Is the keto diet safe for vegans? I have tried it

Vegans usually have to be ridiculed by their omnivorous friends, who like to tease them for their restrictive diet, which they perceive as consisting exclusively of oatmeal and leaves.

As a vegan of just six months, I can understand skepticism. I do not eat meat, fish, dairy products, or eggs, but that does not mean I'm tied to a lettuce and chia seed life.

With the advent of herbal alternatives to all the aforementioned products, becoming vegan has never been so easy. that is, unless you decide to tackle the shameless oppressive beast that is the vegan ketogenic diet.

When you combine the implacable parameters imposed by the keto with the limits of veganism, it is as if you are sacrificing your soul to the spirits of culinary joy – there is literally nothing that can satisfy you.

While the motives for following a vegan diet range from ethics to the environment, the ketogenic diet is exclusively designed for weight loss.

It's a low-carb, high-fat diet designed to keep your body in the optimal metabolic state to burn fat called ketosis.

A traditional keto diet is rich in high quality meats, yogurts and cheeses, which is not so good for vegans.

It has recently been rated "Worst Fad Diet" in an annual list established by the US News & World Report, so that it might not even be as good for non-vegans.

The difficulty in simultaneously monitoring both diets is that many of the "forbidden" keto foods are staple foods for vegans, such as fruits, grains and legumes, making it very difficult for the layman to combine two and maintain a semblance. mental health, even less nutritional value.

I realized this first hand when I tried this lamentable coupling for seven days via a celebrity celebrity delivery service that promised to make me look like Gwyneth Paltrow.

Needless to say, I do not look more like a Hollywood starlette steaming fruit juice and steam than I did before trying to diet – and it suits me.

My plan was to have three meals and two snacks a day – delivered at home – all meals excluding the foods I rely on to survive, such as quinoa, bananas and just about every carbohydrate you could ever dream of.

"How could it be difficult?" I remember thinking, "I'm vegan, I can do the most restrictive thing, I have it."

However, after seeing the breakfast of the first day – a self-identifying "salad of kale and olives" – my blatant hubris that I could badume with the keto vegetarian diet in all its drastic splendor was quickly crushed.

My pessimism was only exacerbated during this seven day period, during which time I was forced to complete almost every pale meal with at least three slices of toast.

To give you an idea of ​​the kind of disguises I was facing, a typical day following my vegan ko plan would consist of a flabby salty breakfast followed by a green juice or a small handful of nuts.

Lunch can consist of a salad of soy sprouts and spinach or a heap of garlic mushrooms posing as a hamburger.

Another snack would follow – perhaps a scoop of protein or cucumber sticks – and it was then time for dinner, which was as joyless as its previous meals.

I do not think I have eaten as much bread in my life as I did for a week.

I should mention that I'm not just a glutton, I'm also a fan of the gym, which means that I need more than just leaves and nuts to maintain my energy level, not to mention my mood.

It turns out that I'm not the only one who thinks that the veggie vegan diet is not the best idea, a number of dietitians have also criticized it online for its lack of nutritional value.

The problem is that veganism alone is already exposing you to a number of nutritional deficiencies, such as calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B12 and iron, which are only exacerbated by the addition of ketogenic limitations.

"Combining veganism and a ketogenic diet can be extremely dangerous," said Rhiannon Lambert, a nutritionist at Harley Street. L & # 39; s independent.

"You will most likely find yourself very low in energy and missing essential nutrients of the diet. You can not beat a well balanced diet including a variety of complex carbohydrates, proteins, essential fats and lots of fruits and vegetables.

Lambert added that research on conventional ketogenic diets suggests that this could only be beneficial for people with epilepsy and that under no circumstances should it be pursued in the long term without professional supervision.

Back to the bread basket I'm going.