheese;
- paleo welcomes almost all fruits and vegetables while keto does not (only avocado and nuts are allowed);
- Paleo followers can add natural sweeteners like honey and maple syrup, while keto meals prohibit both natural and artificial sweets.
People who followed both diets assert that paleo provokes fewer breakdowns thanks to the variety of available products and natural sweeteners. At the same time, after the keto-adaptation period, a person stops feeling crazy about sweets because there are none of them. Gradually, the organism stops wanting them, forgets the taste, and prevents cravings.
What is Better: Paleo or Keto Diet?
It is hard to say what diet is better or worse. The difference between the keto diet and the paleo diet is a criterion that lets a person decide what type to choose. Still, it is possible to make a list of pros and cons for each daily nutrition. Besides, one should remember that diets are usually not for some period. If a person starts following a certain food regime, it will be better to keep to it all the time. Otherwise, the organism will get ‘crazy’ and the weight will do the same.
Pros and Cons of the Keto Nutrition
The Keto diet has its advantages and disadvantages. A person should understand the risks when starting to eat food that is unbalanced because of low levels of protein and carbs. 70-25-5 – this is the calorie percentage of fat, protein, and carbs for a ketosis follower. So, a medical check should be done before the beginning of the diet.
Advantages
- Five and even three days on keto will be enough to lose weight. The latest research showed that people lose from 5 to 10 pounds depending on their initial weight, age, activity, and hydration.
- This diet encourages fat consumption in huge amounts. Many diets are against that and do quite the opposite. That is why this diet is a perfect choice for those who cannot imagine their life without traditional bacon and egg or a handful of nuts for a snack.
- If a person keeps to a professional’s recommendations and does everything right, it will be possible to control the level of blood sugar and prevent diabetes, eye problems, and cardiac diseases.
Disadvantages
- Most people give it up soon because of cravings provoked by its strict nature.
- The diet limits the available variety of food. As a result, the organism does not get enough vitamins and substances. A deficit of vitamins and minerals can be dangerous, especially in a pandemic situation. So, a person should consider artificial analogs after consultation with a doctor. Specific analysis can reveal the lack of nutrients, and a doctor will be able to prescribe the corresponding pharmacological product.
- Too much-saturated fat without carbs and little protein can lead to such adverse effects as empathy, headaches, vomit, constipation, exhaustion, tremor, and cardiovascular problems.
Pros and Cons of Paleo Nutrition
Even though Paleo is less strict and includes vegetables and fruits in daily meals, it has its advantages and disadvantages.
Pros
- A person stops eating greasy and unhealthy food because the whole food is a must here.
- The diet longs for healthy fats and protein that are essential for muscles and the control over blood sugar.
- A person stops eating unhealthy carbs and replaces them with healthier glucose that is also controlled to guarantee tolerance to its consumption.
Cons
- The diet becomes expensive because it needs whole foods and clean eating.
- The ratio does not include milk products which decrease the level of casein and Calcium. Calcium insufficiency can make bones fragile and cause teeth problems.
- Whole foods are poor in fiber. Its deficit provokes stomach problems like constipation and pains.
The negative aspects of both diets may become visible when they are followed for a long period. Imbalanced nutrition provokes a deficit of important substances. Lack of certain products like fruits and dairy exhaust the body and provoke health disorders. So, a person should be under an expert’s control and take manufactured vitamins and minerals to prevent the deficit.
The positive aspect of both diets is their concentration on fats that guarantee satiety after each meal. So, it is easier to follow them than other existing diets.
Menu and Food on Keto and Paleo Diets
The best option to count calories and the amount of required fat, protein, and carbs is to cook. A person is aware of the meal ingredients, so it is easier to do calculations. Besides, many websites provide menus and recipes with the already mentioned calories, fats, carbs, and protein. Some dieticians practice a combination of a keto/paleo diet that allows some cheese and little carbs in the form of unprocessed vegetables or fruit.
What to do when a person does not have time for cooking? The best variant is to order meals at places that mention the ingredients. Another variant is to buy healthy snacks on Amazon or similar stores. For example, a person can eat dry meat, almonds, avocado, vegetable chips, canned fish, and other diet-safe products to kill hunger. Moreover, one may boil eggs and make salads that a person can take in a lunch box.
It is essential to read the ingredients in the product description to avoid the undesired supplements like dairy for paleo or fruit, most vegetables, and honey for keto.
Conclusions
So, keto vs paleo diet – who wins? Nobody. Everything depends on a person who is going to follow one of the above-described diets. If a person is not sure that he or she can stand without fruits, honey, and most vegetables, it will be better not to start following the keto diet. If one adores dairy and cannot afford whole foods, keto meals will suit better.
A diet is not for one day. It is a lifestyle. A person should have a strong motivation to keep to it and prevent breakdowns. The best and the safest variant is to hire a specialist who will take care of a person. Professionals can support them and recommend doing tips that will not let a person stop dieting and gaining weight. Moreover, they know recipes that are super delicious and turn a diet into healthy and pleasant nutrition.
Experienced dieticians advise adding training and proper hydration to get the best results. Thanks to that, a person will be slim, healthier, and without sagging skin.