Keto diet for vegans
So there is so much of a buzz about Keto diet these days. It is basically a high fat, moderate protein, and a low carb diet. It is said to have a powerful effect on overall health and weight loss. But we are talking here about Keto diet for vegans. Although keto diet on its own it is mostly associated with animal foods, there is another way of eating that can also be adapted to perfectly fit in a plant-based meal together with a vegan diet.
Basically a vegan diet excludes the use of any kind of animal product. Still, a large number of people are turning to a vegan diet for a number of reasons like climate change, animal suffering and for a better health. But there is a different side of the story as well; a lot of people are able to achieve better health when they are on a low carbohydrate diet including animal products, while others feel better on a vegan high carb diet.
The key point here is that you cannot consider being on a vegan diet as a solution to every health issues that you might have. For example for ailments like Diabetes and epilepsy, going for a vegan diet might not be the best idea whereas a ketogenic diet might be of immense help in such conditions.
Then what’s the solution for it? Should all the vegans out their forget completely about the ethical concerns they have and start gulping down animal products? NO, not at all.
The answer to this is just combining the two and gets the best and most effective results. So here we have for you a detailed guide on how you can do it.
Overview of Keto diet for vegans
A vegan ketogenic diet is certainly a new concept and one of the most strict and restrictive diets for sure. But it is still possible to pull it off while decreasing animal suffering and maintaining sanity at the same time.
For implementing the vegan ketogenic diet in the correct way, you should follow these regulations:
• Limiting your carb intake to 30-35 grams per day.
• Eliminating all of the animal products from your diet.
• Eating low carb vegetables in abundance.
• Getting at least seventy percent of your calories from plant-based fat.
• Consumption of the rest of the calories from plant-based protein sources.
• There might be a deficiency of certain vitamins that need to be taken as supplements.
Benefits of Keto diet for vegans
There are endless benefits of being associated with any of these individual diets but not much research has been done yet on specific vegan keto diets.
• When people go on a vegan diet they have shown a lowered risk of heart diseases, cancer, and many other chronic illnesses. One research has shown that vegans have a seventy-five percent lower risk of developing hypertension and almost eight percent risk reduction for diabetes.
Also, vegans tend to lose weight more successfully than people who do eat animal products. Numerous studies concluded that people following a vegan diet lost around 3 kgs more than the people that were on a non-veg diet.
• Similarly following a high in fat and protein diet has also shown to have a positive impact on health. Keto diet has also been popular for its benefits like weight loss, maintain blood sugar levels and reducing risk factors related to heart diseases. A research that had been done on obese children showed that after going on a keto diet that lost a significant amount of fat and weight compared to those on a low-calorie diet.
• Keto diet increases levels of adiponectin that reduces inflammation, reduces health issues related to obesity and regulates sugar levels.
Both diets have been linked with numerous health benefits. So it really does make a lot of sense that combining both of the diets will also have a positive effect on health as well.
Keto-Friendly Vegan food Replacements
So after getting the basic idea behind the Vegan keto diet, another thing to consider is the replacement of all the animal products involved in the keto diet and replacing it with a vegan option. So we have for you a detailed guide on how you can do that:
• Replacement of dairy:
1. In all the recipes that demand milk in them, you can substitute it with coconut milk in the exact same ratio. Similarly, if you need to use cream, just use coconut cream instead.
2. Butter can be substituted with vegan butter or coconut oil. Vegan butter is a good option in case you don’t like the flavor coconut oil gives. Just make sure there is no hydrogenated oil content in it as it’s not good for heart health.
3. Instead of cheese in recipes, you can supplement with nutritious yeast. Also, there are a number of vegan cheeses that are available in the market right now.
4. Then comes yogurt that can be substituted with a nut-based variety. These can be based on coconut milk, almond or cashews. Reading labels is a must here as there shouldn’t be any added sugars in them.
• Replacing eggs:
It gets so irritating when you are looking at mouthwatering keto-friendly recipes and then as you see the ingredient list, they require eggs. So what does one do?
Just blend some flax seeds as it will not only enhance the flavor of the dish but also gives binding. So to replace one egg in your pancakes and baking items just add one spoon of flax seed with a little water. Also, you can use silken tofu as a substitute as well.
Having enough fat intake on a Vegan Keto diet
There are plenty of fat sources that come from plants that can be used on a vegan ketogenic diet. You can use coconut oil, Avocado Oil, Olive oil according to your requirement in recipes. Apart from these sources of fats, you can always eat Avocado itself as it’s high in monounsaturated fat, antioxidants and vitamins, and minerals. There are also a number of nuts and seeds that you can use for making your vegan keto diet friendly and delicious at the same time.
The best protein sources for Keto diet for vegans
One of the major parts of a vegan keto diet apart from the fats is proteins and it’s important to get enough of it. But when a keto diet is involved, you have to remove a lot of plant-based sources of proteins like legumes. Don’t worry, we have sorted out this for you as well. So here is the list of protein sources that you can include:
1. Tofu:
This is just the best source of protein to substitute in your diet. It has a high calcium and protein content. Also, as it is bland in taste on its own, it has this amazing capacity of absorbing flavors to it. So if you marinate it with some really good spices and it is going to taste delicious for sure. One of the key points to remember here is that it does contain Goitrogens that can impair with thyroid functions. So limit your intake of Soy products in case you feel tired, unexplained weight gain or dry skin issues. You can also try Tempeh and Seitan as well.
2. “Vegan Meat:
There are a few options available when we talk about vegan meat and burgers in the supermarket. Just try to carefully read the ingredient list and the number of carbs and sugars there are.
• Vegan Protein Powder
These are for sure your secret weapon when you need to meet your daily intake of protein needs while being on a vegan Keto diet. Although it does not mean that you have to just keep having protein shakes all the time. You can try to add flavorless protein powder to your meals. Add them to the sauces and burger patties. You will not notice a difference in flavor and your protein requirement will be fulfilled.
The Bottom Line
Keto diet for vegans has its main focus on high fat, low carb plant based diet. This diet can help you attain numerous health benefits like weight loss, better heart health and a reduced risk of diabetes. You need to keep in mind that taking supplements like B vitamin complex and D and iron can be necessary while on this diet. Although there are a number of studies done on these diets individually, not much has been known regarding the effectiveness of a vegan keto diet and if it is safe for following long term.
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