Low Carb Vegetarians... any luck?

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  • lodro
    lodro Posts: 982 Member
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    lodro wrote: »
    Yes, that's nice if you have the metabolism to handle the insulin response. If you don't, and many people don't, it's another matter. Few people realize that insulin resistance now hits up to 50% of the population. So this is fit for how your metabolism works, at the moment. When I was on your diet, approximately, my blood pressure and triglycerides were through the roof and I gained a lot of weight in fat, much of it of the visceral kind and my cholesterol was frightening. We'll see how you do after 50.

    Going on 100 here!
    One things that a most people overlook is how the high (and even moderate) consumption of fats in the diet keeps blood sugar high by coating the cells and not allowing glucose to exit efficiently. High fat + high carbs = nightmare for the body. But when you lower the fat (especially from animal sources)...carbs no longer become an issue. By lowering the fat in his diet my diabetic father-in-law has experienced improvements with his levels!

    I tried this because I wanted it to work but for me it didn't. LCHF does work for me, personally. It may not work for you, but metabolism changes as we grow older and the amount of glucose you can handle also changes over time.

    I stay under 20g carbohydrates a day. I never gave the impression that high carb-high fat should be viable. Interesting that you choose to read my response that way.

  • lodro
    lodro Posts: 982 Member
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    andrikosDE wrote: »
    lodro wrote: »
    andrikosDE wrote: »
    soulcake99 wrote: »
    So I thought I might try low carb, but I am a vegetarian and I'm not sure how this would work. I'm also not incredibly great at nutrition.

    Please share your success if you have had any. Thanks!

    With just one sentence you managed to communicate 3 restrictions you put on yourself:
    1) vegetarianism (understandable)
    2) low carbs (why? Any health issues?)
    3) "not great at nutrition" (fixable with effort)

    Unless you have your personal chef, I'd say you put 3 obstacles in your way to good nutrition.
    I.e. doomed to failure.

    That's a sweeping statement if ever there was one.



    If you say so.
    Instead of casting aspersions, please explain how you expect someone who's:
    1) superficially acquainted with the subtleties of nutrition,
    2) has already restricted herself from animal proteins/fats/micros (honorably perhaps but a restriction nevertheless)
    3) and is now seeking to further restrict herself to low carb (no medical reason given) vegetarianism.

    Keep in mind that all the above restrictions would have to become a sustainable lifestyle (not a fad diet that is doomed to failure like all others) that would provide all the required macros and micros for good physical mental health and energy.


    I guess that's a judgement call on her part, not on yours
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    soulcake99 wrote: »
    So I thought I might try low carb, but I am a vegetarian and I'm not sure how this would work. I'm also not incredibly great at nutrition.

    Please share your success if you have had any. Thanks!

    Vegetables have carbs.
    If you want to go low carb, eat steak, eggs, pork chops, setian.
    If you want to be vegetarian, eat beans, chic peas, lentils, tofu, nuts seeds.
  • bluefish86
    bluefish86 Posts: 842 Member
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    Low carb is generally considered anything under 150g... you can definitely be a vegetarian and be low carb if that's what suits you. I would concentrate on getting getting enough protein and skip the more refined carbohydrates like bread and pasta if that is your goal.
  • hekla90
    hekla90 Posts: 595 Member
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    Oh wow so much ignorance here. Guys meat isn't a freaking multivitamin lol. Things to keep in mind: you'll be looking at net carbs, veggies are high carb but also high fiber. Try looking at the subreddit vegetarian keto, MFP is generally is pretty anti vegetarian and you'll find more actual information and support there than here. Low carb vegetarian is possible and can be healthy but requires some though, just like any well balanced diet does.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,402 MFP Moderator
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    lodro wrote: »
    Yes, that's nice if you have the metabolism to handle the insulin response. If you don't, and many people don't, it's another matter. Few people realize that insulin resistance now hits up to 50% of the population. So this is fit for how your metabolism works, at the moment. When I was on your diet, approximately, my blood pressure and triglycerides were through the roof and I gained a lot of weight in fat, much of it of the visceral kind and my cholesterol was frightening. We'll see how you do after 50.

    Source for the bold?


    OP, if you aren't great at nutrition, you should probably concentrate on that before trying to add additional restrictions.
  • Gianfranco_R
    Gianfranco_R Posts: 1,297 Member
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    psulemon wrote: »
    lodro wrote: »
    Yes, that's nice if you have the metabolism to handle the insulin response. If you don't, and many people don't, it's another matter. Few people realize that insulin resistance now hits up to 50% of the population. So this is fit for how your metabolism works, at the moment. When I was on your diet, approximately, my blood pressure and triglycerides were through the roof and I gained a lot of weight in fat, much of it of the visceral kind and my cholesterol was frightening. We'll see how you do after 50.

    Source for the bold?


    I don't know if there are specific statistics about IR, but in 2009−2012, based on fasting glucose or A1C levels, 37% of U.S. adults aged 20 years or older had already prediabetes (and another 12.3% diabetes)
    source:
    http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/statsreport14/national-diabetes-report-web.pdf
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    Google eco-atkins for starters.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    RodaRose wrote: »
    soulcake99 wrote: »
    So I thought I might try low carb, but I am a vegetarian and I'm not sure how this would work. I'm also not incredibly great at nutrition.

    Please share your success if you have had any. Thanks!

    Vegetables have carbs.
    If you want to go low carb, eat steak, eggs, pork chops, setian.
    If you want to be vegetarian, eat beans, chic peas, lentils, tofu, nuts seeds.

    One could easily stay below 100 grams of carbs while eating plenty of vegetables.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
    edited August 2015
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    I don't really understand how the low-carbers get all their nutrients...or even if they do. There is a group for it, though.

    You don't have to be a nutrients on expert to lose weight. I've lost a lot and know very little about nutrition. You don't need to know much to be a vegetarian,either, but if you want to be a healthy vegetarian, you should put some time into learning about proteins. If you're limiting dairy and/or eggs, really spend an hour learning about it. The easiest way is to visit a dietitian, but almost any library and even many websites can help you out there. :)
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    @RodaRose "If you want to be vegetarian, eat beans, chic peas, lentils, tofu, nuts seeds". Yes, those would be higher protein sources for a vegetarian. Problem is, they also come loaded with carbs. It's the way most vegetable sources of protein work.

    @jessica_sodenkamp "One things that a most people overlook is how the high (and even moderate) consumption of fats in the diet keeps blood sugar high by coating the cells and not allowing glucose to exit efficiently."

    Not even close. Fats are not absorbed by the body that way and they don't coat cells.
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
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    As someone who has done it, I'd say low carb as a lacto-ovo vegetarian is entirely doable. If you are aiming for keto, I'd recommend seitan, faux "meats" eggs and whey protein, but if it's more like sub-100 net, tofu, tempeh and beans will work as well (vegetarian keto with only whole foods is tough). I ate pretty much unlimited protein and green veggies, a decent amount of non-green and non-starchy veggies, and one serving of fruit per day, usually grapefruit or berries for the low net carbs. If I needed extra calories, I usually got them through nuts and seeds, or buttered my veggies. I didn't eat bread, rice, oats, etc, but I occasionally had quinoa or spaghetti squash. I tried some low carb pitas and tortillas but they weren't for me; other people like them though.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    Kalikel wrote: »
    I don't really understand how the low-carbers get all their nutrients...or even if they do. There is a group for it, though.

    You don't have to be a nutrients on expert to lose weight. I've lost a lot and know very little about nutrition. You don't need to know much to be a vegetarian,either, but if you want to be a healthy vegetarian, you should put some time into learning about proteins. If you're limiting dairy and/or eggs, really spend an hour learning about it. The easiest way is to visit a dietitian, but almost any library and even many websites can help you out there. :)

    I don't know that they do. That said, I wouldn't think their nutrition would be any worse than the standard SAD eater. The Western Diet pattern that most Americans, and many others consume, is woefully nutrient poor.
    Thus simultaneous malnutrition and obesity rates.
  • hekla90
    hekla90 Posts: 595 Member
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    jgnatca wrote: »
    @RodaRose "If you want to be vegetarian, eat beans, chic peas, lentils, tofu, nuts seeds". Yes, those would be higher protein sources for a vegetarian. Problem is, they also come loaded with carbs. It's the way most vegetable sources of protein work.

    @jessica_sodenkamp "One things that a most people overlook is how the high (and even moderate) consumption of fats in the diet keeps blood sugar high by coating the cells and not allowing glucose to exit efficiently."

    Not even close. Fats are not absorbed by the body that way and they don't coat cells.

    Net carbs, net carbs, net carbs.... They also come loaded fiber. Seriously OP go check out the reddit group I suggested you'll actually find helpful advice.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    RodaRose wrote: »
    soulcake99 wrote: »
    So I thought I might try low carb, but I am a vegetarian and I'm not sure how this would work. I'm also not incredibly great at nutrition.

    Please share your success if you have had any. Thanks!

    Vegetables have carbs.
    If you want to go low carb, eat steak, eggs, pork chops, setian.
    If you want to be vegetarian, eat beans, chic peas, lentils, tofu, nuts seeds.

    One could easily stay below 100 grams of carbs while eating plenty of vegetables.

    This is true.

    I think keto would be awfully challenging and likely not worth the bother, though.

    Part of the issue is that other than eggs and to some extent tofu (which is pretty low carb) vegetarian sources of protein have carbs, so getting enough protein while holding carbs down would be somewhat challenging. The temptation would be to get calories from fats that (mostly, nuts and seeds have some protein and avocado has micronutrients) tend to lack the benefits of legumes as a source of calories.

    You'd want to be reasonably educated about nutrition to try to do low carb vegetarianism, I think, although you could certainly start by lowering carbs if you wanted to.
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
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    eco atkins comes to mind
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Hey, I'm not trashing carbs. It's just that vegetarian sources of protein also come with carbs. So trying to lower carbs on a vegetarian diet takes a fair amount of vigilance.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited August 2015
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    As a few people have mentioned it:

    http://www.atkins.com/how-it-works/library/articles/the-eco-atkins-diet

    Interesting. Vegan Eco Atkins at about 130 g carbs or 26% of calories (for the people in the example). I don't think of 130 g as especially low, but for a vegan it certainly is.

    I imagine it would be easier to go lower as a vegetarian, of course.

    From the link, this seems really weird, though:
    the researchers tested the "Eco-Atkins" diet against a standard low-fat lacto-vegetarian diet, which contained 58% of calories from carbs, 16% from protein and 25% from fat and was designed to have both low-saturated fat and low-cholesterol; most of the protein in the low-fat vegetarian diet came from low-fat or skim milk dairy products and liquid egg whites.

    I would think that a low fat vegetarian diet would get more protein from legumes also, including soy.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    To adapt Atkins to your needs as a ovo-lacto vegetarian:

    1.Start in Phase 2, Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL), at 30 grams of Net Carbs and introduce nuts and seeds and all unsweetened dairy products except milk (whether whole, skim, low fat, or no fat) and buttermilk before berries.

    2.Or, if you have no more than 20 pounds to shed and are willing to swap slower weight loss for more food variety, you may start in Phase 3, Pre-Maintenance, at 50 grams of Net Carbs.

    3.Make sure to get sufficient protein in eggs, cheese and soy products. Aim for no more than 6 grams of Net Carbs per serving of protein foods in OWL.
  • lodro
    lodro Posts: 982 Member
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    psulemon wrote: »
    lodro wrote: »
    Yes, that's nice if you have the metabolism to handle the insulin response. If you don't, and many people don't, it's another matter. Few people realize that insulin resistance now hits up to 50% of the population. So this is fit for how your metabolism works, at the moment. When I was on your diet, approximately, my blood pressure and triglycerides were through the roof and I gained a lot of weight in fat, much of it of the visceral kind and my cholesterol was frightening. We'll see how you do after 50.

    Source for the bold?


    OP, if you aren't great at nutrition, you should probably concentrate on that before trying to add additional restrictions.

    http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jdr/2015/362375/fig2/

    from

    Population-Based Studies on the Epidemiology of Insulin Resistance in Children, Utrecht, february 2015.

    And please read it as it is written: "up to 50%". New Zealand is a case in point.

    There are wide ethnic differences. Some ethnic groups are harder hit than others.