If you’re anything like me you’re constantly bombarded with new fad diets. It can be hard to figure out which diet is best for your particular needs. In this article we’re going to compare the paleo diet vs. keto. We’ll cover some great research on these low-carb diets, and discuss which diet is best for you. As you’ll see, there’s a definite winner for most athletes. Keep reading for more.
Paleo Diet vs. Keto: The Most Popular Low Carb Diets
Both of these have become extremely popular diets over the last few years, and for good reason. People of all types have had success losing weight with both diets. In fact, any diet can help you lose weight, as long as you’re in a caloric deficit. However, some diets are extremely unhealthy, and won’t work well for most folks.
Similarly, not all athletes are looking to lose weight. Some are looking to maximize their fitness. That might be a new lifting personal record, or a best 5k time. Any good diet should support your personal goals and promote overall health. Both the paleo diet and the keto diet can be good if used correctly. Check out the 7 key differences for the paleo diet vs. keto.
7 Key Differences Between the Paleo Diet vs. Keto Diet
- Ketogenic Diet is better for people with certain health conditions (diabetes, epilepsy, cancer etc)
- Paleolithic (Paleo) diet is best for athletes looking for maximum performance
- Ketogenic diet heavily restricts carbohydrate intake
- Paleolithic diet restricts dairy, and other refined foods, not available in the Paleolithic era
- Keto diet has not been shown to increase endurance or strength
- Paleo diet has been shown to increase endurance
- Keto diet requires a difficult transition period (keto flu)
Keep in mind this is a very broad overview comparing paleo diet vs. keto. We’ll go into much more depth further on. I will also give my recommendations for which diet will benefit different groups of people. You should also keep in mind that I’m not a doctor, and I’m not giving you medical advice. I’m simply relaying some great information based on several research papers. Now, let’s talk about the paleo diet.
Paleolithic Diet Overview
The Paleolithic diet, sometimes called the Caveman diet, has become very popular in recent years. This is for good reason, as research indicates that it’s a very effective whole food diet, that has drastic impacts on many areas of health.
As the name implies, this diet instructs us to only eat food that our hunter-gatherer ancestors would have had available to them. Early humans would only have eaten foods like, unprocessed vegetables, meats, and nuts. They would not have access to any type of processed foods. The theory is that our digestive tracts evolved best to deal with this style of food. Check out this quote covering the basics of the paleo diet.
The dietary approach, which is often referred to as the Paleo diet, targets the restriction of grains, dairy products, and all refined food items. The Paleo diet consists mainly of grass-fed and pasture-raised meats, vegetables, fruits, fungi, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, and dairy products and limits refined sugars, starches, processed foods, and oils.
Paleolithic Diet—Effect on the Health Status and Performance of Athletes?
This diet has proven to be very effective compared to more traditional diets. In fact, when researchers examined all available studies on paleo diets, they found participants lost more weight on the paleo diet compared to other types of diets. On average, participants lost 12.8 (5.8kg) pounds of bodyweight, compared to other diets 8.6 (3.9 kg) pounds.
Most importantly, the paleo diet does not require that you weigh and measure your food. This type of diet is called an ad libitum diet, meaning you eat till you’re full. Now, paleo isn’t magic. This weight loss is caused by a caloric deficit, which is caused by eating lower energy density foods that fill you up quickly. You feel full more quickly when eating steak and vegetables vs. pasta!
Health Benefits of Paleo Diets
Paleolithic style diets have some dramatically positive impact on health markers. As you will see, the Paleo diet was superior to other diet types in measures, of weight loss, fat loss, blood pressure, waist circumference, and much more. Check out the graphic for a quick summary of the health benefits of the paleo diet.
This brings us to our next point of discussion. What are the major differences between the paleo diet and the ketogenic diet?
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How is the Paleo Diet Different Than Keto?
The biggest difference is in the food selection and the macronutrient split that each diet recommends. It’s not exactly a low-carbodhydrate diet, but does have some fairly strict guidelines for carb intake. While there is no set diet macro nutrient ratio that the paleo diet focuses on, researchers have noted that most dieters following the paleo protocol end up with similar macronutrient splits. This quote nicely sums that up.
On average, the authors estimate the following ratio of macronutrients: 35% energy from fats, 35% from carbohydrates, and 30% from protein (although no specific amount is considered to be the goal)
Paleolithic Diet—Effect on the Health Status and Performance of Athletes?
This article from Harvard, shows us the main differences in macro nutrient ratios between paleo and keto. For the keto diet, you will be eating 70-80% of your total calories from fat. This leaves you with only 5-10% of calories from carbs, and 10-20% from protein. Keto is a true low-carb diet.
Moreover, the keto diet allows food like dairy where as paleo does not. Ketogenic diets also allow things like sugar free sweeteners and paleo doesn’t. Lastly, food like starchy vegetables and fruit are allowed when following paleo, however, since they contain carbs they won’t be allowed on keto. In the next section you can see a quick list of the different types of food allowed on each type of diet.
Paleolithic Diet Foods List
Paleo Diet Foods
- Grass-fed Meat
- Nuts
- Eggs
- Fish
- Poultry
- Vegetables
- Potatoes
- Roots
- Sweet Potatoes
- Yams
- Maple Syrup
- Olive Oil
- Coconut Oil
- Avocado Oil
- Flaxseed Oil
- Leafy Greens
Non-Paleo Diet Foods
- Barley
- Brown rice
- Breads
- Bagels Noodles
- White Rice
- Buckwheat
- Ice Cream
- Pizza
- Cookies
- Millet
- Oatmeal
- Popcorn
- Pasta
- Artificial Sweetners
- Whole Grains
- Vegetable Oil
Ketogenic Diet Overview
The Ketogenic Diet has been around for many decades. Originally it was used as a medical treatments for diabetes and epilepsy. More recently, it’s been examined for possible benefits for those suffering from, cancer, polycystic ovary syndrome, and Alzheimers. However, in recent years, its gained massive popularity as a weight loss program for people struggling to lose body fat.
Recently, attention has been paid to LCHF [KETO DIET] on account of the reported influences on body composition. Extensive research has demonstrated the remarkable effect of LCHF on weight loss and fat loss
Effects of a Low-Carbohydrate High-Fat Diet Combined with High-Intensity Interval Training on Body Composition and Maximal Oxygen Uptake: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
The theory behind this diet is that when you restrict carbohydrates, your bodies’ metabolic state changes. It starts to produce ketones (sometimes called ketone bodies). Ketones can be used by your body to fuel activity that carbs would normally be used for. Moreover, ketones are synthesized from fat, which increases the amount of fat your body uses for energy. When your body is adapted to this diet it is in a state of ketosis, and thus we get the name Ketogenic Diet. It should be noted that switching from carbs to ketones can leave some folks feeling poorly for a few days. This is known at the keto flu, and it generally passes quickly.
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How is the Keto Diet Different Than Paleo?
As we mentioned above, these diets differ greatly on their macro splits. The keto diet focuses more on fat intake. Those following a keto diet are restricted to eating less than 50g or carbs a day, with the bulk of their energy coming from healthy fats, and the balance coming from protein.
The key difference in day to day eating are the types of food groups you’re allowed to consume. It can be difficult to eat enough fat, as most whole foods don’t have 80-90 percent fat content, without being combined with other foods. Things like meat, butter, and greek yogurt are often consumed by those following the ketogenic diet. Conversely, many sauces and seasonings like ketchup, and salad dressing wouldn’t be allowed.
The biggest negative for many on the ketogenic diet is the inability to drink alcohol. Alcohol is almost pure sugar, and obviously would not be allowed on a diet that almost completely restricts carbs! Here’s a food list in the next section for ketogenic friendly foods.
Ketogenic Diet Foods List
Ketogenic Foods
- Fish and seafood
- Brocoli
- Cauliflower
- Leafy Greens
- Bell Peppers
- Cheese
- Avocados
- Poultry
- Eggs
- Walnuts
- Pistachios
- Almonds
- Peanuts
- Sunflower Seeds
- Plain Greek yogurt
- Cottage cheese
- Berries
- Plain coffee and tea
- Dark chocolate
- Full Fat Dairy
Non-Ketogenic Foods
- Wheat
- Rye
- Oatmeal
- Bread
- Bagels
- Potatoes
- Sweet Potates
- Honey
- Maple Syrup
- Sugar
- Brownies
- Pizza
- Ice Cream
- Juices
- Non Berry Fruits
- Sweet Yoghurt
- Chips
We’ve covered paleo diet vs keto in some detail. Next we need talk about which diet is best for different types of athletes. As you’ll see, there are some definite benefits and drawbacks for both types of diet.
Paleo Diet vs. Keto: Which is Best for Exercise Performance?
The real question is what kind of performance are you after? If you’re hiking the Appalachian Trail, you’re probably after a different type of performance than if you hope to win the CrossFit Games. Needless to say, there is a clear winner for athletes that need endurance, muscle mass, and strength.
Paleo Diet Research
This research article entitled, “Paleolithic Diet—Effect on the Health Status and Performance of Athletes?” provides an incredible in depth look at the performance effect of the paleo diet vs. keto. They found near universal improvement in bio markers of health including improvements in the following: cholesterol, blood pressure, maximum oxygen usage, fat free mass, and weight loss.
Researchers found that, not only did the athletes bodies increase their ability to use oxygen, but they also increased their peak power output. Using a very rough estimate, athletes increased their work output around 5-10% depending on the individual study you looked at. A large portion of this increase, was solely due to the paleo meal plan they were eating during the study.
Ketogenic Diet Research
Some researchers postulate that athletes that require extreme amounts of endurance, such as ultra marathoners, would benefit from the ability to better use fat as an energy source. Athletes that eat lower carbohydrate do rely on fat for more of their energy production, but does that actually effect endurance performance?
This research review examined what effect ketogenic diets had on endurance performance. They found no significant increase in V02 max, or other predictors of performance. However, when we consider ketogenic diets for athletes that perform HIIT (high intensity interval training), the story changes somewhat.
This research review determined that there was indeed some increase in endurance performance for athletes that were on a ketogenic diet, as long as they performed some type of HIIT based exercise protocol. Lastly, some researchers have noted a decrease in muscle mass when ketogenic diets are combined with pure resistance training.
From the research I’ve done, it seems likely that endurance athletes certainly don’t lose performance when on a ketogenic diet, but they don’t gain any performance either. It doesn’t appear to be beneficial for athletes that want to lift weights. All athletes can lose fat on this diet, it’s just a matter of maintaining muscle mass.
This is most likely caused by the lack of easily available glycogen. Glycogen is a stored carbohydrate that powers muscular contractions. If you’ve read any of my other articles on carbohydrates and performance, you’ll recall that high carbohydrate diets can really aid hard working athletes. Now, let’s compare the paleo diet vs keto for weight loss.
Paleo Diet vs. Keto: Which is Best for Weight Loss?
This study compared ketogenic diets to non ketogenic diets for weight loss. They put middle aged men on a normal resistance training protocol, and then had half of them continue with a ketogenic diet, and the other half continue with a non ketogenic diet. They found that both groups lost a similar amounts of fat, and bodyweight.
We should also recall from earlier in the article that paleo diets consistently out performed non paleo diets when it came to weight loss, and fat loss. Paleo is also more inclusive for athletes when it comes to allowing a wide variety of foods. This has the added benefit of making sure you’re ingesting enough vitamins and minerals.
Diet Recommendations for Lifting, WODs, and Functional Fitness
As a level two CrossFit coach, I tend to recommend that athletes follow a paleo diet rather than a ketogenic diet. The research shows that paleo diets provide a wealth of health benefits and they actually increase your bodies’ ability to use oxygen.
Researchers found that for people who changed to a paleo diet, and did no additional exercise, they increased their VO2 max (average 1.9 mL/kg/min). For those that did the paleo diet and exercised, they increased their V02 max significantly (average 3.5 mL/kg/min). To put these numbers in perspective, this is about a 10% increase in performance for the average athlete.
Unless you are a diabetic, or have a specific medical reason, I see no real reason for choosing a ketogenic diet. It also has the rather large drawback of requiring a lot of food preparation, as you won’t be able to find too many ready made dishes with the right macros for keto. If you want to learn more about eating the right amount of macros for maximum performance, you can download my nutrition calculator here.
Picking an Exercise Program to Match Your Diet
After reading the research, it’s pretty clear that choosing the correct diet can help improve your performance. Crucially, you also need to have a solid fitness program, otherwise you’ll just be spinning your tires. At this point, I think I’ve written dozens of programs, so I’ll provided a few different types for those with different fitness goals.
Fitness Programs
- Pure Body Building Program
- Functional Bodybuilding Hybrid Program
- High Performance Functional Training Program
- Weight Loss Program
- Endurance Based Functional Training Program
If you want to try my most popular program, and get all the coaches notes, percentages and more. Check it out below!
Final Thoughts
This has a been a lengthy article, covering a lot of information on the paleo diet vs. keto diet. I will attempt to summarize a few key points. First, all diets can work well as long as you generate a caloric deficit, and can maintain the required lifestyle changes. You should pick your diet based upon how likely you are to adhere to its rules.
The keto diet has a very restrictive set of rules, that requires eating a lot of dishes that you’ll have to make yourself. It also requires that you avoid some food groups entirely. It certainly can cause weight loss, but it provides little to no performance benefits. The Paleo diet requires eating foods that aren’t processed. Otherwise it’s a little more flexible, provided you don’t mind skipping on dairy products.
I personally recommend following the paleo diet, as I think it’s easier to follow, and is less restrictive on various foods. Research also shows that athletes will do better on a paleo diet rather than ketogenic diet. There needs to be more research on the long term success rates of these diets; however, we have some great info to start with. If you have any questions, or comments, put them in the comments section below, and I’ll get you an answer. Now get out there and get training.
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