Paleo vs Vegan

It is easy to assume that as an individual following a Paleo lifestyle that I would have nothing but bad things to say about vegans.  You wouldn't be wrong to assume that, since many of the well known Paleo evangelists tend to quickly put down vegans or anything that isn't at least in the low carb realm.  In reality I think there are far more things that these two communities have in common.

I have a close friend that went all-in vegan about 6 months ago.  He has shared his before and after blood work, body fat, and I run with him regularly.  It is remarkable how close our results align to one another.  He has lost just about the same amount of weight. His body fat change is nearly identical.  He is running at about the same level.  And while our blood stats are somewhat different he has also had very significant improvements, especially in triglycerides.  So with all that it is a little hard for me to look at him and explain why he should eat steak instead of beans and grains.  

Who am I really comparing

Many vegans start out as vegetarians and ultimately make the choice due to ethical convictions. I am not going to address those differences. The remaining vegans are dietary vegans and have made the switch as an attempt at losing weight and/or get healthy basically the same reason I am Paleo.  

A breakdown of the similarities

• It's about getting healthy
• It's about whole foods
• It's about sustainable and ethical food production
• It's about eating and living naturally

And the differences

• Vegans don't eat meat
• Vegans don't eat eggs
• Paleo don't eat legumes 
• Paleo don't eat grains

Ok, I admit if you really dig there are lots of nuances to both vegan and Paleo lifestyles that could make these lists very long.  You can even find differences between vegans themselves or individual Paleo.  What I listed above are the fundamental similarities and differences I think most can agree on.

So what does this really mean 

Look around you, head out to any restaurant, grocery store, or any public place.  It is amazing how few lean people you will see.  It is amazing what you see in people's carts at the grocery store.  Look at your friends and family.  How many are overweight?  How many are 20, 30, 40 pounds overweight but believe they are healthy because so many people are 50, 60, 70 pounds overweight.  How many people do you know that eat something and assume it is healthy but you know better.  Here is the reality, our country and most of the developed world is in a total health crisis.  The solution to this crisis is actually pretty simple and straight forward.  Individuals are so inundated with false information partnered with a dependency on processed calorie rich, nutrient sparse foods that they lose the forest in the trees.  I eat meat and my friend eats beans and grain but ultimately we want the same thing.  We want to live a long happy healthy life.  We want to impact the lives of others around us and show them what we were able to accomplish and that it is not impossible.  We want to change the path our society is on.  Vegans and Paleo should be arm and arm and save the grain vs meat debate for a time when a majority of our bothers and sisters are eating healthy whole foods.

Thanks for stopping by,

Chuck