Yes, the Primal Diet Will Help You Lose Weight—But Nutritionists Say It's Great For You Too

Emily Laurence
·6 min read
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Here's everything you need to know about it.

If you started 2023 off by vowing to eat healthier, you may have opened up your pantry and done a clean sweep of anything ultra-processed or high in sugar. But unless you’ve replenished your shelves with other foods to eat, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Science has shown that overly restrictive diets don’t work long-term. After all, you have to eat something.

Cutting back on nutrient-void foods is a good goal, but replacing them with something else is key. Having some ground rules to help plan your meals and guide your snack choices can go a long way in terms of sticking with eating healthy long-term. While there’s certainly no shortage of eating plans to choose from, one that many find particularly beneficial in nixing processed foods from their diet is the Primal diet.

Related: 100 Different Diet Plans That Could Help You Lose Weight—We've Got Tons of Into to Help You Decide 

What Is the Primal Diet?

The Primal diet is an eating plan developed by Mark Sisson, a former triathlete and the founder of the food company Primal Blueprint. “Sisson is a former elite endurance athlete and health coach who became interested in the role that diet and lifestyle play in promoting good health. He developed the Primal diet as a way to share his insights and ideas with others, with the goal of helping people through simple, practical, and sustainable lifestyle changes,” says holistic nutritionist Kelly LeVeque, who regularly works with Primal Blueprint.

LeVeque says that the Primal diet is based on the idea that our bodies are adapted to a certain way of eating and living, and that by aligning our diet and lifestyle with the way our bodies are designed to function, we can optimize our health. If you think this sounds a lot like the Paleo diet, you’re right; it’s true that the Primal diet and the Paleo diet have a lot in common, but there are key differences too.

Related: What Is the Paleo Diet? From Rules to Recipes, Here's Everything You Need to Know 

“The Paleo and Primal eating recommendations are similar and are both based on what their creators assumed our ancestors were eating. However, Primal is a bit less strict than Paleo, allowing for dairy products, nutrient-rich nightshade vegetables and even some legumes, all of which can add nutrient density and benefits to any eating pattern,” says registered dietitian Kelly Jones, MS, RD, CSSD.

Primal Diet Foods To Eat

  • Fruits and vegetables

  • High-quality meat and fish (that isn’t overly processed)

  • Eggs

  • Nuts and seeds

  • Healthy fats (including olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, grass-fed butter, and ghee)

  • Dairy, in moderation

Primal Diet Foods To Avoid

  • Inflammatory oils (including vegetable oil and soybean oil)

  • Processed foods with sugar, trans- or hydrogenated fats, artificial ingredients, or other chemicals

  • Grains

  • Soy

  • Corn

  • Sugar and artificial sweeteners

“In addition, the Primal diet emphasizes the importance of regular physical activity, adequate sleep and stress management, which are also important for overall health and wellbeing,” LeVeque says.

Related: This Is the Very Worst Food for Liver Health, According to Dietitians

What Are the Benefits of the Primal Diet?

“What I love about this diet is that it really challenges someone who is on it to eliminate ultra-processed foods,” says registered dietitian Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RDN. She says that these types of foods have been repeatedly linked with negative impacts on both physical and mental health. In fact, a diet high in overly processed foods is even linked to living a shorter life.

When you make the switch from a standard American diet to the Primal diet, Kirkpatrick says you can expect to feel more energized and may even experience a boost in mood. This is because by eating the foods that are part of the Primal diet, you’ll be getting great protein, healthy fats and fiber—all of which are linked to overall health. LeVeque says that people switching to the Primal diet can also experience better digestion (due to the increase in fiber) and a more robust immune system.

LeVeque says that this way of eating can be especially beneficial for people with high blood pressure, high cholesterol or Type 2 diabetes. By following the Primal diet, you’ll automatically be reducing your sugar and sodium intake, which directly affects these health conditions.

You may be wondering why it’s recommended to minimize grains, soy and corn while following the Primal diet—after all, these foods do have nutrient value. LeVeque says that the reason why these foods are downplayed in the Primal diet is that they are considered to be less nutrient-dense than the foods that are emphasized in the eating plan. “In addition, wheat and corn are often genetically modified and may contain high levels of pesticides, which can be harmful to human health,” she says. Kirkpatrick points out that these ingredients are commonly found in overly processed foods, so by eliminating them, you’ll automatically be cutting down on the amount of overly processed foods too.

Are There Any Downsides to the Primal Diet?

Clearly, there are many benefits to following the Primal diet, but there are some downsides to it too. Following the Primal diet will likely require more food prep and cooking and Jones says that this can be challenging for people who work a lot, are caring for children or have other life stressors that prevent them from having time to cook. She says some may find it to be more expensive too.

Jones also points out that there is no one perfect diet for everyone. One’s individual health goals, cultural background and personal preferences must be considered when they are trying to decide what eating plan works best for them. For example, if someone chooses to live a vegan lifestyle, they may decide to follow a diet that allows for the consumption of tofu, a protein-rich food that is minimized when following the Primal diet.

“There is no one size fits all approach and many factors outside of what we choose to eat can also impact our health and longevity,” Kirkpatrick says. “Keeping your diet high in nutrient density, managing stress, focusing on gut-friendly foods and getting adequate sleep may all work together to benefit health.”

You may find that following the Primal diet helps you cut back on sugar and processed foods that are negatively impacting your physical and mental health. But if it’s not for you, rest assured that there are plenty of other healthy ways to eat. The key is to find what works best for you.

Next up, find out what the one food to avoid is if you don't want to gain weight.

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