Many people associate veganism and vegetarianism with difficulty in getting protein. In truth there are numerous ways to obtain protein on a plant based diet, but it is true that since many plants only contain low amounts of protein we need to be careful about selecting what we eat to ensure we get enough. Here's some of what I have learned this week as I adopt a low carb and high protein diet...

First of all, the reasoning for eating less carbohydrate and high protein diet is that carbs turn to sugar and thus fat, yet they are not necessarily needed by our body - whereas we do truly need and use protein to meet our body's needs. Since protein can be tougher to come by in plant based diets than in other alternative diets, it makes sense to pay attention to the available sources and how much we are getting.

The nutrition tracking tool that I am using (Nutritics) states that for my body size and age I am thought to need the following daily intake (plus additional intake relative to physical activity):

2327 kcal (calories)
291g Carbs
87g Protein
90g Fat

Whereas my target for weight (fat) loss is:

1750 kcal
a ratio of around 30-40% carbs
as little fat as can be achieved

So this means in excess of 100g of protein and maybe under 200g of Carbs.

How is this done?

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After analysing many foods it was concluded that berries are the best source of fruit as they are low carb but high in health giving properties - they also add good sweetness to breakfasts. Low carb, no dairy yoghurts and almond milks also work for breakfasts - so a combination of a smaller amount of muesli, yoghurt, fruit and other toppings such as almond flakes and dessicated coconut work well and fill me up in the mornings. This is a big difference to my usual bigger bowl of muesli with much more sweetened almond/coconut milk with cacao.

Any kind of snack bars are replaced with ultra low carb versions - which are tough to find, but they do exist. Any with a lot of pure nut content and low sugar / high protein are worth looking at. Better still is to cut these out completely and maybe replace with berries or other lower carb fruits such as apricots.

Sugary drinks are out.. Water and the occasional small fruit/veg smoothies are in!

We started out using tofu as a high protein source, which I usually avoid - and it worked quite well. This Tofu Miso Japanese soup was really good and had a great balance of carbs to protein:

Unfortunately, we then learned that Tofu has some of the oestrogenic issues that Soy beans have and that fermented Soy is the way to go.. So now we have moved on to Tempeh instead as it has the benefits of Tofu but without the downsides. Tempeh also works great in salads, sandwiches and beyond - just like Tofu.

Lentils and beans also have a decent carb/protein ratio - so we are getting into making more recipes that use these - although it's not so great for the wind!!

Here's a lentil bolognese that worked well, this one used edamame fettucini pasta - but we will likely replace this with a black bean version in the next iteration:

Deserts are obviously more tricky since most contain a lot of sugar and thus carbs. However, it is possible to use almond milk and yoghurt, plus liquid stevia drops for sweetness... So I look forward to coming up with some creative solutions! Stay tuned for more on that soon... Plus I will share the recipes used in their own posts as we continue.

All tips are welcomed!

Wishing you well,
Ura Soul

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