Low carb vegan diet

PCOS_Cyster
PCOS_Cyster Posts: 18 Member
in Food and Nutrition
If you eat a low carb vegan diet, please respond. I am vegan and need to eat low carb for my PCOS. I would love to get some good ideas from someone well versed with low carb vegan diet!

Replies

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,325 Member
    Depends on what you consider low carb. For example, taking the USDA into account a normal diet can be 60% carbs, so 40% carbs can be considered low carb and these comparisons are not uncommon and can be found in the scientific literature easily. Other proponents of low carb might find 10% too high in say, a ketogenic diet and considering the source of protein for vegans and the fat source that will be so important in nuts and seeds your going to require, many might not consider a low carb diet. Maybe talk with your health care provider and possibly get a recommendation to see a dietitian. I know an omnivore very low carb diet shows some pretty decent positive results for PCOS but I'm not sure if that can be translated into a vegan diet properly, sorry I couldn't be more help and I do wish you success. Cheers
  • erbear117
    erbear117 Posts: 62 Member
    edited January 2023
    Hi, I "cured" my PCOS using a low-carb/keto diet. Previously I had been vegetarian for 13 years so I focused on vegan low-carb options. When I say cured, I mean my symptoms have been gone for several years now, my cycles are super regular, I lose the excess weight, and my hormones have reset. I don't even have a strong desire to eat/snack anymore like I used to. I used to have a food blog and Instagram dedicated to low-carb vegan cooking but I stopped updating since my symptoms are gone and I don't even need to eat low-carb anymore. But you can check it out at www.barefootlowcarb.com and @ barefootlowcarb (Instagram)
    :)
    PS. I stopped being vegetarian during my time of eating low-carb. I tried to do as much plant-based as possible, but low-carb vegan is VERY restrictive and thus can weigh on your emotional wellbeing. If you have any history of disordered eating I do not recommend it.
  • PCOS_Cyster
    PCOS_Cyster Posts: 18 Member
    Thanks, @neanderthin, and @erbear117. I don't plan on going keto. I am trying to balance out my vegan diet, so it is not so high carb. Vegan food tends to be carb-rich and isn't very satiating for me. My current carb, protein, and fat percentage is 35%, 25%, and 40%, respectively. My dietitian told me to eat a max of 40g total carbs (so not net carbs) per meal and 15g total carbs per snack; each meal is 3-4 hours apart. So far, I have been doing a pretty good job keeping the ratios.

    My PCOS symptoms aren't terrible, but I have acne and excessively long periods (7 weeks was my longest). I am on birth control, and it is helping both my acne and periods, but I don't want to stay on birth control long-term. I feel like it's just a patch rather than a cure.

    Thanks for the suggestions! I will check out your resources!
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,325 Member
    edited January 2023
    PCOS_Cyster wrote: »
    Thanks, @neanderthin, and @erbear117. I don't plan on going keto. I am trying to balance out my vegan diet, so it is not so high carb. Vegan food tends to be carb-rich and isn't very satiating for me. My current carb, protein, and fat percentage is 35%, 25%, and 40%, respectively. My dietitian told me to eat a max of 40g total carbs (so not net carbs) per meal and 15g total carbs per snack; each meal is 3-4 hours apart. So far, I have been doing a pretty good job keeping the ratios.

    My PCOS symptoms aren't terrible, but I have acne and excessively long periods (7 weeks was my longest). I am on birth control, and it is helping both my acne and periods, but I don't want to stay on birth control long-term. I feel like it's just a patch rather than a cure.

    Thanks for the suggestions! I will check out your resources!

    Off the top of my head it looks like your eating around 18-2000 calories a day with around 120g's of protein, not sure thought, but increasing protein and fat macro's which both are essential for life and where carbs are not, so basically your fat percentage has to go way up as well as protein and I know tofu for example is pretty low in carbs so maybe look there. Why didn't your dietitian formulate a decent low carb vegan diet for you?
  • zebasschick
    zebasschick Posts: 1,071 Member
    tofu is low carb, packed with proteins and fats. there are so many ways to prepare it! tofu jerky, just crumble it into a sauce, cut it into steaks...
  • PCOS_Cyster
    PCOS_Cyster Posts: 18 Member
    @neanderthin ive been eating tofu, seitan, and protein smoothies. I think I’m doing pretty well, just looking for people with a similar diet to me to so I can see what they are eating. On average, I’ve only been able to eat around 25g of protein a meal but maybe I just need to find more low carb sources of grains and stuff.

    I have government insurance so my dietitian only has time to see me for 15 minutes at a time.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,325 Member
    edited January 2023
    PCOS_Cyster wrote: »
    @neanderthin ive been eating tofu, seitan, and protein smoothies. I think I’m doing pretty well, just looking for people with a similar diet to me to so I can see what they are eating. On average, I’ve only been able to eat around 25g of protein a meal but maybe I just need to find more low carb sources of grains and stuff.

    I have government insurance so my dietitian only has time to see me for 15 minutes at a time.

    Yeah, it's a tough one for sure. It's not so much getting the extra protein, a person could just consume more protein isolate. It's the basic premise that a vegan diet is basically a very high carb diet by default.

    Lowering carbs on a vegan diet can also put a person in a more serious position from a nutrient standpoint, more so than it normally is on a vegan diet.

    I don't know your stance on veganism, but what would be your thoughts on adding some bivalve protein like oysters, clams and mussels into your diet. This also addresses B12, omega 3's, Vit D which is a bonus in oysters, and quite a few minerals as well. Your going to have to up your fat as well, and virgin coconut oil and avocado oils are decent sources and maybe look at MCT oil (medium chain triglycerides) from coconut oil which is metabolized by the body totally different than a regular fat and it's done through the liver and is used for immediate energy much like a carb source, strange but true. Please keep in mind this is not medical advice, just information that maybe you can talk to someone about.
  • PCOS_Cyster
    PCOS_Cyster Posts: 18 Member
    @neanderthin I do eat shellfish because they are most likely not sentient. I generally only eat them when I go to sushi and seafood places. I've never tried eating them at home. I will give it a shot. Thanks for the suggestion!!!!
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,325 Member
    I'm familiar with the bivalve argument and nice to see that it makes sense to some vegans, good for you. Mussels are packed with protein, for example 100g's or approx 1/4 lb has 24 g's of protein and with about 170 calories, and loaded with nutrients. good luck with it. Cheers
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,053 Member
    edited January 2023
    PCOS_Cyster wrote: »
    Thanks, @neanderthin, and @erbear117. I don't plan on going keto. I am trying to balance out my vegan diet, so it is not so high carb. Vegan food tends to be carb-rich and isn't very satiating for me. My current carb, protein, and fat percentage is 35%, 25%, and 40%, respectively. My dietitian told me to eat a max of 40g total carbs (so not net carbs) per meal and 15g total carbs per snack; each meal is 3-4 hours apart. So far, I have been doing a pretty good job keeping the ratios.

    My PCOS symptoms aren't terrible, but I have acne and excessively long periods (7 weeks was my longest). I am on birth control, and it is helping both my acne and periods, but I don't want to stay on birth control long-term. I feel like it's just a patch rather than a cure.

    Thanks for the suggestions! I will check out your resources!

    Last year I bled from February to November, mostly lightly, but numerous incidences of hemorrhaging, and of course got anemic and had one emergency blood transfusion plus several iron infusions. Progesterone was supposed to suppress my periods completely but obviously did not. I finally bit the bullet and had a hysterectomy (my ovaries are healthy - it was uterine fibroids that were plaguing me.)

    Since you're vegan and have a menstrual cycle, I encourage you to get your iron tested (don't just supplement without testing - too much iron can cause problems as well. It is important to establish a baseline.)

    After my last iron test, my hematologist said my iron stores were the best they'd been in 10 years :smiley:

    I'm 56 and had been hoping to make it to menopause but it just wasn't happening. My endocrinologist said I have the estrogen levels of a young woman. (And this is despite being on an anti-estrogen for 6 months last year, which was supposed to shrink the fibroids but did not.)

    I have government insurance too. I have to spend a lot of time advocating for myself and persisting after being told, "No, you cannot see a specialist."
  • PCOS_Cyster
    PCOS_Cyster Posts: 18 Member
    @kshama2001 fortunatley, I have zero pain with my periods. I don’t have any cysts of fibroids so I’ve never had any crazy bleeding. I donate blood and platelets, so I do take iron supplements. Luckily, I get to test my hemoglobin a lot because of that.

    I’m glad you found something that helped you. Did they do a total hysterectomy? And I can totally relate to needing to advocate for yourself. I also have government insurance and figured out a way to get a doctor from a good hospital to see me. Thankfully he listens to me and really cares about my health and well-being.

    Thanks for sharing your story!!

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