Comparing Different Diets
There are too many diets to talk about in one simple post, but I thought I’d mention a few popular ones here to go over what they really are and clear up any confusion. If you have trouble deciding what your diet should be like, please reach out and send me an email. I’d love to talk with you about finding the right eating style for your body and lifestyle.
VEGAN
Veganism is a total lifestyle shift. Vegans do not consume any meat products. This includes foods like butter, eggs, fish, and honey too. If it comes from an animal, vegans don’t consume it. They base their diets on plant foods and can rely on starches like beans and grains for nutrition as well. Vegans often look at other products besides foods as well and do not buy things like leather or fur. Vegetarians are less strict than vegans, and have many different variations. Vegan is one of the most strict diets with no meat products whatsoever.
PALEO
The Paleolithic diet is one that cuts out many carbs and starches. It is based on the thought that our hunter-gatherer ancestors did not have access to grains. They ate things they could easily find around them. For example, they found nourishment from activities such as hunting animals and gathering berries. Besides grains, most on the Paleo diet avoid legumes (beans, lentils, etc.), sugars and processed foods, dairy, and refined oils (vegetable oil, corn oil, etc.) as well. Paleo dieters usually still enjoy nuts, seeds, eggs, fish, fruits, vegetables, herbs, and more. It is not the most restrictive diet, but can still be a major shift for many trying it.
KETO
The ketogenic diet severely limits carbohydrates and increases fats. The goal is to get your body into ketosis, changing what it burns for fuel. This increases the burning of fat, helping many people to lose unwanted pounds. There are a couple different types of ketogenic diets, where the ratios of macronutrients vary and the timings of how you eat can shift. Those on a keto diet cut down on foods like sugar, alcohol, grains and starches, fruits, beans, root vegetables, and processed oils. They eat lots of meats, dairy, fish, nuts and seeds, and other high-fat foods like avocados and healthy oils. This diet is definitely not for everyone and can be a challenge to do well and in a healthy way. There are other similar diets that are less severe and just lower carb intake overall.
OTHER
There are tons of diets out there to choose from or alter to suit yourself. A few more popular things include low-fat, low-carb, high-protein, whole foods, plant-based, 80/20, etc. And then there are programs and resets like Whole30, Atkins, Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, DASH, Jenny Craig, and more. With so many options, it can be really confusing to choose what way of eating is right for you. There’s also the pressure to subscribe to one way of eating or one specific diet. I think that over time, we will naturally eat differently in various seasons of our lives. I personally don’t claim to follow one type of diet, I just try to listen to my body and eat a bit more intuitively, but also give myself some healthy structure with plenty of fruits and vegetables.
If you want to talk more about diet and nutrition, leave a comment or send me an email at nourishmentwithnicole@gmail.com. I’d be happy to work with you to figure out what type of diet would be best for you to try or what small shifts you can make over time to eat healthier overall. Making a huge change at once and eating completely differently can often be very difficult. You might not be able to sustain it. This is why going on a diet often doesn’t work. Making healthy changes a bit at a time to adjust your lifestyle overall is a more guaranteed way to do things. I believe everyone is different, no one exact diet is right for everyone. Can’t wait to hear from you!