Keto or Paleo Diet: What's the Difference?

Improving your health and succeeding in your workouts have a lot more to them than just exercising and staying active. It is also necessary to eat a healthy diet that gives you the vital nutrients you need to get the results you want. Two popular choices that are actually similar in their goals are the Ketogenic diet and the Paleolithic diet. However, it can be tough to know which diet will best help you reach your goals unless you research how each one affects your health. Here is a quick breakdown of paleo vs. keto so you can learn more about which foods to eat, which to avoid, and how they can bring short- and long-term success.

The Paleo Diet The paleo diet is built on the foundation that eating what our Paleolithic ancestors ate millennia ago is the purest way to gain energy and protein and also manage weight. These humans did not have processed food or other mass-produced items like we eat today—they needed to forage for food in order to survive. As such, they mostly relied on animal products, fat and vegetables to get the nutrients they needed. Here are some foods people eat on the paleo diet:

• Meats
• Vegetables
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Fruits

Since fruits, including berries, were not widely available due to seasonal changes and geographic location, it is recommended that they be eaten in moderation on the paleo diet. In addition, those that are on the diet avoid both dairy and grains since there were no pots or pans to cook grains and cattle were raised for meat, not milk. Paleo is a high-protein diet and many followers believe it will help improve overall health.

The Keto Diet The keto diet dates back nearly 100 years and was developed by members of the medical community as a treatment for epilepsy in the 1920s and 30s. Over the years, however, medicine came to deliver the same effects as the diet so its popularity dwindled. A few decades later people realized that the keto diet could be used as a way to lose weight because it can help lower blood sugar, regulate cholesterol levels, and manage your appetite. In addition, helping your body complete the process of ketosis allows it to burn through fat faster. Some foods that are part of the keto diet include:

• Fats and Oils
• Fish
• Pork
• Eggs
• Vegetables
• Dairy

The keto diet is very specific in its breakdown of what your meals should consist of. It is 70% fat, 25% protein, and 5% carbs, which takes planning in order to successfully execute. The high-fat diet is meant to replace the body's reliance on processed foods and sugars and instead relies on fatty meats, butter, and natural oils from fish and vegetables. It is also important to note that those starting a keto diet experience exhaustion—both mental and physical—while their body switches over to burning ketone instead of glucose. This is normal and once the phase is over you will regain energy and be able to burn body fat. Learn more about the paleo vs. keto debate and see how Promax products support each diet by contacting a representative today.