Thread: Does anyone know of a low-carb vegan diet?

I would like to find a diet preferably comparable to Atkins or another low-carb plan that is vegan.
Does anyone know of a plan?
I was on Atkins for awhile, lost some weight, gained 10 lbs back, and I think it was due to not having food choices I like. Any ideas or perhaps a different low-carb plan? Any advice? I can't stand eggs and I made a special sacrafice for this diet early in the year, but now I've been searching for months now for a solution.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

I don't know about a specific plan, but my mom is doing something similar to what you are describing - except she is making up her own rules, and it is even more restrictive than Atkins. She is basically combining the acid alkaline diet with low carb as best she can.

She basically only eats salads, vegetables, fruit, yogurt, cottage cheese, an occasional bowl of Maggie's cereal without the unprocessed wheat bran (she claims it is too acidic) and Davinci's syrups. She has lost a lot of weight on it. She is down to about 110 at 5'3, and likes it better than Atkins, which she did try out once.

I just want to put out a word of caution here... While I totally applaud your attempt (and Paladin's mother's attempt) to combine 2 extreme ways of eating, you need to be very careful to ensure that you are giving your body all it needs!
I, for one, have never believed that vegan and low-carb could be completely merged because where will you get your amino acids from??
I am definitely NOT an expert on vegan lifestyle, but I had always believed that vegans were able to eat healthily by combining several forms of grains & legumes to ensure they were meeting their amino requirements. (EX: corn, rice, and red beans = an almost complete amino-balanced meal, but you can't do corn OR rice if you are low-carbing!)
I think the best option for someone desiring to follow a vegan lifestyle is to strictly limit the junk. Most vegans and vegetarians I know, this is their downfall! They end up eating WAY too many crackers, chips, cookies, pasta, etc.
Go ahead and eat the rice & corn & beans, but leave the *non-necessity* foods behind & I think you will achieve your goals.
I hope this helps (even if just a little!)

Hi Lawbooks,
What are corn beans?

Thanks Devi, I eat soy products already. It's part of my lifestyle as a vegan.

Thanks Paladin, I will look into what you said. I've been thinking about re-inventing the diet somehow to suit me. I love tofu and soy products. I will just have to count carbs with everything again...including and especially any sauces.

Funny! I was wondering if 'corn beans' were something new.
And as far as the soy goes, nowadays everything is cancerous...so what are we supposed to eat?

Originally Posted by Lawbooks

Oops! That's SUPPOSED to say corn AND beans!
ROFL
Gonna go edit that now...

As for the soy, do watch your intake of that as well as the new studies linking soy intake to an increased risk of breast cancer are NOT good... and MEN should avoid soy like the plague as it is a phyto-estrogen and can effect fertility.
HTH,
Summer

I guess we don't have that book yet. I've checked our library files.

Originally Posted by bumpy

A book's just been published in the UK called 'the vegetarian low carb diet' by Rose Eliot - it's got lots of recipes that are/could be adapted to be vegan. I think it would be very hard to vegan low carb without eating a lot of soy products - tofu is the lowest carb and highest protein source of animal free protein you can get, and is so versatile - it's in lots of Eliots receipes. She does also recommend seitan, which is a food made from wheat protein that comes in meat like chunks (like tofu) - you can make it from gluten powder, or buy it in some health food shops apparantly, although I've never seen it!

Rose Elliot's book is available at amazon.com. Just go to the main Forum Page:

http://www.lowcarbeating.com/bb/index.php

and scroll down to the amazon.com link. Type in her name (in the box labled "for") and you'll see a list of her books. The low carb one is included!