Hi.

I'm lacto ovo vegetarian. I'm also mildly hypo thyroid so avoid all soy and soy derivatives.

I currently dont follow a "low-carb" plan, only a moderately low/medium one. But if you had to follow a low one - 50-100 gm carbs in a day sort of thing, what can you eat. A lot of menus, suggestions I see are centred abround TVP and soy. But without those, what can you eat ?

On a true Atkins-like plan, most of the vegetables and fruits I eat today would be out. I guess I could still eat eggs, cream, yogurt, cheese etc.

But what else ?

No responses at all.

Anyone ?

Don't forget nuts for protein. Also coconut oil will be great at helping you suppress hunger and kickstart ketosis.

I'm a vegetarian too, and I also hate that so many veg recipes are centered around soy...I really don't agree with eating that. Anyways, some of the foods I eat:

Butter, cheese, eggs, low-sugar fruits (mostly berries), low-starch veggies, coconut products (oil, milk, water, etc), cold-pressed flax oil (for omega-3's; I put it in smoothies), occasionally some nuts, stevia, and tahini.

Tahini is really good--lots of fat and protein. We get it at a nearby Asian market for really cheap, and I mix it with a bit of stevia, so it ends up tasting a lot like halvah.

Avocados are really good too--nice and filling, and you can even use them to make puddings or smoothies. In Brazil I hear that avocado smoothies are popular, made with avocado, milk, and some sweetener. It sounds gross, but I made it and everyone loved it, even though they all made fun of it I found that recipe on Recipezaar, I think it's the best place for recipes, so maybe you should look for something there. You can type in low-carb, or just modify whatever else you find. Good luck!

Have you ever tried seitan ?

I make it from time to time and it a good base for making burgers or stry fries.

Not sure we get tahini or seitan in India.

I make seitan with gluten - not worth buying it.

I have been a vegetarianforgoing on 17 years and I NEVER eat soy. I hate the flavour, texture and the fact that it gives me cystic acne on my jaw line!!!!

I eat lots of eggs, dairy, veggies and pulses. I live in Europe so I use Quorn a lot too.

Now that I reachedmy goalweight, I eat quinoa a few times a week. This is awsome food - it's a seed and it could easily be confused with couscous or bulgur but it actually contains complete protein! And more calcium than milk. It also has a low GI, but dieters beware - it is starchy.

Hi Cinnalinna,

You are absolutely right to steer clear of soy, but you might also want to rethink your stance on Quorn, too.

This is from Dr Briffa's blog about Quorn:

http://www.drbriffa.com/blog/2008/0...food-after-all/

Quinoa and amaranth, as well as buckwheat, belong to those "grains" which aren't really grains, and are relatively good proteins. However, to really get the goodness out of grains, it is best to use traditional cooking methods of soaking, fermenting etc to get rid of the phytic acid in them.

There are some great ideas in this post:

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.c...ds-improve.html

I suspect I may have become wheat-sensitive and now try to avoid it as much as possible. However, I do need my starchy foods (in small quantities, of course) and have been exploring alternatives. I would really like to try making idli and dhosa in the traditional way, too: have either of you tried those foods???

amanda

Hi Shobha,

I think you are misquoting Atkins, to be honest. Atkins is famous for the "Induction" phase of his plan which is very very low in carbs, i.e. 20g or under per day. However, he recommends that this only be followed for about two weeks and that you then increase your carbs by, I think, 5g per day, per week, till you discover what your "Critical Carbohydrate Level for Losing" is. He says that this can be anywhere between 15 and 90g of carbs per day.

Other experts in the field would also say that to lose weight on an LC diet, you need to keep your carbs under 100g; to maintain your weight, stay between 100-150g per day.

At the moment, due to mild adrenal fatigue, I am avoiding carb-free meals and my carb level is generally just under 100g per day (and I still lose, just slowly!!!). I eat pulses, non-gluten grains, rice, potatoes, starchy veggies, just in relatively small portions.

If I were to follow a vegetarian LC diet, it would have a lot of eggs and dairy, as well as plenty of nuts and seeds (preferably soaked and dried, but I haven't got round to buying a dehydrator yet), the above-mentioned starchy foods, say 20-30g per main meal, and lots of low-carb green veggies. I would also look for a good variety of fats and would use ghee, olive oil, butter and coconut oil in my cooking.

I think I would also make a lot of nut or seed-based rissoles, nut roasts and so on.

In fact, now that I think of it, there's plenty of foods to eat on a vegetarian LC diet!!!

I just eat meat because, one, I like it and, two, the protein and other nutrients in meat and organ meats (zinc, copper, iron etc) are much better absorbed by humans when they come in the form of meat than from plant sources.

If you use plant sources, it would be advisable to take a lot of care with their preparation to optimize absorption. I think I would also take supplements and use digestive enzymes to help absorption and increase intake of substances such as zinc, copper and iron.

The phytic acids in grains work as enzyme inhibitors, bind to minerals and metals and are then excreted in the form of phytates. This is why I would definitely look to making idli and dhosa and suchlike, if I were an LC vegetarian.

amanda

Well, I do know that fruits are very limited on Atkins - to only berries and such. We eat lots of other fruits too.

Also, lots of vegetables (not just the low carb ones), some rice, chapatis and lentils etc.

Definitely not Atkins.

Must be at least 150 g carbs.

Atkins is hard for vegetarians, even lacto-ovo ones.

The vegetarianism is of course a self-imposed restriction, so not really complaining there
My husband and I at least eat some white meat when we eat out, but my parents don't. My mom doesn't even eat eggs.