Differences Between the Weston A.

Price Foundation
Diet and the Paleo Diet
westonaprice.org /health-topics/differences-between-the-weston-a-price-foundation-diet-and-the-
paleo-diet/

Sally Fallon Morell

We are posting this information to clear up the considerable confusion about the Weston A. Price
Foundation dietary principles and the “paleo diet.” We feel it necessary to do this because we often
hear the two diets mentioned together—“the Weston Price Paleo Diet”—and we feel it very important to
notethat the principles of these two diets are not the same.

Rest assured, we are not doing this to “attack” anyone personally; we are posting this information
because we have a duty to provide accurate information about nutrition.

We are aware that many people experience short-term benefits from the paleo diet, especially people
coming off the Standard American Diet (SAD) or vegan/vegetarian diets. However, in the long term, the
paleo diet can lead to cravings and serious deficiencies.

We also appreciate the fact that many people who have adopted paleo diets are supporting farmers
and ranchers who produce pasture-raised animal foods; and many paleo dieters are members of the
Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund.

We also realize that there are many versions of the paleo diet, some of which incorporate some of the
WAPF dietary principles. Nevertheless, the principles proposed by the two main spokesmen for the
paleo diet—Loren Cordain and Robb Wolf—have virtually NO points in common with the WAPF
principles.

For reviews of these two books, see

The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain: www.westonaprice.org/thumbs-down-reviews/paleo-diet

The Paleo Diet Solution by Robb Wolf: www.westonaprice.org/thumbs-down-reviews/the-paleo-

solution-byrobb-wolf

A Google search for “Paleo Diet” brings up first the Loren Cordain and Robb Wolf websites, along with
the Wikipedia entry for the paleo diet; The following analysis compares the WAPF diet with the
paleodiet principles expressed in these websites and the books by Cordain and Wolf

WAPF DIET .. PALEO DIET

Animal Foods Eat the whole animal, including the meat, fat, organ .. Only lean muscle
meats, bones, cartilage and skin (poultry, pork). meats, no added fat
.

Meat Should be pasture-raisedfor higher levels of minerals, .. Prefer pasture-raised

and vitamins, especially fat-soluble vitamins and because it is lean.
minimal hormones, antibiotics and other harmful
chemicals; always eat meat with the fat. If the meat
is lean, prepare it with added fat.
.
Organ Meats More important than muscle meats, should be .. No mention of organ
consumed frequently meats
.

Poultry Always eat with the fat and skin; make pate with the .. Skinless; no organ
livers and hearts; eat the gizzards also meats
.

Pork OK to consume when cured (bacon, ham), marinated .. No special preparation

in an acidic medium before cooking, or with a lacto- needed.
fermented food such as sauerkraut
.

Seafood Wild seafood, particularly shellfish, oily fish, fish .. Wild fish and shellfish,
heads, fish liver oils and fish eggs. Prepare seafood no added fat
with added fat. Eat the skin of the fish.
.

Raw Animal All traditional cultures consumed some of their animal .. Not mentioned.
Food food raw; so it is important to include raw dairy, raw
meat, raw fish and/or raw shellfish in the diet on a
frequent basis.
.

Eggs Preferably pastured-raised; emphasis on egg yolks .. Allowed; no emphasis

rather than egg whites on pasture-feeding;
. extra egg whites
encouraged.

Vegetables Raw or cooked, always with added fat, such as butter .. Raw or cooked, no
. added fat

Fruit Raw or cooked, some fruits more digestible when .. Raw, no added fat
cooked; add fat (butter or cream) or consume in the
context of a meal containing fat.
.

Grains Recommended on the observation that many healthy .. No grains, based on the
primitive and traditional peoples included grain in theory that paleolithic
their diets; need to be properly prepared to neutralize peoples had no grains
anti-nutrients and improve digestibility. Individuals in their diet, and also
who have trouble with grains may be able to eat them because grains contain
(properly prepared) after following the GAPS (Gut various anti-nutrients.
and Psychology Syndrome) protocol
.

Legumes Should be included in the diet; need proper .. Not allowed, because
(beans, lentils, preparation to neutralize anti-nutrients. Legumes are they contain anti-
etc.) consumed as a major source of calories by many nutrients
healthy traditional cultures throughout the world.
.

Nuts Good to include in the diet after careful preparation to .. Allowed, even though
neutralize anti-nutrients. nuts also contain anti-
. nutrients (just like
grains and legumes).
No special preparation
recommended.
.
Starchy Can be included in the diet. Should be well cooked .. Potatoes/carbohydrates
carbohydrates and consumed with a fat, like butter not allowed, although
(potatoes, . Wolf includes sweet
yams, sweet potatoes in some of his
potatoes) recipes
.

Dairy (milk, Should be raw, whole, full fat. Wonderful foods for .. Not allowed
cheese, growing children.
cream, .
yoghurt, kefir,
etc.)

Butter Consume liberally .. Consume only

. occasionally (Wolf) or
not at all (Cordain)
.

Meat fats— Consume liberally .. Not recommended.

lard, tallow, etc .

Oils No industrial oils (corn, soy, canola, etc); Olive oil and .. No industrial oils (corn,
coconut oil allowed, but the diet needs to also include soy, canola, etc). Very
liberal amounts of animal fats. small amounts of olive
. oil and coconut oil
allowed.
.

Lacto- Include with every meal. .. “Not worth the hassle”

fermented . and a source of “too
foods much salt.” Take a
probiotic pill instead.
.

Bone broths Consume liberally .. Not mentioned

.

Fat-soluble Most important WAPF principle; consume liberally of .. Wolf: “Vitamins A, D

activators, foods that contain them. and K, Who Cares?”
Vitamins A, D .
and K

Vitamin D Needs to be consumed as part of food, in balance .. Take 2-5000 IU per day
with vitamin A. as a supplement, with
. no supporting vitamin A

Vitamin A Animal form of vitamin A vital to health; vitamin A-rich .. Avoid animal form of
foods need to be balanced by foods containing vitamin A. Claims
vitamin D. Precursors (carotenes) in plant foods are a adequate vitamin A can
poor source of vitamin A for humans; many lack the be obtained from the
enzymes needed for conversion. pre-cursors in plant
. foods.

Calcium Best source is raw dairy foods; cultures that don’t .. Paleo diets provide only
have dairy foods made use of bones (fermented fish about half the RDA of
bones or bones of small birds and animals ground up calcium, virtually all
and added to food). from plant foods. Oxalic
. acid, phytic acid and
other mineral blockers
make assimilation of
calcium from plant
foods difficult.
Protein No more than 20% of calories .. 30-35% of calories.
. Protein levels this high
will deplete vitamin A.

Fats Can be anywhere from 30-80% of calories, with .. 39 % of calories, with

saturated fat predominating. When fat intake is low, monounsaturated fatty
balance of calories needs to come from acids predominating
carbohydrates (which the body can turn into saturated
fat).
.

Saturated Fat No limit. Saturated fats are critical for good health. .. Only 7% of calories
. (about 3 ½ teaspoons
per day). No
carbohydrate foods in
the diet that the body
can turn into saturated
fat.

Carbohydrates Some carbohydrate in the diet is necessary. Avoid .. Carbohydrates not

refined carbs. necessary. Avoid both
. refined and unrefined
carbs.

Processed No industrially processed foods; eat liberally of foods .. No processed foods

Foods prepared by artisan processors (lacto-fermented
foods and beverages, naturally cured meats, cheese,
sourdough bread, etc)
.

Fish liver oils Recommended as a daily supplement for vitamins A .. Not recommended
and D
.

Fish oils Not recommended; can overload the body with .. Recommends up to 2
omega-3 fatty acids and interfere with arachidonic tablespoons fish oil per
acid. Human requirements for omega-3 fatty acids day.
like DHA are actually very low.
.

Salt Very important; adults need at least 1½ teaspoons .. Little or no salt

per day; we consumed up to 3 teaspoons per day in
the past
.

Cholesterol Very important to have enough cholesterol for .. Total cholesterol should
hormone production, production of bile salts, healing be kept at 120-140
and repair, protection against cancer. For men under mg/dl. Very low levels
60, no additional risk for heart disease with of cholesterol in this
cholesterol levels up to 300 mg/dl. For women at any range are associated
age, and for men over 60, higher cholesterol levels with increased rates of
are associated with longevity; no need for these cancer, intestinal
groups to reduce cholesterol levels even if very high. diseases, violence and
. depression, accidents
and suicide.

Chocolate Not recommended .. Allowed

.

Coffee (and Not recommended .. Allowed

tea) .
 Alcohol Wine and unpasteurized beer in moderation with .. Tequila on an empty
meals stomach.
.

Pre- Nutrient-dense diet, rich if fat-soluble vitamins, .. No special diet

Conceptual extremely important to ensure the health of the next recommended.
and generation.
Pregnancy
Diet

RECOMMENDED READING

Letters on the Paleo Diet: Link

Guts and Grease by Sally Fallon Morell: http://www.westonaprice.org/traditional-diets/guts-and-grease

Precious Yet Perilous by Chris Masterjohn: http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/precious-yet-

perilous

On the Trail of the Elusive X Factor by Chris Masterjohn: http://www.westonaprice.org/fat-soluble-

activators/x-factor-is-vitamin-k2

The Right Price: http://www.westonaprice.org/basics/the-right-price

The Cod Liver Oil Debate: http://www.westonaprice.org/cod-liver-oil/cod-liver-oil-debate

BOOK REVIEWS
Tending the Wild by M Kat Anderson: http://www.westonaprice.org/thumbs-up-reviews/tending-the-
wild-by-m-kat-anderson

The Biggest Estate on Earth by William Gammage: Link

VIDEOS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggr1KkNOBGk

30-35% of calories. Protein levels this high will deplete vitamin A.