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Are Keto, Paleo and Low Carb the same?The answer is….
No…
Yes…
Sort of!
Similar in many ways but different in others. New Clients often get these diets confused.
Benefits of Keto, Paleo and Low Carb
- Weight Loss (if you need it)
- Reduced Triglycerides, HA1C
- Body Composition change (better waistline without hunger)
- Less bloating
- Less hunger, hearty meals
- Better mood and sleep due to stable blood sugar
- Lower inflammation due to elimination of grains, sugars and processed foods
Let’s review Keto, Paleo and Low-Carb!
What do You Eat On the Paleo Diet?
Paleolithic people were hunters and gatherers. Before we began to farm, or keep animals around 13,000 years ago. Foods were wild, varied and stored when excess was available. Every part of the animal was eaten or used. We ate all the organs, not just muscle meat.
The Paleo Diet today emphasizes 3 food groups that best mimic our evolutionary diet:
- Vegetables and gourds (the base of the Paleo Food Pyramid)
- Wild or pasture-raised animal and seafood protein
- Abundant animal fats (eaten for millennia) and Coconut fat
- Balancing carbohydrates based on your weight: aiming for 50 grams a day for weight loss; 100 grams a day or more when fit
Paleo Diet variety foods:
- Butter, Ghee
- Nuts and seeds, nut butter, avocado
- Whole eggs (best quality)
- Tubers (Potato, Sweet Potato and Cassava)
- Fruit and Nut Oils – Olive, Avocado, Macadamia, etc.
- Some lower carb fruit such as Berries or Apples
- Fresh Spices and Herbs
- Raw Honey in small amounts
- Beans, optional
- Avoid grains (wheat, rice, corn, oats, soy)
What do You Eat on the Keto Diet?
Keto, also known as KETO, is a high-fat diet. Up to 85% of your calories from FAT.
After that, agreement varies widely from book to book, person to person.
Keto is confusing and I don’t recommend it – many women already cut calories too low.
Keto also gets confused with Intermittent Fasting but that is entirely different.
This article and Primal Diet Podcast has my tongue-in-cheek look at Keto.
The Keto Diet emphasizes:
- FAT, such as Coconut Oil, Coconut Cream, Butter, Olive Oil, MCT Oil, meat fat, etc.
- Fatty foods such as Egg Yolks, Fatty Meat, Fatty Fish, Bacon
- Nuts and Seeds, Nut Butter, Nut Flour, Avocado
- Low-carb vegetables to fill out the plate (more food to put fat on)
- Limiting total carbs between 15 to 75 grams a day (See? That’s confusing!)
- Cheese, Heavy Cream, Butter, Ghee
- Avoid tubers, grains, sugars, honey
- A little bit Low Carb Fruit (Berries)
- Not appropriate for those without a gall bladder
What Do You Eat On Low Carb Diets?
Lots of disagreement here too on the amount of Vegetable Carbs allowed on Low-Carb. Some say 100 grams of Vegetable Carbs (about 10 pounds of Veggies a week), some say 1 serving of vegetables a day.
Basically, the emphasis, like KETO is on protein and fat, but with even fewer veggies.
- Animal and Seafood Protein, Eggs
- Fats of all kinds
- Cheese, Dairy
- Nuts, Seeds, Nut Flour, Avocado
- Lower Carb Veggies (eliminate beets, peas, corn, potato, gourds, carrots, etc.)
- No grains, tubers or sweeteners
- Not appropriate for those without a gallbladder
What is a Sustainable Diet?
My DVD is titled “The Diet For Human Beings“. I take a Biological approach to what we evolved to eat, basically Paleo. Without the extremes of KETO or Low-Carb.
True and correct Paleo is sustainable for a lifetime. I don’t believe Carnivore, Keto or Low-Carb fit with human biology for more than a brief period such as we might have had as Hunter/Gatherers.
