Primal vs Paleo? page

[Bosnic]

I was first introduced to the "Paleo diet", which essentially includes shaping your diet around how humans have eaten for the majority of our existence. And then I stumbled across this site, and some people are hinting that there is a difference between paleo and primal.

What is the difference? (except for the fact Primal is basically Mark's "trademark")

[adamm]

They are compatible. Paleo seems to be a bit more "hard core" and stringent. No legumes, dairy, etc - ie only eat what our paleolithic ancestors ate, and nothing else. Primal seems to be more or less the same, but with a bit more common sense thrown into the equation.

Lawyers could probably find a more clear difference, but I wouldn't bother. Except them as more or less the same thing.

--Me

[Dracil]

What’s the Difference Between Primal and Paleo? | Mark's Daily Apple

One thing to note is that Robb Wolf of the Paleo Solution actually eats Primal.

[IvyBlue]

Have dinner w/ a bunch of strict paleo's and tell me you aren't ready to run screaming from the building. Shoot me for saying it but primal: paleo=vegetarian:vegan.

[athomeontherange]

Have dinner w/ a bunch of strict paleo's and tell me you aren't ready to run screaming from the building. Shoot me for saying it but primal: paleo=vegetarian:vegan.

Ack!!! Harsh! funny and thought provoking but harsh!

[Velocity]

If you were to take the entirety of eating perspectives, and start breaking them down by category, the chain would work like this...


All Food ---> Real Food (no frankenfoods) ---> Primal ---> Paleo

In effect, Paleo is a subset of the "Primal" perspective.

[athomeontherange]

Truly I always thought dairy was the main component between the two.

Makes sense Velocity.

[Lily Marie]

The dairy and the lean animal protein seem to be the main differences.
I started reading about the Paleo diet first - I became angry and red flags popped up when I got to the part of "leanest cuts possible" and "Chicken breast, not thighs"

Eff You!! The thighs are my favorite part! Tell me not to eat dark meat - I might rip your throat out. i've also learned that if I don't eat a large amount of fat in my diet, things go bad.

Fatty red meat is my good friend. As is heavy whipping cream.

Paleo is not for me. Primal is much better for my personal situation.

[leomeister]

Eff You!! The thighs are my favorite part! Tell me not to eat dark meat - I might rip your throat out. i've also learned that if I don't eat a large amount of fat in my diet, things go bad.

Ditto! Also, I think the biggest reason for my success with Primal is Mark's 80% philosophy -- sure I strive for 100% daily, but don't feel bad when I slip down to 90%. On occasion I'll dip down to 80%! I think on average I'm a 90% Primal eater.

[beachrat]

Yeah, I see paleo as a more ascetic version of primal -- much closer to Atkins/low-carb and more of a diet. Thus the lean meats and fat avoidance, which frankly makes it unsustainable for most people (also perhaps one reason the people who stick with it can get kind of fanatical, in my experience).

Primal is more flexible and less obsessed with historical/archeological caveman practices, more holistic (the 80/20 is to my mind all about stress reduction), and therefore a bit harder to pin down