Earlier this week we discussed some of the myths and misconceptions that surround keto and vegan diets and believe me when I tell you, there are several. Understandably, there’s a lot of mystery plaguing these two eating lifestyles because the Internet is a vast space and place and on any given day, you can do a search for keto and vegan diets and come back with no less than a million results for each. Who has time to sort through all that?
To save you the hassle of doing a Google deep dive, I wanted to take some time this week to simplify keto and vegan styles of eating for you so that you can make a more streamlined, informed decision shall you decide to go either route. And yes, notice I keep referring to them as lifestyles and not “diets” in the sense that they’re restricted ways of eating. While they each require you to eliminate certain food options, the main focus is on choosing this way of eating for a lifetime and not a short period of time where temporary weight loss is your goal. Both diets have their extremes, but if you are looking at maintaining either of these as a lifestyle it is okay to be more restrictive temporarily, but best to stick with the least restrictive part of the diet that your body will tolerate for the long haul. Always keep in mind the body needs nutrients, macros, micros, trace elements, etc. Adopting a keto and/or vegan lifestyle is something that you can maintain for the long term because it helps you to eliminate harmful foods from your diet on a more permanent basis, but is designed not to be taken to extremes where whole nutrient groups are eliminated.
While there are vast differences between the two, each of them has been known to result in weight loss and healthier eating habits overall when done correctly. Here are some of the differences to note:
- Keto -Eliminates carbs beyond 20-50 grams.
- Vegan -Eliminates animal products, including eggs and dairy.
- Keto – Eliminates sugar.
- Vegan – No sugar elimination.
- Keto – You can eat animal protein.
- Vegan – You can only get protein from plant-based sources.
- Keto – Fat is the priority.
- Vegan – Plant-based foods are the priority.
- Keto – No whole grains.
- Vegan – Plenty of whole grains.
- Keto – The body uses fat as fuel.
- Vegan – The body uses carbohydrates as fuel.
Either way, you choose to go, you can’t go wrong. However, you really have to do some trial and error to see which eating lifestyle works best for you. Some of you may fare well on a high-fat diet and some of you may do better eliminating meat from your diet. It’s all about tuning in to your body and paying attention to what does and doesn’t work for you. If you decide to try the keto or vegan lifestyle or if you have tried it in the past, let us know how it worked for you! We would love to hear from you.