Keto Vs Vegan Diet: Which Is Better And More Popular?

The ketogenic diet vs the “tried and true” vegan diet.

Which is the better and more popular one?

I say tried and true because the vegan diet has famously:

Been pushed and studied for decades.
Promoted heavily.
Prioritized over other diets.
Exaggerated more than any other diet (interpret that how you want).

And it’s the one diet that’s been famous for a long time thanks to the mainstream being behind it.

The ketogenic diet on the other hand:

Has been around even longer technically, but was more niche.
Has been promoted a lot less.
Has gained MAJOR ground since the 2010s, especially in the late 2010s.
And is seen by some as a “fad” diet.

So let’s break down the:

Popularity.
Success.
Statistics.

And data of both diets when put against each other, with:

Timeframes.
Historical data.
Present data.

And everything relevant in between!

Keto vs vegan diet nutrition

red and black berries on white surface

The main differences between the ketogenic diet and vegan are:

Grains.
Gluten.
Wheat.
Honey.
Higher-carb vegetables and fruits.
Vegan food alternatives which are higher in carbs (vegan cheese, etc).

And any other food that’s labelled “vegan” because it sounds good. Which are all fake versions of the real thing.

The ketogenic diet avoids all high-carb refined foods, which automatically excludes grains, gluten, white flour products, potatoes, high-carb veg or fruits like Bananas, and so on.

Or put another way: the ketogenic diet is 100% real whole food without the bullshit.

Following a vegan diet CAN include whole foods, but with so many products labelled vegan (like cheese or meat of all things), these things are best avoided for nutrition.

I’m talking about the cheese and meat they make with “vegan” products by the way.

The same is true with Keto these days. Keto products aren’t always keto and are therefore not whole foods. So you need to be educated on both ends of the stick.

person holding white ceramic plate

I don’t think it can be argued that the ketogenic diet offers more:

Vitamins.
Minerals.

And nutrition overall though, since it also includes:

Liver.
Meats.
Fish.
Seafood.
Dairy.
Eggs.
Green Vegetables.
Berries.

All of which are loaded with every vitamin (including vitamin C in meats and seafood) that vegans need to supplement with and are deficient in.

Iron, B12, etc.

Now let’s move on to statistics and data.

Keto vs vegan diet statistics in the last 12 months (2022-2023)

As we can see from May 2022 to the present day in 2023, the ketogenic diet is absolutely dominating on the internet.

This data is from a worldwide perspective, so it’s not specific to a country making it more broad and generalized.

The vegan diet is hanging on by a thread since 2022.

Keto diet vs vegan diet in the past 5 years (2018-2023)

I was surprised by this result. In the last 5 years (2018-2023) the keto diet has been dominating the vegan diet, with a slight slowdown since 2022.

It’s still rising though and above the vegan diet as far as popularity and internet searches.

Again, I’m surprised a lot.

The keto diet vs vegan diet from 2004 till today

We can clearly see if measured from 2004, that the vegan diet was absolutely killing it. Well, I’m exaggerating slightly but it was the winner for many years.

But then something happened in January 2017 where keto took off and has been in the lead ever since as far as popularity goes.

In 2015-2016 it was almost even, but 2017 is the point where things changed. This is the reason the keto diet (blue bar) is higher than the vegan diet overall.

The big spike made the difference.

Top 7 countries for those interested in a vegan diet (since 2004)

The Netherlands.
Poland.
Norway.
Denmark.
Germany.
Brazil.
United Kingdom.

Top 7 vegan diet countries since 2022

Finland.
The Netherlands.
Austria.
Germany.
Serbia.
Russia.
India.

Keep in mind – these results are comparative, meaning it’s not in isolation. These are the countries most interested in a vegan diet when directly compared to the keto diet simultaneously.

Make sense?

Either way, countries like Serbia and Russia may surprise, but the UK and India not so much since they’re big hubs in the world when it comes to vegans compared to other countries.

Relevant: The Carnivore Diet Vs Vegan Diet: Which One Is More Popular?