Vegan Keto vs. Vegetarian Keto | Which One Is For You

Written by Nabeel Kallas in Keto,Vegan Keto,Vegetarian Keto

If you’ve been vegan or vegetarian before, this should be an easy question. You know both and you know why you chose what you’ve chosen. But if this is the first time you’re attempting to do keto and you want to do it in a more special way by staying away from a certain umbrella of foods, read on to know when to go vegan and when to go vegetarian.

Now, generally, being a vegetarian means you don’t eat animal meats, but you eat their products (milk, cheese, eggs,.. etc.) Being a vegan, on the other hand, means you eat neither their meat nor their products.

You can start to imagine how this can be a problem for the Keto diet. If you’re not eating rice, pasta, potato, oats, and many other carb-heavy foods, and now you’re also staying away from meat, dairy, and eggs… Your first thought would be: “Well, it’s not so simple of a diet anymore.”

Also read: 10 Cold Keto-Friendly Starbucks Drinks To Freshen Up Your Summer

And you’d be right to think that. It’s hard enough to be on Keto alone and still be meeting your macros and your micronutrients, let alone starting to deprive yourself of an entirely new family of food, that has been proven over the years to provide many health benefits.

Now, if you’re doing this for religious, ethical, or other reasons related to your own beliefs and ideas, I want to help you do it the right way. What I am trying to say is that you don’t have to be doing it. And you shouldn’t unless there’s a medical condition you’re suffering from or you have very strong beliefs that discourage you from eating animal foods.

Let’s discuss which one is the right option for you.

The Ethical Argument

Vegans: If you’re doing this for ethical/moral reasons, many people can’t stand the idea that they’re eating a being with a soul that was specifically killed to be eaten by us, humans. For some people, this sounds like too much for some people. However, they’re OK with eating and drinking animals’ products, because no animals were hurt in the production of these foods.

Vegetarians: The other party of people finds even that a crime. “Why are we taking their milk and eggs away from them?”. They go even further to refuse wearing anything that has leather or any material taken from animals in it.

The Health Argument

You can take this whatever way you want. Too much of any food causes problems, so can we say “too much meat is gonna cause me problems so I’m staying away from it?” I don’t think so. The argument I believe in is the more choices you have, the more likely you are to be eating enough of the nutrients you need on a daily basis.

That is not to say that a vegan keto or a vegetarian keto does not work. They can work if you put in enough work to make them work. Having a small list of food options to choose from can make it difficult than it has to be to get the nutrients our body needs. However, if you’ve been a vegan/vegetarian before, this is gonna be so much easier for you, because you know your ways around your diet, you just have to make some Keto adjustments now to make the transformation.

Also read: Is Vegan Keto Safe?

MasterMinding Perfection Verdict

If the ethical, moral, or religious argument does not apply to you, my advice for you would be to do a Healthy Keto with Intermittent Fasting, and not limit your food options to vegan or vegetarian if you don’t have a reason to. You’ll have a much easier time getting the healthy foods you need, and you’ll always be eating different foods and not sticking to a handful of items that you’re binging on day in and day out.

This will also decrease your need to rely on supplements since you would be getting your nutrients from natural sources.

My Two Cents: If you've been finding it lately too much for you to be a part of "animal abuse" but you don't think you can be able to go vegan and keto at the same time, you can opt for the vegetarian option. You'll be staying away from animal meats, but you'll also have a lot more keto-friendly food options to choose from in your day-to-day life.

If you decide to get into a vegan keto/vegetarian keto diet, I’ll be sharing with you in the remainder of this article, a list of vegetarian, keto-friendly foods rich in protein. I will also link to articles I wrote for vegans to get their sufficient amount of fat and protein on keto.

Also read: Best Vegan Keto Protien Powders

Protein-Rich Foods For Vegetarians

1- Cottage Cheese

Calories: 98

Protein: 11g

Fat: 4.3g

Total carbs: 3.4g

Fiber: 0g

Net carbs: 3.4g

(In every 100g)

2- Almond Milk

Each cup (240ml) of almond milk provides:

Calories: 39

Protein: 1g

Fat: 3g

Total carbs: 4g

Fiber: 0.5g

Net carbs: 3.5g

3- Ricotta Cheese

Calories: 150

Protein: 7.5g

Fat: 61g

Total carbs: 7.5g

Fiber: 0g

Net carbs: 7.5g

(In every 100g)

4-Milk

Each cup (240ml) of mulk provides:

Calories: 103

Protein: 8g

Fat: 2.4g

Total carbs: 13g

Fiber: 0g

Net carbs: 13g

5-Baked Cheese Snacks

6- High-Protein Low-Carb Cereals

7-Greek Yogurt

Generally, Greek yogurt packs 4g of carbs and 9g of protein.

8- Edamame

Each 100g of cooked edamame has 11g of protein and 5g of net carbs.

Calories: 98

Protein: 17g

Fat: 8g

Total carbs: 15g

Fiber: 8g

Net carbs: 7g

(In every 100g)

9- Eggs

One large, boiled egg (50g) provides:

Calories: 98

Protein: 6g

Fat: 5g

Total carbs: 0.6g

Fiber: 0g

Net carbs: 0.6g

10-Mozzarella Cheese

Calories: 280

Protein: 28g

Fat: 17g

Total carbs: 3.1g

Fiber: 0g

Net carbs: 3.1g

(In every 100g)

11-Lentils

Calories: 116

Protein: 9g

Fat: 0.9g

Total carbs: 20g

Fiber: 8g

Net carbs: 12g

(In every 100g)

12-Black Beans

Calories: 114

Protein: 7.5g

Fat: 0.4g

Total carbs: 20g

Fiber: 7.5g

Net carbs: 12.5g

(In every cooked, half cup (85g))

13-Chickpeas

Calories: 164

Protein: 9g

Fat: 2.6g

Total carbs: 27g

Fiber: 8g

Net carbs: 19g

(In every 100g)

14-Nuts

15-Seeds

16-Nut and Seed Butter

17 Whey Protein

18-Casein Protein

19-Rice Protein Isolate

20-Soy Protein

21-Pea Protein

22-Almond Flour

It has averagely 24 grams in each cup.

23-Fava Bean Protein

24-Sacha Inchi

25-Nutritional Yeast

26-Tahini

Each ounce (2 tbsp) of Tahini packs:

Calories: 180 calories

Protein: 6g

Fat: 16g

Carbs: 6g

Fiber: 2g

Net carbs: 4g

27-Seitan

It has 25g of protein in every 100g

28-Tempeh and Tofu

They have averagely 15g of protein in every 100g.

You can read the article I wrote about fat-rich vegan keto foods here, and the one about protein-rich vegan foods here.

Also read:

References:

Nabeel Kallas

I'm a medical doctor with a lot of passion for Keto & Intermittent Fasting. They have completely changed my life and I am beyond honored to help you experience that same change. I'm ready when you are. Read more here.

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