The 3 Key Differences between Paleo and Keto Diet

The popular Paleo diet has really taken the world by storm, and there seems to be a new debate – Keto VS Paleo

It has its fans and its critics, but one thing is for sure – it’s controversial.

By comparison, Keto seems to have slipped under the radar but is working its way into main stream media (at the time of writing this, most people had never heard of Keto! Now it’s everywhere).

As an early adopter, I think it’s important to differentiate the two and weigh in on the Keto vs Paleo debate.

After trying both ways of eating, starting with Paleo, but the entire time something just didn’t feel right.

Every day I was sluggish, lethargic and struggling to get through my usual workouts.

I agree with the Paleo principle of eating as close to natural food sources as you can – bone broths, grass fed meat sources, pesticide free vegetables where possible.

This is all great stuff, there’s no denying it.

The key differences between the two are;

1. CARBS

The biggest difference is the carb count.

While on paleo I was eating so much sweet potato, fruit, nuts and nut meal/flours, quinoa and carrots, plus sweeteners like honey and rice malt syrup. Looking back, I was probably hitting 150 – 200 grams of carbs a day.

At this time I created a banana bread recipe that my husband still eats to this day, but once I switched to keto I realised this thing may as well have been a snickers bar with the amount of carbs in it.

Damn!

2. PALEO & FAT

The entire principal behind the keto way of eating is to become fat adapted – your body now uses fat/ketones as its preferred fuel source.

Paleo can be high fat, but is not high fat by default.

Paleo does not fit into a strict set of macros like keto, and so is very open for interpretation – and consequently mistakes.

 

3. DAIRY

Paleo eaters avoid dairy.

They believe that our ancestors did not eat dairy, so neither should we as our bodies are not designed to digest it.

From my own research, 1/3 of humans produce the enzyme Lactase which lets us safely and comfortably digest dairy products.

I can safely say I am one of the lucky third that can and often does happily live off cheese. Here’s a couple of articles for those interested;

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/09/23/3854293.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/09/17/3850729.htm

(Thanks Dr Karl)

After trying Paleo for about 12 months, I was still constantly bingeing on carbs and sugars and feeling sluggish and bloated.

As a result I knew something wasn’t quite right.

I was likely still hooked on the insulin spikes of a high carb/sugar diet and so I thought I wasn’t cut out for it.

Not the case, get on Keto and never look back!

The jury is in for me, and Keto wins.