If you have read or heard anything about keto diets, the emphasis is generally on eating the right kind of meat. And while vegetarians may be worried, going keto as a meat-free eater is doable. Here’s how you can follow a vegetarian keto diet with ease.
A vegetarian keto diet is a diet that is free of meat, fish, and fowl flesh which restricts carbohydrates. This diet is not only good for your health but also for the environment. Though dairy and eggs are the two main food items in a vegetarian keto meal plan, some even tend to avoid eggs. These are rich in nutrients and also the production of these items poses the least harm to the environment when compared to other non-vegetarian supplements.
Important Dos & Don’ts Of A Keto Diet
Numerous ingredients can be added to your vegetarian keto diet plan. Below are the basic dos and don’ts that must be followed while following a keto diet:
- When speaking about the keto diet, carbohydrates are a big no. Limit the carbohydrate consumption to 35 gms per day, even lesser. This super-low carb intake would actually prompt ketosis in your body, defined as a metabolic state where your body starts burning fat for fuel instead of glucose.
- No consumption of animal flesh.
- Your meal should include plenty of low-carb vegetables.
- Keto focuses on using energy via fat. Therefore, a well-balanced keto meal should include fat. Around 70% of your calories should come from fat.
- Your vegetarian keto diet must include protein-rich items. Therefore, your meal should have leafy and protein-rich plant meals.
After having an overview of what food items should be included in your keto plan. A more elaborate breakdown of the vegetarian keto food list is given below. This particular list includes what you should include or avoid in your diet.
Food Items To Eat While On Keto Diet
- Remember to add a lot of non-starchy vegetables to your meals. Vegetables like broccoli, mushrooms, and kale are preferred.
- Replace your refined oils with the healthier versions – olive oil, coconut oil, or avocado oil.
- For snacks and munch add more nuts to your meal. Almonds, cashews, pistachio, and Brazil nuts are great choices.
- For seeds add chia, flax, pumpkin seeds, and harp to your vegetarian keto diet.
- Almond butter, peanut butter, and hazelnut butter are healthy add-ons.
- Milk, dahi, cheese, tofu, tempeh and nutritional yeast should be consumed.
- Since you need to avoid carbs completely, eat fruits that are low in carbs like lime, lemons, and berries. Remember these should be consumed but in moderation.
- Seasonings and herbs like basil, haldi, salt, oregano, paprika, and thyme.
Food Items To Avoid While On Keto Diet
- The key to a successful diet must include simple food items. While following a vegetarian diet, it’s best to avoid food items that are filled with carbs like grains. Avoid oats, corn, barley, rice, quinoa, wheat and sandwich wraps.
- Avoid any form of processed fruit juices (excluding lime/lemon juice), oranges, pineapples, bananas, apples, grapes, tangerines and mangoes.
- When it comes to vegetables, it’s best to avoid artichoke, parsnips, yams, peas, sweet potatoes, potatoes and cassava.
- Though legumes are high in protein and other nutrients they are still rich in carbs, making them unsuitable for a vegetarian keto meal plan. Avoid any form of baked beans, chickpeas, lima beans, rajma, green peas, black beans and so on.
- Stay away from condensed milk, creamed cottage cheese and beverages such as colas, hot chocolate, ginger ale, sports drink, cocktails or iced tea.
A Detailed Vegetarian Keto Diet Plan That You Can Follow With Ease
Now that you know what should be added and what should be avoided in a ketosis diet for vegetarians, let us discuss the diet plan in detail. When we say in detail, we speak of a complete diet chart. Your weekly program where you can shuffle items as per your choice. However, if you follow this vegetarian keto plan you will see effective results. So, let us begin with our weekly plan:
| Day | Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner |
| Monday | Chaas (buttermilk) pancakes | 1 cup salad + 1 cup dahi + methi dal quinoa khichdi | 1 cup of spinach mushroom soup + 1 cup of salad |
| Tuesday | Chia seed pudding + 1 cup of fresh fruits | Soya paneer patty + 1 cup dahi + cheese broccoli soup | 1.5 cups of vegetable hotpot |
| Wednesday | Grilled mushroom salad + 1 cup of bullet coffee | Thin chaas + 1 cup of salad + broccoli and paneer stir fry | Roasted capsicum and cauliflower soup |
| Thursday | Protein powder pancakes + 1 cup of fresh fruits | 1 cup of cabbage salad with dahi ka dressing + adraki paneer | 2 cups of mushroom and paneer salad + ½ cup cheese sauce |
| Friday | ½ cup of cut strawberries + 1 cup of mixed seeds (almonds, walnuts, cashews, pistachios and so on) | 2 cups of charred cabbage and broccoli salad + lassi | I cup of grilled zucchini + 1 cup of paneer in soya sauce |
| Saturday | 1 glass of warm water with lemon before breakfast + 1 cup of bullet coffee + protein pancakes | 2 servings of roasted capsicum and cauliflower soup + 1 cup of sarson ka saag | 2 cups of palak paneer + 1 cup of salad |
| Sunday | 1 cup of paneer bhurji + 1 cup of fresh berries | Soya paneer patty + grilled zucchini | 1 cup of dahi + mushroom broccoli salad |
When it comes to satisfying your sweet tooth you can divulge yourself with the following dessert option for the ketosis diet for vegetarians.
- Topical chocolate mousse bites
- Low carb coconut chip cookies
- Keto vanilla bean cupcakes
- Keto cookies creme ice cream
Key Takeaways
This quick snapshot will help you remember the broad actionable:
- Eat as much real food as possible. It is important for your body to take in healthy food instead of junk food.
- In the keto diet, the intake of carbs must be as low as the fat should be more. One of the major reasons for being on a keto diet is that the body uses fat to work and therefore the fat you consume is shredded while you perform physical activities.
- Maximise your iron consumption. Make sure you have vitamin C rich food in your diet.
- Make sure everything is within your macro limit and to avoid constipation issues you can try isabgol or psyllium husk.
FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Is keto healthier than vegetarian?
A. You need not be a vegetarian or vegan in order to follow the keto diet. It is the most basic question asked. A keto diet is simply a fat-rich diet avoiding meat and dairy products. In a keto diet plan, you are required to minimise your carbohydrate consumption.
Q. Do you lose more weight in keto than in any other diet?
A. There have been varied studies and research in order to get the confirmed answer. However, following any diet completely depends on your body type. Some people follow the keto diet with utmost dedication and lose weight in weeks. However, to others, the diet does not suit much. Therefore, you need to try out before you make assumptions. And any diet promotes healthy food consumption so there are no ill effects of following an approved diet plan by a nutritionist.
Q. What can vegetarians eat on a keto diet in India?
A. The major element of the keto diet is to avoid carbs. Therefore, you must consume food items, vegetables that are low in carbs for example brinjal. Other food items might include paneer bhurji, sarso ka saag, avial, palak paneer.
Q. What is the best keto diet plan to follow?
A. The bottom line while following a keto diet is that your diet plan must include 75% of fat, 20% of protein and 5% or even less than carbs. The consumption of fat is more and therefore, the body will use and burn fat instead of any other essentials.