Are you struggling to lose weight? Do you seem to add pounds every year, even with increased exercise?
You are not alone.
As of 2016, nearly 40 percent of adults worldwide were considered overweight. Considering that worldwide obesity has tripled since 1975, the world is getting bigger, not smaller.
It may seem counterintuitive, but starving yourself can cause your body to hold on to fat. This is natural due to the feast-and-famine nature of our ancestors' existence. As a result, our bodies have evolved to become great fat-storing machines.
The problem is, we have 24-7 access to food and we don't have to fight or forage for it. We also lead sedentary lifestyles, making it harder to burn off those extra calories.
So what's the solution?
Consider the vegan keto diet as a way to detox, allowing your blood sugar to stabilize and metabolism to reset. It also teaches your body to become a fat-burning machine.
What is Keto?
The keto diet was created a century ago to help children with epilepsy. It's also effective at helping obese patients lose weight, decreasing bad cholesterol, and improving blood sugar regulation.
On a "regular" diet, we consume half or more of our calories in the form of carbs. Carbs are the easiest to break down into glucose, the body's preferred form of fuel.
The problem is, as long as the body has glucose as its fuel, it won't burn fat.
When we deprive the body of glucose through a low-carb diet, it is forced to use fat as a source of fuel by breaking down fat into ketones.
When our bodies have a certain level of ketones in the blood, we are in the state of ketosis, hence the name "keto." This can even be measured through urine strips. When in ketosis, we are in fat-burning mode.
On the keto diet, people consume 80-90 percent of their calories from fat -- usually no more than 50g -- and only five percent from carbs. The rest of the calories come from protein sources.
The Body and the Vegan Keto Diet
Keto is often associated with eating a higher amount of animal products, especially meat. This is due to carb restriction.
The problem is, digesting food is one of the hardest things we ask our bodies to do each day. Meat is difficult to digest, not to mention the humanitarian concerns and environmental impact of raising animals for meat.
A vegan diet can leave you feeling satisfied for longer due to the high-fiber, nutrient-dense content of a plant-based diet.
Combine the effects of a keto diet with a vegan diet, and you detox while burning fat.
While there are many food detox choices out there, the vegan keto diet is a great way to detox without the drawbacks of consuming meat.
Vegan Keto Effects
How your body reacts to a vegan keto diet depends on your current diet. For example, if you're eating a mainstream diet, a sudden shift to consuming higher fiber foods can cause bloating and gas.
Within the first few days, other people report "keto flu," with symptoms such as headaches, muscle soreness, and fatigue. These symptoms are usually temporary, though, resulting from toxins leaving your body.
Some people experience constipation when changing diets. If you aren't already on a vegan diet, consider slowly moving to this diet prior to doing a vegan keto cleanse.
If you feel fatigue beyond the keto flu, this could occur due to a lack of B12. Many vegans get B12 from food sources such as nutritional yeast. Others take supplements.
Although you may not feel fatigue overall, you may also feel more tired than usual during your workout. This is why we recommend low-intensity exercise, such as gentle cycling or yoga, while on your vegan keto cleanse.
As always, discuss this with your doctor first.
Vegan Keto Benefits
Vegans, in general, tend to weigh less. They also have better cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
When you switch to a low-carb, high-fat diet, your blood sugar stabilizes, giving you a steady source of energy rather than the roller coaster highs and lows of a mainstream diet.
Along those same lines, you might experience more energy. Eating refined carbs and sugar causes your glucose levels to spike and then crash. This leads to energy dips and even moodiness.
During a vegan keto cleanse, you could have increased mental clarity. This might be due to the elimination of carbs and sugar, which can cause "brain fog."
A higher-fiber, lower-carb diet may mean more trips to the bathroom, but this isn't always a bad thing. While foods like bread and cheese tend to cause constipation, fiber adds bulk to the stool and scrubs the intestines, flushing out waste.
Feeding your good gut bacteria with prebiotics such as vegetables strengthens digestion, which can lead to improved energy, sleep, immunity, and even mood.
The phytonutrients found in plants also lower your risk of heart disease, high cholesterol, and cancer, which is another reason to opt for a plant-based diet.
What To Eat
Nuts, seeds, avocados, coconut oil, and olive oil are all great sources of vegan-friendly fat. Eat low-starch veggies such as cauliflower while avoiding those high in starch such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, corn, and beets.
Leafy greens and mushrooms are also good choices. Low in carbs, veggies such as broccoli, spinach, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, and artichokes are also packed with protein.
Other good protein choices include tofu, tempeh, hemp, and vegan protein powder. Be sure to check the ingredients to make sure there are no added sugars.
Significantly reduce grains, beans, and starchy foods, such as potatoes. You must also cut out almost all fruit, except for a handful of berries, as fruit is high in sugar.
How to Ensure Success
Remember, this is a detox designed to help you burn fat. Your body won't do that if you're eating sugar. This is why it's important to read labels, even on salad dressings.
The most challenging part for many who decide to use the keto-vegan diet as a way to detox is the meal planning.
Check out this page to see the various food detoxes available. Contact us to learn if the vegan keto diet is the right cleanse for you.
It may seem overwhelming, but with some planning and practice, adhering to a vegan keto diet is easier than you think. Click here to see a sample meal plan or to order vegan-keto meals delivered straight to your doorstep.
