To diet or not to diet? That is the question. Over 78 million Americans fall into the obese category and it's having a catastrophic effect on the health of our nation as a whole. 

Of course, everyone, obese or not, can benefit from focusing on a healthy way of eating. But which eating style should you choose? There are many great and not-so-great options out there.

To help you decide, let's learn about three popular choices — paleo, keto, and pegan.

Paleo

A Paleo approach to eating focuses on heading back to our roots as hunter/gatherers. Thus the name paleo, stemming from the Paleolithic era. 

This eating style puts an emphasis on whole foods; basically anything that you could hunt or gather. That means that processed foods, modern grains, dairy, beans, legumes, refined sugars and commercial vegetable oils are all off the table. 

What's left?

Seasonal fruits and vegetables, seafood, nuts, and meat. However, processed meats or those loaded with antibiotics and hormones aren't recommended. The whole point of Paleo is to follow a more natural diet, so the animals you eat must be following a natural diet as well.

Long-Term Paleo

As you can see, if done properly, a paleo style of eating can be quite restrictive - especially in terms of processed food, refined foods, and quality products. It takes some planning and preparation to follow a true Paleo approach and stick to it. 

One issue with Paleo is that those trying to follow this lifestyle often “cheat” with processed gluten-free foods, thinking that because a product contains no gluten, it’s fair game. But we’d all do well to remember that processed means processed, and gluten-free does not necessarily mean healthy. 

Another issue is that people often think Paleo translates into “eat all the meat you want,” so they go “hog-wild” over meat that may not be of high quality. 

To do Paleo properly, all processed foods, farmed fish, and grain-fed animals should be out. 

Paleo also eliminates some foods that can be healthy for some, like dairy and legumes — which may not be the best choice in the long run. 

These factors make a long-term paleo diet (if you want to do it right) unrealistic for all but the most dedicated dieters.

Keto

The keto diet focuses on getting your body into a state of "ketosis". This means that it burns ketone bodies for fuel rather than glucose that comes from carbs. 

During times of fasting, the liver produces these ketone bodies. There is research that indicates getting most of your energy from these molecules can help prevent cognitive decline.  

The keto diet forces the body into ketosis by limiting carbohydrates (which turn to glucose) and getting the majority of calories from fat.

Instead of focusing on certain foods that you can or can't eat, keto has macro ratios that you should adhere to. People will tweak the ratios a bit to find what works best for them but generally speaking, here’s what you should strive for:

• 60-75% of daily calories from fat

• 15-30% from protein

• 5-10% from carbs

At first, you might be totally on board with a diet that lets you eat so much fat. But once you find out how difficult it can be to severely restrict your carbohydrate intake, you find out just how difficult keto can be. 

What makes restricting carbohydrates more difficult is that many healthy foods have a lot of carbs. They include most fruits (besides berries) and many vegetables. Most grains, beans, and legumes are also high in carbs. None of these foods are completely off the table, but you have to limit the amount you eat to satisfy your allotted macros.

Another thing to keep in mind is that a dish can be 100% keto without necessarily being healthy. Some dieters fulfill their fat requirements by reaching for unhealthy fats like those found in pre-made, pre-packaged or fast foods. (Double bacon cheeseburger without the bun and a diet pop, anyone?) This is referred to as “dirty keto.” It may help with weight loss initially, but will certainly not help with inflammation, cravings, bloating, or your overall long-term health. 

Long-Term Keto

Because of the severe restriction on carbohydrates, the keto diet can be hard to maintain long-term. Instead, many people use it as a kick-start weight-loss tool. Limiting the availability of glucose in the bloodstream focuses your body on burning fat stores and ketone bodies for fuel. 

Some people also combine the diet with intermittent fasting to help encourage the liver to produce more ketones.

Pegan

Some of you may never have even heard about this eating style, so let me fill you in.

As incredible as it sounds, the pegan diet is a combination of the paleo and vegan diets. You might be wondering how that works… after all, animal protein is a big part of paleo and a vegan avoids animal products altogether. 

Pegan is not simply combining the diets and only eating whatever both diets allow. You wouldn't have many options that way considering how restrictive both eating styles already are. Rather, you can expand your menu to include elements from both diets.  

This relaxes the restrictions of two very restrictive diets, while still reaping some of the benefits of each one.  

Like vegans, a pegan diet is comprised primarily (about 75%) of fruits and vegetables. To help regulate blood sugar levels, choose low-glycemic ones like berries and non-starchy vegetables. Dairy products are also strongly discouraged.

A tendency among paleo eaters is to go a little overboard on the meat portion of their diet. Vegans, of course, don't touch meat with a ten-foot pole. Therefore, the pegan diet calls for a compromise by focusing most calories on fruits and veggies while encouraging consumption of small to moderate amounts of animal protein.

This limits the paleo meat feast tendency while avoiding the problem that vegans often face of not getting enough protein or vital B vitamins. Also like paleo, the meat should come from grass-fed beef, free-range poultry, or wild-caught fish.

To round out the pegan diet, you can eat grains and legumes in very small quantities and stick to minimally processed cooking oils.

Long-Term Pegan

A pegan diet is a lot easier to maintain long-term than either the keto or paleo diets. This fact alone makes it a better option for those looking for a lifestyle diet, not a fad.

It's also healthy. The focus on regulating blood sugar levels as well as the types of foods allowed vastly help decrease inflammation in the body. Chronic inflammation has been found to be an underlying cause or contributing factor to many diseases. These include rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, stroke, heart disease, and even Alzheimer's.

The Right Diet for you

When choosing a diet or eating style for life, you have to consider several factors. The health of the diet, its effect on you as an individual, and your ability to sustain it. The greatest diet in the world won't do you any good if you don't stick to it!

Paleo and keto are both rather restrictive and can be hard for some people to maintain over the long-term. A pegan diet may be easier because it relaxes some of the rules.

Even if you can't stick to your chosen diet 100% of the time, using the principles as you choose your menus will help you make healthy choices. For example, avoiding processed foods is a high priority in all of these eating styles and should be a high priority for you too in your daily life.

Of course, there are different times in our lives when one of these, or a different alternative entirely, may be the best choice for us. 

The bottom line with any of these eating styles, as well as other healthy options, should lie in choosing quality whole food ingredients and crafting most meals at home. 

Additionally, we should learn to become more in tune with the signals our body sends out. And more importantly, we should listen!

Today, Paleo may provide more of what you need, but next week or next year, perhaps it will be Keto. 

The understanding that even if you “pick” one of these eating styles for yourself today, you should be open to understanding that it may not serve your ultimate health in the future. 

Would you like some help in planning your healthiest life? Contact us today to schedule a session.

As always, I welcome your thoughts and value your feedback. Let me know what you think by dropping me a line or commenting below.

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