What Is the Pegan Diet?

It's Not as Simple as Paleo + Vegan 

This diet plan combines aspects of a vegan diet, which avoids all animal products, and the Paleo diet, which focuses on consuming the types of foods our ancient ancestors supposedly ate during the Paleolithic era. If simultaneously eating like a caveman and cutting out all animal products sounds tough, you're right. While the pegan diet does allow some meat, fish, and eggs, it still limits whole grains, dairy, and legumes.

It's really simple eat foods low in sugar and starch . Eat lots of plant foods. If you're going to eat animal foods, eat sustainably grown or harvested foods. Have foods that have lots of good fat, like nuts and seeds, olive oil and avocados.

Foods to Eat

Vegetables Low-glycemic (non-starchy) veggies make up the bulk of the die

Fruit The more variety, the better.

Nuts Eat lots of almonds, pistachios, walnuts, and other nuts besides peanuts.

Seeds Flax, chia, pumpkin, and other seeds also get the thumbs-up

Fish Choose low-mercury options like sardines, herring, and anchovies.

Meat Grass-fed beef, pork, and poultry are emphasized.

Eggs Are an inexpensive source of vital nutrients and protein.

Some Oils Olive and avocado oil have heart-healthy fats.

Foods to Avoid

Dairy Avoid milk, yogurt, butter, and cheese, especially if it's made with cow's milk. Sheep or goat's milk are allowed in small amounts. 

Grains Gluten is strongly discouraged, but small amounts of gluten-free whole grains are okay

Legumes Starchy legumes (including peanuts) especially get nixed, but lentils are allowed

Sugar Use it sparingly and skip sweetened products.

Some Refined Oils These include canola, sunflower, corn, and soybean oil.

Processed Foods Skip stuff made with lots of artificial additives.

What are the benefits?

The concept behind flipping the ratio of real, whole, plant-based foods with meat because it supports inclusivity over exclusivity. It's the real-life application of making your plate more veggie-based and adding meat in smaller portions.

Doubling down on veggies and fruit can help you lose weight because produce contains more filling fiber and less calories than other foods that generally populate our plates. 

What are the downsides?

While the pegan diet has more wiggle room than the paleo diet and veganism, following all of those rules can be a needlessly tough way to lose weight. 

Plenty of research indicates that both fiber- and nutrient-packed whole grains and legumes can absolutely be a part of a healthful diet. Plus they're still plant-based — many vegans rely on antioxidant-filled beans as an important protein source.

And if you enjoy eating milk, cheese, yogurt, and, yep, dessert, there's room for that too. "A life without sugar is no life at all and pointless, because attempting to restrict something your body may want to have will inevitably backfire.

Should I try it?

The general, real-life design of the pegan diet is okay at best. There are a lot of claims surrounding what makes specific attributes of specific diets so 'life-changing' these days, but in large part we’re buying into marketing instead of general tenants of health and wellbeing.

Eat more veggies, more fruit, more plant-based protein in the form of pulses (chickpeas, beans, peas, lentils) and nuts, plus unsweetened dairy and plant-based oils. Make the conscious choice to indulge in dessert, donuts, and fries when it works for you rather than assigning arbitrary value to foods and labeling them as "good" or "bad."