**See chart below if you are more of a visual person for a quick skim through of the specific differences (me).**
There are a few different versions of the Paleo and Primal diet depending on whose book/website you read. Loren Cordain’s version focuses more on eating lots of lean meat, vegetables with some fruit, no sugar (artificial is OK – wtf?), limit fats (avoid saturated – bummer), and the usual no dairy/grains/legumes. Robb Wolf’s is similar to this, but he eats green beans (legume), allows yams/sweet potatoes (athletes), and grass-fed butter is OK if you can tolerate it.
If you read the forums you will find that the Paleo diet varies by person. What Robb Wolf really stresses, and I encourage as well, is to go 100% Paleo for 30 days. Then experiment with adding foods to your diet to find out what works for your body (butter, potatoes, you get the idea).
OK, so what’s Primal? Mark Sisson introduced the Primal Blueprint as a lifestyle. This is what I follow, because it is more flexible and works for me: 80/20 rule, some dairy (cream, full fat Greek yogurt, cheese, butter – hell yes), more fats (another hell yes), wine (this one gets a WAHOO!), and focuses more on the quality of life. The Primal Blueprint incorporating play, sleep, sun, while avoiding stress, trauma, and chronic cardio.
Neither of these are a one size fits all solutions. Do what works best for you.
