Lately, celebrities from Katie Couric to Eva Mendes have sung the praises of the Pegan diet, a way of eating that combines principles from Paleo and vegan diets that was first coined by Mark Hyman, M.D., in 2015. Pegan diets have surged in popularity again recently thanks to Dr. Hyman's latest book, published in February.
If the word "Pegan" makes you chuckle, it turns out you're not far from its origins; the concept for the Pegan diet started off as a joke, after all. "Years ago, I sat on a nutritional panel at a conference between two doctor friends—one doctor a Paleo proponent and the other a vegan cardiologist. To break the tension, I quipped, 'If you are Paleo and you are vegan, then I must be Pegan,'" Hyman shares.