Low-carb, plant-based diet, doctor said he boosted his workouts



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  • Vegan diets are good for heart health, but low-carb diets improve blood sugar control, research shows.
  • Combining the two can be “the best of both worlds,” according to a doctor who has tried it for 30 days.
  • Dr Anna Borek said that a low-carb plant-based diet is easier than expected and improves her health and strength, so she sticks to it for the long term.

When it comes to healthy eating, it can be difficult to choose between popular trends like low-carb and vegan diets.

Dr. Anna Borek, a doctor who worked in general medicine as well as in the hospital, noticed that his patients often suffered from illnesses related to poor eating habits. So she wanted to experience healthy eating on her own by trying a 30-day challenge to follow a low-carb diet made up entirely of plant-based foods.

Borek told Insider that low-carb diets tend to rely heavily on high-fat animal products such as red meat, processed meats, and butter, which suggests it can be detrimental to health. , especially to heart health. She wanted to show that it was possible to get the benefits of whole plant foods in addition to low carbs (defined as no more than 50 grams of net carbs, or total carbs minus fiber, per day) .

“I feel like a lot of people think it’s next to impossible to eat this way. Others seem to think such a diet would be tasteless, boring, etc.,” she told Insider. . “I wanted to show that these ideas are very wrong: a low-carb, plant-based diet can be viable, enjoyable and healthy.”

Borek said it was surprisingly easy to prepare meals and said the diet provided him with significant health and fitness benefits. So she continued to follow a low-carb, plant-based diet (sometimes with high-carb days) beyond the 30-day challenge.

The plant-based low-carb diet was surprisingly sustainable

Borek said that after starting the experiment she noticed mild symptoms like hunger, aches and fatigue (common temporary side effects of switching to a low-carb diet), but she said that ‘was dispelled in less than a week.

Previously, Borek said she followed a diet that was mostly plant-based, but high in carbohydrate-rich foods like fruits, legumes, and whole grains, as well as vegetables, seeds, and nuts.

She said planning her low-carb meals was less of a challenge than she had anticipated, however, and she unexpectedly found that she didn’t miss a lot of high-carb foods.

“I quickly got to the heart of the matter and established a wide range of low-carb, high-quality plant-based foods that could be combined in a variety of ways to create a diverse repertoire of meals,” she declared. “To my surprise, I enjoyed the low carb fare so much that I didn’t feel any sense of deprivation.”

A few nutrient-dense foods that she included on a regular basis were tofu, kale, nutritional yeast, mushrooms, and sunflower seeds, which are high in nutrients like B vitamins and calcium.

A low-carb, plant-based meal of tofu, asparagus, and avocado


Anna Borek / Twitter, @ScepticalDoctor


The diet also improved physical performance

Low-carb diets are sometimes controversial when it comes to fitness, as carbohydrates are an important source of energy for athletes.

Borek found, to his surprise, that his yoga practice and strength training only improved after switching to a plant-based, low-carb diet.

“If anything, my strength has improved. I guess it may be related to eating more calories from protein,” Borek said.

Protein is an essential nutrient for muscle recovery, according to research. There is some evidence that a plant-based diet rich in nutrients may benefit athletes by improving endurance and boosting recovery after exercise.

Strong evidence suggests that plant-based diets have a range of health benefits

Beyond the trivia, research suggests that plant-based diets may benefit our health. Studies have shown that plant-based diets are linked to a lower risk of chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes, and to better health measures like blood pressure.

Borek said that since publishing his experience, several people have told him they are inspired to include more plants in their diets, with good results.

“These types of interactions motivate me to keep tweeting about nutrition,” Borek said.



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