Low-carb, Low-calorie Diet For A Vegan?
I’m easing into veganism at the moment but I am on a low-carb diet (carbs turn to fat). Plus, I am also trying to lose weight by reducing my calorie intake.
I used to eat a lot of brown rice, buckwheat and quinoa, but since these are carbohydrate foods I am going to have to cut back on them.
At the moment most of my protein sources come from nuts, beans and legumes. However, I will probably have to cut back on the nuts because nuts are high in fat (half the weight of an almond is fat). So now, I’m left with mostly beans and legumes…. plus of course tofu and tempeh.
Yet there are further health concerns. Soy products that I’ve eaten for ages, such as soy milk, soy beans, tofu, tempeh, etc. apparently give you cancer. I heard not so long ago that health experts have tried to warn consumers that soybeans should be marketed as dangerous. So much that Israel banned soy foods! Besides, they apparently are full of plant-estrogens and I don’t want to turn into a girl, lose my manliness and grow breast…. uuuggh!
Gee, veganism is a tough battle of the foods! But I am determined. Any suggestions for substitutes?
I’m a type 2 diabetic, so eating low-carb is necessary for me for good blood-sugar control (not some temporary fad as many assume). I’m not a vegan, so I’m not sure whether all these substitutes will be acceptable for you, but I think most of them are:
Instead of bread, I might have any of the following:
- low-carb lavash or pita (we get Joseph’s brand at our local grocery store. The lavash is 7 g carb, 3 of which are fiber; the pita is 8 g, 4 of which are fiber, so both are 4 g net.)
- GG Scandinavian Crispbread: it’s almost all fiber; it’s basically bran held together with water. It tastes a bit like pressed sawdust at first, but I have acquired a taste for it now.
- Wasa crispbread (check the carb counts; some a much higher than others — the fiber rye is the lowest, I think, though I haven’t bought them lately)
Instead of pasta:
- for spaghetti: spaghetti squash
- for ziti or penne-sized pasta: green beans
- for lasagna: sheets of extra-firm tofu cut thin with a cheese slicer
Instead of rice: grated steamed cauliflower
Instead of potatoes:
- mashed: mashed and seasoned cauliflower
- roasted: small white purple-topped turnips, lightly oiled and seasoned
- cubed (like for hash browns or in stew or chowder): small white turnips again
- shredded (like for potato pancakes): shredded zucchini
- potato salad: lightly steamed bite-size chunks of cauliflower in your favorite potato-salad recipe
Instead of oatmeal: a bowl of hot cereal that is mainly ground flax seeds and hot water, plus some ground almonds, and just two spoonfuls of real oatmeal mixed in for flavor. (Oatmeal is a huge spiker for me, although I often see it being touted as diabetic-friendly.)
Instead of almost any kind of beans (as in chili): Eden’s Black Soybeans. For some reason they have a much lower carb count / higher fiber amount than regular beans or white soybeans have.
Edit: I’m adding a few links that you may find useful.
“Vegetarian Lowcarb” : http://www.immuneweb.org/lowcarb/
“Vegetarian Low Carb Resources” : http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/vegetar…
“Interview with a Vegan Lowcarber” : http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/vegetar…
“Low Carb Vegan? for Dummies” (a thread in a Vegetarian Low Carbers forum) : http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/gi/dynamic…
There is no way to eat a low carbohydrate vegan diet-check the carb content of beans.
What you must do is choose high fiber carbs like beans,vegetables and whole grains. Soy is no danger at all if eaten in moderation-it’s those who eat processed soy every meal that have problems.
Besides, any food can turn to fat if it’s not expended as calories, so weight loss is really all about being active, not some fad diet.
The only way to avoid carbs is to just eat fruit and veg. And that’s not healthy in the long term.
Soy does not cause cancer. Show me evidence if you want to convince me. In the mean time I will still eat it. The amount of oestrogen in soy is not enough to remove your “manliness”. Apparently they don’t even effect your body. I can’t say that with certainty as I don’t have proof.
There are so many things here that need correcting.
1. “carbs turn to fat.” That’s true…if you eat too much and you don’t exercise. Fat is stored as fat if you eat too much and don’t exercise. Carbs are converted into glucose and then stored as fat if you eat too much and don’t exercise. And yes, PROTEIN is also converted into glucose and then into fat and then stored as fat…if you eat too much and don’t exercise. Are you seeing a pattern here? It’s the lack of exercise and improper intake of foods that causes the fat storage, not the fact that they are carbs. You actually need a 2:1 carbs to protein ratio to help you digest the protein.
2. “So now, I’m left with mostly beans and legumes.” You do realize that grains and avocado are also great sources of protein, right?
3. “Soy products that I’ve eaten for ages, such as soy milk, soy beans, tofu, tempeh, etc. apparently give you cancer.”
Bear in mind that the meat industry actually funds that research. Also bear in mind that the cultures with the highest average ages, like Japan, have diets that are HIGH in soy. Obviously, it’s not giving them cancer.
4. “Besides, they apparently are full of plant-estrogens and I don’t want to turn into a girl, lose my manliness and grow breast…. uuuggh!”
If that were true, soy-heavy nations, like Japan, China, and others, would have voluptuous women and chubby men. How many fat Asians have you seen?
Additionally, do THESE guys look like girls who lack manliness and have ample breasts?http://veganbodybuilding.com/robertcheek…http://veganbodybuilding.com/imgs/albums…
Both of these men are VEGAN bodybuilders. Yes, they eat soy. Yes, they eat grains (OMG NOOOO!!! CARBS!!!!). And yes, they look like that. More pictures at http://www.veganbodybuilding.com
So, that’s the short and skinny of it. You’re going about this all wrong because you are grossely misinformed.
Many carbs don’t turn into fat, many carbs give you energy to burn off fat. You will only put on fat if you don’t exercise, and if you don’t exercise, then you are not seriously bothered about losing weight.
edit: the link in the above answer looks suspicious. Don’t open it unless you are absolutely sure about it.