Is the pegan diet the next big thing?

A new year brings a new “it” diet.

The pegan diet--a hybrid of paleo and veganism--could be the new diet of 2019, according to USA Today. "Pegan" has seen a 337% increase in searches on Pinterest--a popular destination for recipes searches--since last year and has seen a steady climb in searches within the last six months.

Dr. Mark Hyman, New York Times best-selling author, coined the term--a mashup of paleo and vegan--in a blog post that detailed his own diet.

Vegans eliminate animal products or byproducts from their diets such as meat, eggs, cheese, yogurt and sometimes gelatin. A paleo diet mimics how people ate in the Paleolithic era 2.5 million years ago and consists mostly of vegetables, fruits, nuts, grass-fed meats and fish.

So what do pegans eat? According to USA Today, plants. Essentially most of the pegan diet is comprised of vegetables, good fats, nuts and seeds.

In his blog post Dr. Hyman explained that 75% of the diet should be fruits and vegetables while avoiding dairy and gluten.

But if you must eat dairy, the diet advises to reach for sheep- or goat-based dairy products. Maria Marlowe, a nutrition health coach and author who operates her own nutrition health coaching practice in New York City, said goat and sheep's milk are easier to digest than cow's milk, but it's preferable to avoid all dairy.

A version of this article appeared at StoreBrands.com