Help for my wife trying vegan keto

[scaperdude]

My wife gets hives from dairy since the time of her birth. In fact the hospital almost killed her by giving her a baby formula with milk. She was a premee, and blew up like a balloon. So she is trying to eliminate things to see if her inflammation will go down. Thanks for letting us know about ghee. We will not try it now.

[coopdawg]

I would suggest ammino acid protein (expensive) supplements if she can’t/won’t eat meat/fish.

Best wishes.

[scaperdude]

She has lost about 30 pounds from just over a month ago. But she has been relying a lot on protein powders to do it. It has been mostly salads and protein powder smoothies. I wouldn’t want to do keto like that, but she is making it successful. Thanks for the help everyone.

My question now becomes what she may want to do to go on maintenance. I have stabilized at about 175 lb. However, I have virtually eliminated sugar from my morning meal(I eat plenty of fruit though) - leaving sugar intake for dessert time after dinner or only once per day. I feel this gives my body a chance to use some ketones during the day. I like it as I don’t seem to get a sugar crash around 3 pm - which is an issue when I eat a more traditional lunch. I have avoided that for years by essentially skipping lunch. I may have a natural nut mix or something like that when I am working.

When she reaches her desired weight or result, she is not going to want to continue with protein powders… She is going to need some kind of regular diet and it sounds like she is going to try to continue to be vegetarian. That may work so long as she stays away from sugar and sweets. Mind you that is somewhat of an issue for me as I am not giving up meat - shrimp, fish, chicken, lamb, etc. I guess we can share vegetable dishes, but I just don’t know how she is going to get enough protein without the soy products - which she doesn’t like. Is anyone here using protein powders on a daily basis indefinitely? Some people on youtube videos seem to do that. I am currently writing about the subject, and have compiled a small list of vegetative foods which provide a complete protein profile by combining a few ingredients - such as organic corn and beans, lentils and sweet potatoes and chia seeds, and a few others. Are there others who have more non-soy suggestions? Obviously, the list becomes problematic on a continuing ketogenic diet, but I am no longer doing strict keto myself, and am eating these foods.

Maybe when she has lost the weight, she will not get the swelling when she eats meat, and will feel OK about going back to some meats.

[Shinita]

You wrote before that she eats some eggs, that is complete protein, great. I did high-protein vegetarian keto with eggs and oily seeds as my major protein sources. She may not want to eat THAT many eggs like me, the egg fan but she doesn’t need as much protein either and if she does low-carb or even some healthy higher-carb (if that works for her), she can use protein rich plants too. I would do gluten+legumes and some oily seeds on a plant-based diet but I never ever did that for more than a few days and anyway, gluten isn’t good for most people as far as I know, I tried gluten free years and nothing got better so I don’t think it matters much to me (not like I often eat gluten but it’s an option I am aware of). I surely would do a varied plant-based diet, it’s easier with animal products as we can get everything we need from one source, basically… Protein is especially easy, it’s complete and plentiful.
Our tastes, ideal carb intake range and what satiates us matters too, these point me to the gluten+legume thing (like seitan with green peas. no idea about the right ratio though, never went that deep with completing). I still would need pretty low-carb to feel right so I would stay away from much grains but maybe it would be nice for your wife. But much starch is still loads better than much sugar, it’s obviously the case for me and probably most people… Maybe unless one quickly uses it up.
I see the idea is using better sources of carbs, that’s very good, of course.

I am not against quality protein powders but using them as major protein source sounds bad to me. One should eat proper food, mostly. But it may be one of the sources especially until she figures out what works best.

[collaroygal]

Vegetarian is way easier than vegan. You can have eggs and cheese.

Have you checked out the vegetarian keto meal planner on www.dietdoctor.com , she can do a free trial and see if those meals would work for her.