How Can Vegetarians Follow Keto Diet?

Updated on November 26th, 2019
keto diet for vegetarians.

Vegetarian food is undoubtedly one of the healthiest diets for human beings. More and more people are becoming vegetarians around the globe. According to collected data, there are 375 million vegetarians in the world. In the US, the number has grown to four percent in men and seven percent in women.

A vegetarian diet is believed to reduce the risk of heart diseases, diabetes, and many prevalent diseases. May people find vegetarian food to improve their overall health. Again, the Ketogenic diet is gaining momentum among a lot of people around the world. It is believed to be very healthy and very useful for losing weight. What if you could combine both to create a healthy vegetarian keto diet plan? Here are simple ways that could help implement a keto diet for vegetarians.

What is Keto Diet?

A Keto Diet is a diet plan with high fat, low carb, and an adequate protein diet, which aims at using up body fat. A keto diet tremendously reduces obesity and even has numerous health benefits like regulating blood pressure, blood glucose levels, and cholesterol. It is increasingly becoming popular for quick, active, and healthy weight loss plan.

The issue here is that the keto diet includes numerous animal products like fish, meat, and poultry. But, the truth is that if you are a vegetarian, you can easily switch to a keto diet without having to eat any non-vegetarian food. There is a natural keto diet for vegetarians(1).

Keto Diet Plan for Vegetarian

What Should You Eat?

A keto diet involves the limit of carbohydrates intake to 20 to 50 grams in a day. Around 70 percent of the food comprises of healthy fat, generally sourced from animal products. Usually, vegetarians eat eggs and dairy products. So, put a Ketogenic diet for vegetarians will include replacing meat and fish with healthy plant products.

A keto diet for vegetarian should include the following:

1. Plant-Based Fats

In a vegetarian keto diet, you should replace animal fats with healthy plant-based fats like coconut, coconut oil, avocado, avocado oil, olive, and olive oil. Avoid sweetened coconut, etc.

2. Dairy Products

Enjoy full-fat plain yogurt, butter, plain cottage cheese, and hardened cheese.

3. Eggs

Eggs are an excellent inclusion in vegetarian keto foods. Eggs have high protein and fat, with almost no carbs in them.

4. Vegetables

Include non-starchy ones like spinach, mushrooms, cauliflower, kale, broccoli, bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, and lettuces in your veggie keto diet.

5. Low Carb Fruits

You can take small-carbs fruits like lemon, limes, and berries that are high in fiber in moderate amounts.

[Read: Zero Carb Diet for a Healthy Life]

6. Nuts

Keto vegan diet advocates intake of all types of nuts with particular emphasis on pili nuts, macadamias, pecans, and hazelnuts.

7. Seeds

Seeds are the right choice as they are high in fiber, fat, and low in carb.

8. Vegetarian Protein

Tofu, tempeh, natto, spirulina, nutritional yeast, and seitan are excellent sources of plant protein. Be aware of faux meat burgers(2) and other outside food, which might include high sugar content.

9. Herbs And Seasoning

Include pepper, basil, turmeric, paprika, oregano, thyme, and rosemary in the diet.

A Meal Plan

You should aim for a balanced keto diet for vegetarians. Here are some ideas which could help you pick your own daily vegetarian keto diet plan.

1. Breakfast

omelet
Image:ShutterStock

For breakfast, you could choose from vegetarian keto foods like omelet, smoothie, tofu scramble, keto oatmeal, Greek yogurt made with veg keto ingredients.

2. Lunch

For lunch, you could have taco lettuce wraps, cauliflower mac, tempeh bacon, cauliflower crust pizza, zucchini noodles, etc.

3. Dinner

For dinner, you could prepare salad, coconut curry, frittata, cauliflower fried rice, etc.

4. Snacks

If you suddenly feel hungry, you could choose to eat from healthy food like mixed nuts, whipped cream with berries, roasted pumpkin seeds, zucchini chips, and so on.

What Foods Should You Avoid?

It is equally important to know what foods to avoid in a keto diet for vegetarians. Of course, fish, meat, poultry, and seafood are not part of the vegetarian diet. Further, you should limit the following items in your veggie keto diet:

  • Starchy vegetables like potatoes, carrots, beets, yams, etc.
  • Fruits like banana, apple, apricots, oranges, etc.
  • Grains like rice, bread, quinoa, barley, pasta, etc.
  • Legumes like peas, beans, chickpeas, and lentils
  • Processed foods like cookies, breakfast cereals, chips, baked food items, etc.
  • Sweeteners like honey, white sugar, brown sugar, etc.
  • Sugar-sweetened beverages like sweet tea, juice, soda, energy drinks, etc.
  • Alcoholic beverages like wine, beer, sweetened cocktails, etc.

[Read: A Perfect Parkinson’s Diet]

Now that you know that the keto diet for vegetarians is quite easy to plan and follow, you must give it a try. But before that, it is equally important to know that it might be unsuitable for you or might even aggravate some nutritional deficiencies that you already have. So, before trying your vegetarian keto diet, it is best to get expert advice from a dietician or doctor on its suitability for you.


FAQs

1. Who Can Follow a Keto Diet?

Keto diet is beneficial for people who want to lose weight or improve metabolic health and diabetics. But it is not suitable for athletes, pregnant females, lactating women, children, and people who have type 1 diabetes or eating disorders.

2. What Are the Best Low-Carb Fruits to Eat on a Keto Diet?

The best low-carb foods include

  • Avocado, raspberries, and lemons are keto-friendly fruits when eaten in moderation. Shutterstock; Stocksy
  • Cantaloupe
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