The quest for the ideal diet is a personal journey with no one-size-fits-all answer. While opinions on optimal eating vary widely, the Pegan diet emerges as a balanced approach, harmonizing the core principles of both vegan and paleo lifestyles. This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the pegan diet, offering a 7-day meal plan to kickstart your journey.
What is the Pegan Diet?
The Pegan diet, a blend of “Paleo” and “Vegan,” isn’t contradictory but rather a bridge between two seemingly opposing dietary philosophies. It emphasizes consuming “real food,” stripping away rigid rules often associated with Paleo and Vegan diets, encouraging a more human-centered approach.
The Pegan diet promotes eating as our ancestors did, prioritizing:
- Abundant Fresh Vegetables (the foundation of every meal)
- Anti-Inflammatory Fats & Oils
- Raw Nuts & Seeds
- Moderate amounts of Fresh Fruits & Starchy Roots and Tubers
- Sustainably Raised Proteins
The Pegan diet acknowledges that while modern food options abound, the human body’s fundamental nutritional needs remain consistent throughout history. Similar to a plant needing water, sunlight, and fertile soil, or a high-performance car needing premium fuel, the human body requires four essential macronutrients for optimal function:
- Carbohydrates
- Proteins
- Fats
- Water
Ideally, these macronutrients should be packed with essential vitamins and minerals.
Pegan Diet Foods: A Detailed Look
What are the best, least processed, and most sustainable sources for each of these essential macronutrients and food groups?
Carbohydrates (50-66% of your plate): Prioritize dark leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, squashes, asparagus, green beans, sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots, beets, plantains, and fresh fruits (ideally organic, especially the “dirty dozen”). Soaked and sprouted beans and Jasmine white rice can be included if desired.
Proteins (25-33% of your plate): Opt for organic, pastured, grass-fed, and wild-caught chicken, fish, beef, eggs, broths, and organ meats.
Fats (25-33% of your plate): Focus on coconut oil, ghee, avocado, coconut butter, extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, raw grass-fed full-fat dairy products (if tolerated, such as yogurt, kefir, and grass-fed butter), and raw (soaked) nuts and seeds.
Animal Protein on a Pegan Diet: Yes, even animal protein has its place. Complete protein sources make up condiment-sized portions (approximately 25-33% of the average Pegan plate) for at least 1-2 meals daily, if not all three.
The protein debate is a key point of contention between Paleo and Vegan diets. The Pegan diet steers clear of extremes, emphasizing the importance of both human health and scientific evidence. It recognizes the benefits of both Paleo and Vegan approaches. Like a character strengths assessment, it encourages maximizing the advantages of both to optimize health and well-being.
Vegan Diet: The Pros
Colorful & Abundant in Vegetables: The vegan dietary philosophy is rooted in vegetable consumption. Think dark leafy greens, sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, eggplant, carrots, beets, parsnips, herbs, leeks, Brussels sprouts, and squashes.
Nutrient-Dense Whole Foods: The traditional Vegan diet emphasizes eliminating processed foods and building your diet around real, nutrient-dense options. This includes veggies, healthy fats (olive and avocado oils, olives, coconut), and moderate amounts of soaked and sprouted nuts, seeds, and beans.
Sustainability: Promoting earth-friendly practices, compassion for animals, and a connection to the land are central to the Vegan lifestyle. It advocates avoiding GMOs, hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides in farming, supporting farmers and embracing a more natural way of eating.
Simplicity: The Vegan diet’s motto is simple: Eat real foods, mostly plants.
Paleo Diet: The Pros
Balanced Macronutrients: The Paleo diet emphasizes balanced nutrition, providing the right proportions of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats for optimal function.
Nutrient-Dense Whole Foods: Similar to the Vegan diet, Paleo focuses on consuming real, nutrient-dense whole foods.
Sustainability: Paleo advocates support local farmers and sustainable agriculture, favoring pastured, grass-fed, organic animal meats, grass-fed raw dairy, organic, GMO-free produce, and non-hydrogenated, non-industrial fats and oils.
Simplicity: The Paleo diet is straightforward, centering on real food: meat and fish, nuts and seeds, veggies, some starch, a little fruit, no sugar, and plenty of water, seasoned with herbs and spices.
Not Excessively Restrictive: Beyond avoiding the standard American diet staples, Paleo allows for customization. It allows for flexibility, catering to individual needs for higher carb, higher fat, or balanced approaches.
Paleo also provides substitutes for favorite staples using anti-inflammatory ingredients. While it’s easy to rely on fun foods, Paleo pizza, pancakes, and chicken tenders can be incorporated with a focus on veggies, healthy fats, and sustainable proteins. Even properly prepared rice and beans (soaked and sprouted) can be included in moderation.
Vegan Diet: The Cons
Low Vegetable Intake: Despite the “veg” in its name, many vegan and vegetarian diets lack vegetables, relying on fruit, grains, beans, soy, and nuts and seeds as the base of meals. This can result in a lack of color and antioxidant, vitamin, and mineral-rich foods.
Soy Consumption: Soy is a common protein source for vegetarian and vegan diets, but most commercially available forms are highly processed versions of the real, fermented type.
Soy contains phytoestrogens, which can affect hormone levels, potentially disrupting the body’s hormonal balance and leading to PMS, acne, mood imbalances, breast cancer, and inflammation. Soy can also inhibit nutrient absorption due to phytates and lectins.
Processed Foods: The standard American diet often infiltrates vegan fare, including seed oils, sugar, refined flour, corn, additives, and grains. These foods can comprise over 50% of daily calories, lacking essential nutrients and contributing to weight gain, inflammation, and gut dysfunction.
Identity: For some, veganism becomes an identity beyond diet, affecting how they see themselves and the world.
Sweets & Treats: The “as long as it’s Vegan, it’s all good” mentality can lead to overconsumption of vegan pancakes, cupcakes, cookies, ice cream, and chocolate, regardless of their nutritional value.
B-Vitamin & Zinc Deficiencies: After 3-5 years, many vegans and vegetarians experience fatigue, bloating, dry skin, brain fog, and skin breakouts due to deficiencies in Vitamin B12 and Zinc, which are abundant in animal protein and organ meats.
B12 is vital for metabolism, while Zinc supports gut lining and digestion. Deficiencies can lead to “leaks” in the foundation of health, energy, immunity, skin health, metabolism, and digestion.
Blood Sugar Imbalances: A diet high in acai fruit bowls, fruit juices and smoothies, grain-based diets, bars, shakes, and low-fat intake can cause blood sugar roller coasters. Symptoms range from anger when hungry to low energy, sugar or caffeine cravings, coffee dependence, insatiable appetite, wired and tired nights, bingeing, and shakiness before meals. Fat and protein are essential to stabilize blood sugar.
Constipation & Bloating: Grains, beans, and nuts contain anti-nutrients like lectins and phytates, which can irritate the gut lining.
Furthermore, deficiencies in B-Vitamins, Zinc, and amino acids can contribute to intestinal permeability (leaky gut), IBS symptoms, and low stomach acid production.
Poor Detoxification, Fatty Liver & Gallbladder Dysfunction: Low-fat diets can impair gallbladder and liver function, hindering digestion and detoxification.
Without healthy fats, bile can concentrate in the gallbladder, potentially leading to gallstones, toxic burden, low energy, and digestive difficulties.
Paleo Diet: The Cons
Low Veggie Intake: Similar to vegan diets, Paleo can lack sufficient vegetables.
Conventional Meats: Conventional meats, often raised on Tyson farms, differ significantly from organic, pastured chicken and can contribute to inflammation and disease. These animals may consume diets equivalent to the standard American diet, including rat feces.
Conventional meat production often uses antibiotics and hormones that can disrupt gut microbiota, leading to inflammation and disease, and promote weight gain and hormone imbalances.
Processed Foods: Packaged and processed Paleo bars, shakes, jerky, crackers, and chips can replace real, whole foods, leading to nutrient deficiencies and digestive issues.
Identity: Like any diet, Paleo can become an identity, leading to guilt when deviating from strict guidelines.
Sweets & Treats: The “as long as it’s Paleo, it’s all good” mentality can result in overconsumption of Paleo pancakes, cupcakes, cookies, and ice cream, regardless of their nutritional content.
Nut Gut: Excessive consumption of nuts and seeds, staples in Paleo diets, can lead to constipation.
Nuts contain lectins and phytates, which can cause digestive issues when consumed in large quantities.
Accidental Dieting: Cutting out bread, cereals, pasta, and cheese without replacing them with nutrient- and energy-rich foods can lead to under-eating, low energy, unwanted weight gain, and a slowed metabolism.
Coffee Gone Water: Relying on Bulletproof coffee can replace nutritious breakfasts, leading to caffeine dependence and neglecting essential nutrients.
Tummy Troubles: Even with a real food diet, underlying gut problems like bacterial overgrowth, SIBO, bacterial imbalance (Dysbiosis), leaky gut, food intolerances, parasitic, fungal, and/or yeast infections can persist.
The standard Paleo diet may not address all gut issues, as some individuals may be sensitive to FODMAPS, nightshades, histamine foods, or other pro-inflammatory foods.
The Diet Bottom Line: Balance is Key
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition. Listen to your body’s needs and strive for balance. The Pegan diet aims to mitigate the cons of both Paleo and Vegan extremes while leveraging their pros.
Above all, the Pegan diet is not a restrictive diet focused on weight loss. Instead, it embraces the true meaning of the Latin word dieta, signifying a way of life.
Consider these questions when deciding if Vegan, Paleo, Pegan, or simply eating real food is right for you:
- How does my body feel?
- What signs and symptoms of imbalance and nutrient deficiency—if any—am I experiencing?
The answers can guide you in identifying missing nutrients and adjusting your approach, letting go of rigid rules and embracing a balanced way of eating real food.
Pegan Meal Plan: A 7-Day Sample
Here’s a sample 7-day Pegan meal plan:
Remember these guidelines:
- Build your plate around vegetables.
- Add 1-2 servings of healthy fats.
- Include at least a condiment-sized portion of protein with most meals.
- Avoid inflammatory foods.
| Day 1 | |
|---|---|
| Breakfast | Veggie Scramble (1-2 pastured eggs or egg yolks) with spinach, mushrooms, and yellow squash in coconut oil, Handful of fresh berries |
| Lunch | Collard green wrap with tuna + avocado oil mayo, Rainbow carrot “fries” |
| Dinner | Butternut squash + coconut milk soup with ground bison, Spinach salad with oil & vinegar |
| Day 2 | |
|---|---|
| Breakfast | Chia seed + collagen protein banana pudding |
| Lunch | Black beans, 1-2 slices organic turkey, Roasted zucchini & yellow squash with avocado oil |
| Dinner | Herb-crusted salmon, Cauliflower Rice, Sautéed Rainbow Chard |
| Day 3 | |
|---|---|
| Breakfast | Green Smoothie (coconut milk, grass-fed beef protein, ½ banana, ½ avocado) |
| Lunch | Berrylicious Salad (Greens + Shredded Chicken + Strawberries + Coconut Butter + Pecans) |
| Dinner | Pastured Chicken Thighs, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Japanese Sweet Potato with Olive Oil drizzle |
| Day 4 | |
|---|---|
| Breakfast | Pumpkin Muffin, Body Boosting Tea (chai tea + 1 tbsp. MCT oil + collagen peptides + cinnamon + vanilla) |
| Lunch | Leftover Chicken (from Day 3), Brussels Sprouts (From Day 3), Carrot Fries (from Day 3) |
| Dinner | Spaghetti Squash with Avocado Basil Pesto, Grass-fed Ground Beef, Roasted Broccoli with Nutritional Yeast |
| Day 5 | |
|---|---|
| Breakfast | Bone Broth with 1 tbsp. Ghee + Collagen (blended) |
| Lunch | Leftover Spaghetti Squash with Paleo Mayo, Greens & Turkey |
| Dinner | Cabbage “Stir Fry” with Shrimp, Carrots, Red Bell Pepper, Mushrooms & Coconut Aminos |
| Day 6 | |
|---|---|
| Breakfast | Portobello Mushrooms + 1-2 Pastured Eggs + Avocado, Asparagus Spears with Olive Oil |
| Lunch | Canned Wild Salmon, Greens, Roasted Veggies (from stir fry last night), Paleo Honey Mustard |
| Dinner | Veggie Plate (Beets, Carrots, Chard) with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds & Lemon Garlic Dressing |
| Day 7 | |
|---|---|
| Breakfast | Cherry Vanilla Smoothie (cherries, coconut milk, greens, avocado, beef isolate or Prime Plants protein powder, cinnamon) |
| Lunch | Leftover Veggie Plate Veggies, Homemade Chickpea Hummus (Soaked and sprouted) |
| Dinner | Ground Turkey & Veggie Burgers, Parsnip “Fries”, Rainbow Chard (pan-sautéed in ghee) |
