Keto vegan

What are your goals? What do you hope ketosis would help you achieve?

Vegan keto is possible, but it's very restrictive. The only people I know who have had real long term success sticking to it are people who are doing it for health reasons, not just weight control. You'd be eliminating a lot of delicious and nutrient-rich plant-based foods, so I don't know how sustainable or enjoyable it would be.

Here is a internet resource that may be helpful: https://www.ruled.me/comprehensive-guide-vegan-ketogenic-diet/

plaffo786 wrote: »

It is doable, it has been reported as the healthiest keto diet but having tried it myself it is very restrictive. Vegan keto made simple on Facebook is a good resource

Who reported it as such?

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

Scotty2HotPie wrote: »

Holy heck... Might as well call it the celery and green pepper diet.

You'd also be eating tofu, tempeh, seitan, mushrooms, leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, coconut milk, vegan cheeses, nuts and seeds, avocado, berries, sauerkraut, kimchi, sea vegetables, and plant oils (avocado, coconut, etc). It's not the most varied diet, but there is probably more than what you might initially think.

But not very much of many of those, right? With tofu, the lowest carb levels I'm seeing are about 3 g. carbs per 100 cals (and most seem higher than that), with about 10 g of protein, and seitan gives you more protein (about 16 g) but also more carbs (7 g) per 100 cal serving, so if you tried to get even 70 g of protein from tofu and seitan, you would be at 20 to 30 g of carbs already. That's not going to leave much room for any foods that aren't zero carbs (straight oil). Maybe a kale smoothie with one or two berries and a teaspoon of avocado for flavor.

My point is that the path to getting enough energy and protein on a vegan keto diet is more restrictive than your list suggests, because you can't eat a substantial variety of those foods each day in amounts that most people would consider to be normal servings even if they were omnivores having them as sides to a plate with a piece of meat and a mound of starch.

I've never worked out a specific keto vegan meal plan, but I don't doubt your numbers and I don't argue that it isn't a restrictive plan that wouldn't be a good fit for most people. I had a friend who was doing it for a while (to see if it could help her manage health issues) and she did share with me that she ate seitan just about every day. I don't know the quantity that she was eating. She did eat a lot of coconut and pumpkin seeds.

It's not a diet that I would personally recommend to anyone who was just trying to lose weight. I think most people doing it are ethical vegans who are either using it to manage another health condition or are trying it to see if it helps with a health condition.

My point is just that you wouldn't be limited to celery and green bell pepper, as the post I was responding to suggests.

Keto overall has an issue with not being able to eat certain foods in serving sizes that others might consider "normal," and vegan keto is just a higher level of difficulty within that context.

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

Scotty2HotPie wrote: »

Holy heck... Might as well call it the celery and green pepper diet.

You'd also be eating tofu, tempeh, seitan, mushrooms, leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, coconut milk, vegan cheeses, nuts and seeds, avocado, berries, sauerkraut, kimchi, sea vegetables, and plant oils (avocado, coconut, etc). It's not the most varied diet, but there is probably more than what you might initially think.

But not very much of many of those, right? With tofu, the lowest carb levels I'm seeing are about 3 g. carbs per 100 cals (and most seem higher than that), with about 10 g of protein, and seitan gives you more protein (about 16 g) but also more carbs (7 g) per 100 cal serving, so if you tried to get even 70 g of protein from tofu and seitan, you would be at 20 to 30 g of carbs already. That's not going to leave much room for any foods that aren't zero carbs (straight oil). Maybe a kale smoothie with one or two berries and a teaspoon of avocado for flavor.

My point is that the path to getting enough energy and protein on a vegan keto diet is more restrictive than your list suggests, because you can't eat a substantial variety of those foods each day in amounts that most people would consider to be normal servings even if they were omnivores having them as sides to a plate with a piece of meat and a mound of starch.

It's not a diet that I would personally recommend to anyone who was just trying to lose weight. I think most people doing it are ethical vegans who are either using it to manage another health condition or are trying it to see if it helps with a health condition.

I don't know people doing vegan keto IRL, and I'm not questioning your experience. But from the posts I've seen on MFP, a substantial percentage of people saying they want to "try" it who bother to respond to any queries on their thread seem to be "trying" it just for the sake of trying it, or because they've read somewhere on the Internet that it's the cleanest way to eat or the healthiest way to eat (see above in this thread) or the best way to lose weight, or essentially that it's the latest fad they're launching onto. And some of those, when they respond to queries, give strong indications that their true but unacknowledged motivation is to find the most restrictive diet they can, i.e., one with a set of allowable foods that approaches the null set -- a way to restrict calories to an ultra VLCD while claiming that it's a result of their super healthy WOE.

I don't dispute that at all. Although I've met people IRL and in other internet spaces that are doing vegan keto to help manage health conditions, I haven't yet met someone here who seems to be in that boat. It mostly seems to be people who want to either restrict as much as possible or are under the impression that keto is the best weight loss method for everyone.

I’m vegan and have tried it before. It’s not impossible! I did have to get creative. However, if you are really interested in trying it- I say go for it! I’d suggest doing some research prior, it was really helpful for me with coming up with meal ideas.

Mathematically, keto and veganism don't really lend themselves to compatibility.

I think most people have hit the nail on the head with the lack of variety that would challenge you to make it a sustainable diet. That said, I do make a lot of vegan keto side dishes (like cauliflower tabbouleh or hummus), but if I were forced to add a vegan protein my carb counts would throw me out of ketosis.

I was vegan for almost six years, and I loved it, but low carb + vegan is hard to do well or in a health forward manner.