Is keto possible without dairy or eggs?

#1

As the title says… is possible to be keto without dairy or eggs? I have been on keto a few times. I have never felt better. Well, minus the last time. I was keto for about 6 months and went into a full blown autoimmune flare. My dr thought being in ketosis too long was the cause. I stopped keto and didn’t feel any better at all. Many steroids later, and a food sensitivity test -eggs, chicken, and dairy were high on my list. After omitting them, I feel better. I want to be back on keto. Is this possible?? Can anyone share some links of people online who share these types of recipes? PS, I hate cooking and many other items were on my no-no list. Fun to be me. Thanks.

#2

Welcome back! Keto is definitely doable without any dairy or eggs. I don’t have any recipes to offer, but I’m sure others will. Just leave out the foods that make you sick. No need to use any eggs or dairy products. Just eat fatty meat and keep your carbs below 20 total for best results.

(Diana) #3

Completely possible. Actually most times I try and refrain from dairy as it’s just so tasty.

General recommendations beef/pork/fish your choice with any roasted veg (low carb). A few examples from my meals this week: air fried steak with asparagus, I did have butter but you can have ghee if you want.

Baked salmon with Cauli rice (I put all on same sheet pan and bake). When done I make a dip of avocado Mayo and mustard. And top with everything but bagel seasoning.

Ground beef just cooked in pan, add mushrooms and zucchini towards end. Add whatever seasonings you can tolerate (I do paprika and cayanne).

Just a few ideas. Could any of those work? All can be made ahead and in larger quantities if you wish and reheated.

#4

Of course. Both vegan ketoers and only meat carnivores do it… But of course you can eat meat AND plants/fungi, it offers a pretty big variety and nutrients can’t be a problem as meat alone is apparently enough for that. Okay, it’s not as simple if you can’t eat much meat, for example.

(Shannon) #5

I have a cookbook called Easy dairy-free ketogenic recipes by Maria Emmerich that I have used quite a bit. There are egg recipes in it, but you can just ignore those.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #6

It’s perfectly possible, and I’d be curious to know where that idea that dairy and eggs are necessary on keto comes from.

You need high-quality protein and enough fat to power your daily activities. A lot of people get their protein from meats such as beef, pork, lamb, and goat. If you are sensitive to chicken proteins, you may or may not be able to eat duck, goose, or turkey, so be careful when trying them. Fish is another good source of protein and healthy fat, as well.

Plant proteins are iffy. For one thing, the “protein” listed on nutrition labels for plant-based foods is what they call “crude protein,” which is based on the total amount of nitrogen. But the human body requires nitrogen to be in the form of amino acids; it can’t use any other form of nitrogen (otherwise, we could get all the nitrogen we needed from breathing the air). And we need the amino acids in our foods to occur in the proper proportions; if one is lacking, an excess of any of the others simply goes to waste. What the U.S. Department of Agriculture calls a “high-quality reference protein” when discussing the dietary guidelines is something like beef, which contains all the amino acids (and especially the essential one) in the proper proportions. So, while it is possible to eat a vegetarian ketogenic diet, it requires some work to balance the plant proteins in a way that yields all the amino acids in the right proportions.

I’m sorry you have discovered so many food allergies; my mother experienced the same thing, and turned out to be allergic to all her favourite foods. The allergist explained, that, in fact, being allergic to a food can make us crave it—so it becomes our favourite because we are allergic to it, not the other way around.

(Edith) #7

I’ve been dairy-free for years. I use olive oil, avocado oil, and meat fats such as lard, duck, and chicken. If a recipe calls for butter, I will use duck fat or bacon fat as it’s replacement:

If you like milk-type things, unsweetened coconut milk is a good replacement or unsweetened Milkadamia (macadamia nut milk) I recently found a really tasty dairy-free keto yogurt. It is coconut and pea protein based.

The simplest of all, though, is just meat and some veggies, no recipes - basic and little prep work. :grinning:

Edit: I thought of something else.

You may want to try carnivore as an elimination diet. Years ago, I thought I was allergic to tomatoes because I got canker sores when I ate them. Turns out, I really had a problem with gluten. Once I gave up gluten, I could eat tomatoes to my heart’s content. Gluten causes a leaky gut which makes us more intolerant to all sorts other foods. You may have leaky gut and once you eliminate what is causing it and heal it, you might find you can handle some of those foods you can’t at the moment.