Paleo Vs. Vegan

The paleo diet and veganism are at opposite ends of the spectrum. If you follow a paleo diet, you eat animal products plus vegetables, nuts and fruits. In other words, you eat what the average caveman would have eaten before the agricultural revolution and the introduction of grains and refined sugars to the human diet. If you eat vegan, you avoid all animal foods and eat vegetables, fruits and grains. Each type of diet has advantages and disadvantages.

Paleo Inclusions and Exclusions

Eating paleo means eating foods that humans ate before they learned how to plant crops. You can eat any type of animal product cooked any way, as long as you don't add ingredients not found in a caveman's diet, such as sugar or breading. Most versions of the Paleo diet eshew dairy products, since cavemen didn't own cows. If you follow a Paleo diet, you eat slightly more fat and protein than the United States Department of Agriculture 2010 Dietary Guidelines suggest. The average person on the Paleo diet consumes 39 percent of his calories from fat, compared to the recommended 35 percent. Most get 38 percent of their calories from protein, as opposed to the suggested 10 to 35 percent. In this diet, 23 percent of calories come from carbohydrate, as opposed to the USDA's 45 to 65 percent recommendation.

Vegan Dos and Donts

Vegans don't eat any foods that come from animals, including dairy products, honey from bees or eggs from chickens. Vegans get adequate protein from nuts, seeds, legumes, soy, vegetables and whole grains. Any type of fruit, vegetable or whole grain, including rice and other less-known grains such as quinoa, are allowed on a vegan diet. Eating a varied diet provides adequate nutrition for vegans, who as a group are generally thinner and have lower cholesterol, lower risk of hypertension and lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes than people who follow a non-vegan diet, reports a position paper from the American Dietetic Association published in the July 2009 issue of the "Journal of the American Dietetic Association."


The paleo diet eliminates refined carbohydrates, which contribute to weight gain, diabetes and high cholesterol. A vegan diet eliminates saturated fats in animal foods; saturated fats can raise your cholesterol levels and increase your risk of heart disease. Vegans don't consume any dietary cholesterol. However, processed foods, which vegans can eat as long as they don't contain animal products, do contain saturated fats. Both diets include healthy doses of fiber, which can help lower your cholesterol and blood glucose levels. Fiber also helps you feel full with less food, which can help with weight reduction.


Both the Paleo diet and a vegan diet can have dietary deficiencies. Both lack dairy, which provides calcium necessary for strong bones. You can, however, get calcium from other sources, such as supplements, fortified soy milk or leafy green vegetables containing calcium. Neither diet supplies adequate dietary vitamin D, which generally comes from fortified milk in the American diet, but you can synthesize vitamin D by spending 5 to 10 minutes outside without sunscreen two to three times a week, wearing clothing that exposes your arms and legs, according to the New York Times. Vegans sometimes lack iron, although dried beans, blackstrap molasses and leafy green vegetables such as spinach and kale also supply iron. Vegans can also fall short on vitamin B-12, found primarily in meats.

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Sharon Perkins


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