Followers of a paleo diet eat like we did in the Stone Age. Meat is an important part of this diet, yet many people prefer not to eat it, which is why the pegan diet has become popular: it’s the vegan version of paleo.
One thing that the vegan and paleo diets have in common is that they avoid dairy products. When it comes to meat and eggs, however, veganism and paleoism are light years apart – in the paleo diet these ingredients are central, while vegans avoid then completely. How on earth have these two opposing approaches come together?
What was missing in the paleo diet was grains, as these were not planted and cultivated until people began farming. Peganism is now pretty well bringing grains into the Stone Age – although followers of a pegan diet usually avoid eating wheat as it has a very high gluten content. Generally they prefer to consume modern pseudo-grains like quinoa, which is gluten-free.
Obviously those embracing peganism are not actually vegans, as vegans completely avoid all animal products, but for followers of paleo diets, peganism is a way of becoming flexitarian. The objective of this new diet is to include more plant-based food than on the paleo diet, thus moving in the direction of veganism, and of course there are people who effectively follow a vegan diet according to paleo principles.
The key principle of the paleo diet remains unchanged in peganism, and is to strive to eat food that has been subject to as little processing as possible and has been produced in the most environmentally friendly way possible.