Slang dictionary

pegan

[pee-guh n]

What does pegan mean?

Pegan is a combination of the paleo and vegan diets, featuring a lot of vegetables, a moderate amount of lean proteins and healthy fats, and few sugars, starches, and processed foods.

Related words

paleo diet, 🥗 Green Salad emoji, boujee, ischial tuberosity, thigh gap, skinny legend, broscience, bakuchiol

Where does pegan come from?

Health Journal

Pegan, both word and diet, was created in 2014 by Dr. Mark Hyman. It is a blend of paleo and vegan diets, hence the name. Simply put, the pegan diet allows lean meats, oily fish, and eggs (generally not permitted in veganism) as well as some grains and beans (avoided by paleo eaters).

Dr. Hyman’s pegan diet gained national attention after the publication of his book  Food: What the Heck Should We Eat? in February 2018. The book details his pegan diet, which was analyzed by food blogs and bigger publications like USA Today. Dr. Hyman even appeared on The Today Show in July 2018 to explain the bullet points of his pegan diet.

According to foodies and nutritionists, the pegan diet can be healthier than either the paleo and vegan diet on their own. It is even referred to as “the healthiest diet” by some. That said, the pegan diet is still restrictive and inconvenient, time-consuming, and it can be expensive to regularly cook pegan meals.

 

Examples of pegan

Today i learned what a pegan is. Paleo vegan. WHAT CAN YOU EAT?!?    
@goni_lessan, January 2019
Part paleo, part vegan, the pegan diet is taking root with people on the hunt for healthy habits.
Kelly McCarthy, Good Morning America, December 2018
Alternative Daily
SEE MORE EXAMPLES

Who uses pegan?

Although it has existed since 2014, the pegan diet trended in 2018–19, boosted by the likes of social media sites like Pinterest, as well as popular shows such as The Today Show and Dr. Oz.

The diet is sometimes hailed by nutritionists and other health-conscious individuals as the so-called “world’s healthiest diet.”

As peganism continues to spread, however, many are calling it out as just another bougie, elitist lifestyle trend.

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Note

This is not meant to be a formal definition of pegan like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of pegan that will help our users expand their word mastery.