What is an animal-based diet?

An animal-based diet emphasizes meat, organs, fish, eggs, and dairy, with limited plant foods — typically fruit, honey, and some low-toxin vegetables. It's more flexible than carnivore but far more restrictive than a standard omnivorous diet.

What is a plant-based diet?

Plant-based means the majority of calories come from plant foods, but unlike vegan, it doesn't necessarily exclude all animal products entirely — it's a spectrum, not a strict rule.

What is a vegan diet?

A vegan diet excludes all animal products, including meat, dairy, eggs, and honey, relying entirely on plant foods for every nutrient, including protein.

What is the paleo diet?

The paleo diet is based on foods presumed available to Paleolithic humans — meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, nuts, and seeds — while excluding grains, legumes, dairy, and refined sugar.

What is the carnivore diet?

The carnivore diet consists exclusively of animal products — meat, fish, eggs, and sometimes dairy — excluding all plant foods, including fruits and vegetables.

What is a vegetarian diet?

A vegetarian diet excludes meat, poultry, and fish, but typically still includes eggs and dairy, making it easier to hit protein targets than a fully vegan diet.

What is a pescatarian diet?

A pescatarian diet excludes meat and poultry but includes fish and seafood, along with eggs, dairy, and plant foods — often described as vegetarian plus fish.

What is the keto diet?

The ketogenic diet keeps carbs very low (usually under 50g/day) and fat very high (roughly 70-80% of calories) to shift the body into ketosis, burning fat and ketones for fuel instead of glucose.

What is the Mediterranean diet?

The Mediterranean diet emphasizes vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, olive oil, and fish, with red meat and processed food kept minimal — it has one of the strongest research bases of any named diet, including the landmark PREDIMED cardiovascular trial.

Diets Explained: Animal-Based, Vegan, Paleo, Keto, Carnivore, Mediterranean & More

Diets

Every diet you've heard of is really just a different rule about which foods are in or out. Pick any two below to compare them, or read the full breakdown of each.

Compare diets side by side

Select two or more diets to see their macro split, what's typically included, what's excluded, and how strong the evidence is — side by side.

Select 2 or more diets above to compare them.

Animal-based

An animal-based diet centers on meat, organs, fish, eggs, and dairy, while still allowing a limited amount of plant food — typically fruit, honey, and squash, chosen for being relatively low in the plant compounds ("antinutrients") some animal-based proponents try to avoid. It's meaningfully more flexible than carnivore, since it doesn't ban fruit outright, but far more restrictive than a standard diet. It's a newer, less clinically studied eating pattern than the others on this list, so treat specific health claims about it with more caution.

Plant-based

"Plant-based" describes a spectrum rather than one strict rule: the majority of calories come from plants, but it doesn't necessarily mean zero animal products the way vegan does. Someone eating plant-based might still have eggs or fish occasionally — the emphasis is on proportion, not a hard exclusion list.

Vegan

Vegan excludes all animal products — meat, dairy, eggs, and honey — with 100% of nutrients, including all essential amino acids, coming from plant sources.^[1] Because no single common plant food supplies complete protein the way meat, eggs, or dairy do, vegan diets require more deliberate food combining. See our full vegan macros guide.

Paleo

The paleo diet is built around foods presumed available to Paleolithic humans — lean meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, nuts, and seeds — while excluding grains, legumes, dairy, refined sugar, and processed food. It's typically high protein (19-35% of calories), moderate fat (28-58%), and relatively low carb (22-40%).^[2] See our full paleo diet guide.

Carnivore

Carnivore is the strictest pattern here: animal products only — meat, fish, eggs, sometimes dairy — with zero plant foods, including fruits and vegetables. Cutting out entire food groups removes fiber and several plant-derived compounds linked to lower chronic disease risk, and clinicians caution that long-term nutrient deficiencies (vitamin C, magnesium, calcium) are a real risk without careful planning.^[3] See our full carnivore diet guide.

Keto

The ketogenic diet keeps carbs very low — usually under 50g/day, roughly 5-10% of calories — and fat very high (70-80%), with moderate protein, to push the body into ketosis and rely on fat and ketones for fuel instead of glucose. See our full keto diet guide. Common early side effects ("keto flu") come from rapid sodium and water loss, not the ketones themselves — see our keto flu explainer.

Mediterranean

The Mediterranean diet emphasizes vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, and olive oil as the principal fat, with fish regularly and red meat rarely. It has one of the strongest research bases of any named diet — the landmark PREDIMED trial found roughly 30% fewer major cardiovascular events in people following it.^[4] See our full Mediterranean diet guide.

Vegetarian

Vegetarian excludes meat, poultry, and fish but usually keeps eggs and dairy, which makes hitting protein targets considerably more straightforward than fully vegan, since eggs and dairy are already complete proteins. See our full vegetarian macros guide.

Pescatarian

Pescatarian excludes meat and poultry but includes fish and seafood alongside eggs, dairy, and plant foods — essentially vegetarian plus fish. Research associates regular seafood intake with meaningfully lower cardiovascular risk, largely via omega-3 fatty acids.^[5] See our full pescatarian diet guide.

Which one is "best"?

None of these is universally optimal — each is a different set of food-group restrictions, and the research consistently points to total calories, protein adequacy, and diet quality (whole foods vs. processed) mattering more for most health outcomes than which specific pattern you follow. The right one is the one that hits your protein target, fits your life, and you can sustain.

Calculate your macros on any diet →

Keep reading: The Mediterranean diet explained · The ketogenic diet explained · Vegan macros guide