Hey guys, Dr. Axe here, Doctor of Functional Medicine, Nutritionist, and Founder of draxe.com.
In this video, I'm going to settle the debate of Vegan versus Paleo, and really go over
all the benefits of going Paleo and maybe some of the cons, as well as vegan, the great
benefits and the cons of going that way.
And I think that some of these answers are probably going to surprise you and enlighten
you on those two diets and maybe a diet that can kind of meet in the middle.
All right.
So let's first talk about the Paleo Diet, one of the most popular diets in CrossFit
circles and really, just growing around the country.
And the Paleo Diet is modeled after what our ancient ancestors would have eaten thousands
upon thousands of years ago.
And where I don't actually love the term "Paleo" because of some of its background and the
things it's suggesting, I do think Paleo of going grain-free can be greatly beneficial.
So again, thinking about what would a hunter and gatherer have eaten during that time?
Now the big positive with Paleo is that you're consuming a lot of wild-caught meats that
are high in omega-3 fats.
You're getting fruits.
You're getting some vegetables.
So for that reason, the Paleo Diet can be great.
The con with the Paleo Diet is that it actually tends to . . . or the people that follow the
Paleo Diet, tend to consume probably a little bit too much meat, in my opinion, as well
as some toxic animal substances.
And they really do not stress organic on that diet.
And so you can find somebody . . . I've known people on the Paleo Diet where their diet
consisted of consuming conventional butter and fried bacon, and that, if you eat that
every meal, could be considered a Paleo Diet.
So again, the Paleo Diet major benefits in terms of following that hunter-gatherer lifestyle,
you're getting more minerals, more omega-3 fats, more protein and more healthy fats overall
in your diet.
Which there are Paleo Diets if you follow it in the right way, it's been shown to help
improve autoimmune illness, really support weight loss.
So, you know, there are great benefits there with Paleo.
You just need to be careful there with not consuming too many conventional animal products.
You do want to stress going organic.
And the other thing is, they also recommend doing a lot of shrimp and pork.
And from the research that I've seen, both from ancient texts, as well as modern day
science, pork carries parasites, shrimp are bottom feeders.
In fact, according to the Water Watch Survey, they found that shrimp were by far the most
toxic of all animals of the sea . . . in fact, way more toxic than tilapia, way more toxic
than catfish and a lot of the farm fish today.
Shrimp was the worst.
So for those reasons, those are the cons with the Paleo Diet, but really overall there are
a lot of benefits of following that type of diet.
Let's talk about the Vegan diet.
Huge benefits of more enzymes, more vitamins, more minerals in your diet.
So again, Vegan diets or doing a raw plant-based diet so beneficial for improving energy levels,
alkalizing your body, reversing certain types of disease and certain types of cancer.
The issue is doing a Vegan diet long term.
Now, I'm not talking about for a few weeks or two weeks or a month.
But if you stay on that the majority of your life, you cannot get vitamin B12.
And then it's very difficult to get the proper amount of amino acids and zinc and certain
other nutrients, even like vitamin D in your diet, from consuming a Vegan diet.
So most Vegans realize this, but they really tend to be very deficient in B vitamins and
the right type of amino acids.
And yes, you can address those deficiencies by taking a good quality vitamin B12 supplement
or a B-complex supplement, as well as supplementing protein powders.
But again, following a straight Vegan diet, it is going to leave you with deficiencies.
So for that reason, if I'm comparing the two and I had to choose for my entire life to
follow one of the two diets, I would actually choose the Paleo Diet regime before the Vegan
diet.
Now, I do want to say this, there are different types of vegetarian diets that add in things
like eggs and raw organic dairy products and wild-caught fish like something like a Pescatarian.
Those types of vegetarian diets you can follow and be absolutely healthy with and have no
deficiencies whatsoever.
And so, again, there are some benefits to both.
And let me say this as well, there are some Vegans that live to be over 100 years old,
and they addressed their deficiencies.
Their digestion system was healthy enough that it helped produce B-vitamins for them.
So again, you can follow being a vegan and live to be over 100.
There are people that have been hunter-gatherers lived well to be over 100.
So again, I think both diets are probably two of the most, probably two of the three
most popular diets today, and there are obviously pros and cons with both.
My favorite diet is following more of a traditional diet or a GAPS diet.
I think a traditional diet, which is really what our ancestors ate, which wasn't just
Paleo.
You know, this diet is more 6,000 years old where you're also consuming grass-fed, dairy-like
kefir.
You're getting in a lot of vegetables, a lot of wild meats.
It's kind of everything.
And this is what's promoted by organizations like the Weston A. Price Foundation.
That's the diet I personally follow and personally love.
And when it comes to healing, the GAPS diet, another great diet for you to look into.
Hey, if you want to learn more about vegan diets, raw diets, Paleo Diets, or even some
of my favorite diets like the GAPS diet, check out draxe.com.
It's draxe.com.
I've got some great content and information on there I think you'll love, as well as my
healing food shopping list you can find on there as well.
Hey guys, thanks for watching.
This has been Dr. Axe with Paleo versus Vegan diets.