A thoughtful hybrid, with the same legume-and-grain blind spot as its paleo half.
Pegan (paleo + vegan) is Dr. Mark Hyman's attempt to combine what he considers the best of both frameworks — mostly plants, like vegan eating, with high-quality animal protein in moderation and grains/legumes minimised, like paleo.
| Dimension | Pegan Diet | THE FAD |
|---|---|---|
| Core rule | A hybrid of paleo and vegan principles — mostly plants, high-quality animal protein in moderation, no processed food, grains or legumes minimized | No hybrid rule required — scores any pattern on its own merits |
| Origin | Popularised by Dr. Mark Hyman, a physician associated with functional medicine | N/A |
| Overlap | Heavy emphasis on vegetables, healthy fats and minimal processed food — a strong match for several Food signals | Rewards these same qualities directly |
Pegan's core emphasis — vegetables as the majority of the plate, healthy fats, minimal processed food and added sugar — overlaps substantially with THE FAD's highest-weighted Food signals.
Like paleo, Pegan minimises legumes and grains more than the fibre research alone would suggest is necessary — as with our paleo comparison, THE FAD doesn't penalise well-prepared legumes and whole grains the way this framework's rules do.
The best way to understand the difference is to see what a real day scores.
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