So many diets grace the cover of magazines that it’s hard to keep up with what’s en vogue in the weight loss world. Two of the most common diets in recent years are the paleo diet and keto diet. Each lean heavily on a meal plan featuring low carbohydrate foods, but they couldn’t be more different. Our Vegas weight loss experts weigh in on keto vs. paleo diets below!
Ketones and Ketosis: Weight Loss with the Keto Diet
The popular Atkins diet taught us low carb was a great way to lose weight, and keto capitalizes on that thought. The keto diet works through a process called ‘ketosis’. Ketosis is a state of being where the body uses fat instead of carbohydrates as an energy source. To get into ketosis, you need to follow a very strict diet of high fat, medium protein, and very low carbohydrate intake. With carbs at about 5 – 10% of your total diet (all carbs included, such as the traditionally healthy ones such as sweet potatoes), the liver turns fat stores into a compound called ‘ketones’. These ketones are then used as an energy source, burning fat instead of carbs from your body and resulting in weight loss. While it is highly effective, the keto diet requires severe dietary limitations. Because of the duress your body goes through during the process of turning fat into ketones, you shouldn’t bounce in and out of ketosis. Leaving ketosis regularly renders the diet useless, so if you’re thinking about trying the keto diet be aware it requires a commitment. The good news is there are plenty of local resources to help you stay committed! Keto’s boom has led to many specialized restaurants popping up in Las Vegas, which makes weight loss relatively easy to achieve on this diet
Eating Like Our Ancestors Through the Paleo Diet
Keto and paleo get lumped together frequently, but they couldn’t be more different. While keto focuses on a very low carbohydrate diet, paleo doesn’t limit carb intake at all. Instead, the paleo diet works by allowing a varied meal plan of whole, unprocessed foods. The term ‘Paleo’ refers to the paleolithic times when hunter/gatherer types would eat a local diet. Back then there weren’t any ways to process foods such as rice, wheat, or sugar so most foods were whole. The idea behind this diet is you’re unlimited with what foods you can eat as long as it’s unprocessed. A whole tomato is fine, but canned tomato sauce is not. Fortunately, the paleo diet is highly accessible in modern times! In olden times, Vegas wouldn’t have provided a very balanced diet. Now, however, resources include the grocery store which makes weight loss in Vegas on the paleo diet a breeze. The only downside of the paleo diet is while the types of food you can eat is less limited than the keto diet, you need to be more careful about processing and preparation. Things such as starchy vegetables (sweet potatoes, yams, etc.) are allowed while grains are not since they require a complicated harvesting and cooking process.
Keto vs. Paleo: Which Would a Vegas Weight Loss Expert Recommend?
Both the keto and paleo diets have their own benefits. Keto is excellent for rapid weight loss as once those ketones start burning fat you’re sure to see the pounds drop off. The paleo diet remains well balanced and offers a variety of options. This makes it an easy choice for someone who wants to lose weight but also keep their diet varied. As with any diet, the downside is that both keto and paleo count as a full lifestyle change. Each requires you to make a full dietary adjustment with not a lot of room for compromise. The second you stop doing the diet, it’s over and you’ll need to restart. What a Vegas weight loss expert will always recommend is making an adjustment that will fit with your lifestyle long term. Whether this is going with keto and sticking to it the rest of your life or simply adjusting your diet to be lower calorie, a diet needs to be something you’re committed to. Finding a weight loss plan which suits you doesn’t need to be hard if you have an expert guiding you! For more diet tips and info contact Advanced Medical Weight Loss & Wellness Center.