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Vegetarian Lowcarb

Yes you can follow a low carbohydrate diet as a vegetarian

Do you want to try lowcarb without giving up being a vegetarian?
Do you limit your meat consumption due to spiritual beliefs, food sensitivities, or just preference?
Are you already doing lowcarb as a meat eater but would like a change of pace?
Are you concerned about residue hormones, pesticides, and other toxins found in animal fat?
Are you part of the unlucky few who have to limit consumption of saturated fat?
Then you have come to the right place...

I gave up meat in 1982, two weeks before leaving home to go to college. When I discovered lowcarb in the summer of 1998 I knew I was going to have to find a way to incorporate my vegetarianism into my new diet. I intend to use lowcarb's ideals for life (losing weight is only a tiny part of it) but I know now that not only can you do so without meat (or even any animal products at all), but it's not all that difficult.

I eat seafood, so I refer to my diet as "vegetarian and seafood," but most of my meals do not include that. I also eat eggs and dairy. I was allergic to even the tiniest amounts of dairy for 7 years so I am very familiar with nondairy diets. I've also had to incorporate many other allergies. A good number of my meals are vegan and many others are mostly vegan with a bit of cheese, yogurt, or egg added in. I do not eat preservatives (allergic), artificial sweeteners, food dyes, or other junk. As much of my food as possible is organically grown or produced. My suggestions on these pages will be for healthy, real foods. If you want the junk, there are plenty of other places to go to find out about them.

Even if you do eat dairy I recommend you learn about vegan protein sources. Dairy is a common source of weight loss stalls for many people and can be problematic in other ways for many others. Also, it's very hard to get enough protein from dairy without going over your daily carbohydrate limits. Use it as an adjunct to your main foods, if you use it at all. Eggs, if you eat them, are excellent lowcarb protein sources.

I follow Protein Power, which is one of several versions of a lowcarb diet. It is slightly less strict than the Atkins diet. Other types of lowcarb diets include Carbohydrate Addicts Diet and Bernstein's lowcarb diet for diabetics. Diets with more moderate carb levels include Sugarbusters and the Zone. You can be a vegetarian using any of these diets. Even a vegan. In fact, you can be a vegan while doing Atkins Induction (the strictest of the strict, the 2 week entry diet). If you choose to eat meat, fine, but you do not have to eat meat to lowcarb.


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Cyndi Norwitz / webmaster@immuneweb.org / Last Modified: 11/11/07