Plant-Based Keto sounds like a crazy idea, when you first consider it.
Right?
I mean, isn’t one of the biggest attractions to a keto diet the fact that you can eat all that meat, poultry, fish, and eggs with abandon? Oh, and cheese. Omg…the cheese!
Well, maybe. If that kind of food makes you feel good. And I’m talking physically here. I’m primarily about health. But animal cruelty IS something to think about.
Let’s talk about that later.
For now, I’m just talking about the impact on your body. And I can only speak for myself…but I’ll tell you, I’ve tried it. LOTS. OF. TIMES.
The first time I lost significant weight in my life was at age 20, when I dropped 33 pounds in about three months following the Atkins diet. And I was the thinnest I’ve ever been in my (barely) adult life. At 5’8″ tall, I weighed in at a measly 122 pounds. Yaaa…considering I wanted to be a fashion model, at the time, I was in thin-body-heaven!
But did it last?
Not even close.
So, I won’t bore you with all the details of the bazillion times I’ve tried different weight-loss programs over the years…from Atkins to Raw Foods to Carnivore…and everything in between. But I can tell you that I’ve finally figured out a few things that DON’T work for my particular body (your mileage may vary). And one of those things is eating an animal-dominant diet.
How do I know?
The chest pains were a pretty clear indicator.
And that freaked me out. So, abrupt turn around in the opposite direction.
Back to plants.
But just like following the Atkins plan, The Starch Solution didn’t work for me, either. A high-starch, low-fat approach also resulted in frightening symptoms in my body, which was really frustrating.
And that’s what made me look into the idea of a PLANT-BASED KETO diet.
I mean, how weird is that, right?
It turns out that eliminating both animal products AND starchy plant foods seems to be the awesome sauce for my body.
But WHAT CAN I EAT on a plant-based keto program? I jumped on over to YouTube to see if anyone else was following this, what seems like a super restrictive diet, to me.
Sure enough, I found a handful of other people who are successfully following a plant-based keto diet. My favorite channel is Heavenly Fan, who has some excellent and creative, not to mention DELICIOUS-looking, recipes! It turns out you CAN follow a lower-carb/higher-fat version of Keto and THRIVE!
So, here are the foods you can eat when following a plant-based keto diet:
NON-STARCHY VEGETABLES LIKE: all lettuces and other greens and cruciferous veg like – cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts. Eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, onions, garlic, bell peppers, etc.
PROTEIN SOURCES LIKE: tofu and pea protein.
FRUITS LIKE: avocado, olives, cucumber, tomato, berries.
NUTS and SEEDS LIKE: walnuts, almonds, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachio, peanuts, hazelnuts, macadamia, pine, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flaxseed, chia seed, etc. Also, all unsweetened coconut products.
ALL FRESH & DRIED HERBS and SPICES (no added sugar), and CONDIMENTS LIKE: cocoa or cacao powder, nutritional yeast, vinegar, lemon, and lime juice.
SUGAR-FREE SWEETENERS LIKE: stevia, erythritol, monk fruit, and others. Check THIS SWEETENER GUIDE from Diet Doctor dot com for more information and options.
So far, I’m doing great following this plan.
Granted, I haven’t been doing it long. I’ll keep you posted. But I love the idea that I could even bake some tasty breads and entrees using lower-carb ingredients like almond and coconut flowers and flax or chia seeds.
I’m pretty excited about the possibilities!
But is it healthy?
I encourage you to do your own research. But here are a couple of videos I found helpful:
VEGAN KETO | PLANT BASED KETO DIETING | HOW TO GET PROTEIN | HOW TO GET FATS by Thomas DeLauer
VEGAN KETOGENIC DIET – HEALTHY? by Plant Based News (jump to minute 5:00 if you want to get straight to the plant-based keto part.)
VEGAN KETO: 4 PROS AND CONS by Mic the Vegan
Have you considered the idea of trying this version of the keto diet? If so, I’d love to hear about your experience and results!
Until next time.
I bid you good health!
~Tracy