Vegan and gluten free

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  • angelexperiment
    angelexperiment Posts: 1,917 Member
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    I think I like this book I’m reading called vegan keto by Liz McDowell she explains a lot in the book including essential micronutrients you will need and how you can get them from foods or specific supplements where it can’t be supplied directly by food bc you might have to eat it excessively. Basically it is gluten free bc you use recipes you make with alternative flour lol coconut or almond etc. so no recipes have anything gluten in them. She also explains protein and about digestibility and all that. She doesn’t sugar coat anything she says vegans must eat a variety of foods the get the nutritional profile met for protein and other essential vitamins and minerals etc. but it’s a good book worth checking out if you are curious
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Urun4me wrote: »
    23 grams is over 25% of the recommended amount. Not sure why that wouldn't be relevant.

    My primary source is hemp seed which I'm estimating I get about 30-40 grams from.

    That's around 600 calories of hemp seeds per day. I'm glad that works for you, but for many people that's a lot of calories to dedicate to a single food daily.

    Hemp plus arugula (which is a good green, but I would definitely vary my greens and seeds/nuts rather than eating so much of a single or couple of sources personally, but that's my take on nutrition) also falls well short of lysine needs even if the total grams of protein are okay.

    That would likely be the biggest issue for someone trying to do 100% plant-based without legumes.
  • MikePfirrman
    MikePfirrman Posts: 3,307 Member
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    I'm leaning more and more vegan every day (I eat meat like twice a week) and I'm gluten free by necessity. I might be Celiac, I'm not sure but I don't want to go through the eating gluten thing for a month to find out. I don't eat out much, so going gluten free for me, because I've cooked nearly all my life, isn't that bad. And I feel a ton better for it as well.

    If it weren't for my meat and potato spouse, I'd likely be 100% vegan and gluten free. If you can cook, and don't mind it, it's not all that bad or expensive with proper planning.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Urun4me wrote: »
    23 grams is over 25% of the recommended amount. Not sure why that wouldn't be relevant.

    My primary source is hemp seed which I'm estimating I get about 30-40 grams from.

    That's around 600 calories of hemp seeds per day. I'm glad that works for you, but for many people that's a lot of calories to dedicate to a single food daily.

    Hemp plus arugula (which is a good green, but I would definitely vary my greens and seeds/nuts rather than eating so much of a single or couple of sources personally, but that's my take on nutrition) also falls well short of lysine needs even if the total grams of protein are okay.

    That would likely be the biggest issue for someone trying to do 100% plant-based without legumes.

    Yes, lysine (sometimes called the "limiting amino acid") would be my concern.

    For anyone interested in reading more, here's details from Jack Norris, a vegan RD:

    To ensure adequate protein status, vegans should eat 3-4 servings per day of high-protein foods that also are good sources of the amino acid lysine. Below is a list of protein foods from which to choose:

    Legumes—1/2 cup cooked
    Beans—garbanzos (chickpeas), kidney, pinto, navy (125-150 g)
    Lentils (100 g)
    Peas—split (100 g) or green (80 g)
    Soyfoods—edamame (80 g), tofu (125 g), tempeh (165 g), soy milk (1 cup or 250 mL), soy meats (3 oz or 85 g)
    Peanuts—1/4 cup (35-40 g)
    Seitan—3 oz (85 grams)
    Quinoa—1 cup cooked (185 g)
    Amaranth (grain) – 1 cup cooked (245g)
    Pistachios—1/4 cup (30 g)
    Pumpkin seeds—1/4 cup roasted (35 g)
    It’s hard to design a vegan diet that meets lysine requirements for a person who doesn’t exercise daily without including legumes, seitan, quinoa, pistachios, or pumpkin seeds and therefore without having too many calories. It’s easier to design a vegan diet for regular exercisers whose calorie requirements are higher—the low lysine foods will add up to provide enough.

    Source: https://veganhealth.org/protein-part-1/

    I'm a firm believer that most average plant-based eaters don't need to worry about specific amino acids. Our bodies do a good job of combining them when we're eating a variety of foods. It's when we don't eat a variety of foods, especially when we're eliminating entire groups of foods like legumes and grains, that we may struggle. As you point out, we can be hitting our goals for protein overall, but still have issues if we're not getting enough lysine.

    I've got a pet hypothesis that some of the higher profile (AKA, youtubers and such) ex-vegan "failures" (people who abandoned veganism due to persistent health issues) can be attributed to lysine issues. These are often people who layer a lot of additional restrictions into their diet, avoiding things like cooked foods or doing lots of juicing or fasting. Obviously it's not something that I could prove, but lots of the stuff reported by these people sounds like suboptimal protein intake (mood issues, trouble sleeping, hair/skin/nail issues, low energy, weakness, hunger, getting sick frequently).

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