@pinkpip100 If you haven't already discovered it, www.dietdoctor.com is a fantastic source of information about low carbing (generally) and there's a very helpful section about following this WOE if you're a vegan. They have 5 top tips, which I've copied:
Top five tips for a low-carb vegan diet
The hardest part of being on a low-carb vegan diet is meeting all your essential nutrition needs.
But don’t worry. We’ve put together our top five tips for getting started.
1. Prioritize protein
Getting enough protein is essential, and on a vegan diet, it’s even more important, because protein quality matters as much as quantity.
Here’s why. After you eat, your body breaks down the protein from your food into amino acids, the “building blocks” of protein. Although there are 20 amino acids found in protein, 9 are essential, meaning they must come from your diet because your body can’t make them.
Protein from animals is “complete,” providing all the essential amino acids in amounts your body needs. But plant proteins (with the exception of soy and nutritional yeast) are “incomplete,” because they lack sufficient amounts of one or more essential amino acid.
The good news? Combining different types of plants can provide all the essential amino acids in the amounts required.
The bad news? Reducing carbs means limiting several food combinations that provide “complete” protein. For example, vegan diets often pair legumes like beans or peas – high in the amino acid lysine but low in another, methionine – with grains that are high in methionine but low in lysine. Carb-heavy combos like these aren’t a good fit for a low-carb diet.
Check out our low-carb vegan protein sources to choose high-quality protein without overdoing carbs.
Now for “quantity.” Aim for higher protein intake if you’re getting your protein from plant sources.
Plant-based proteins are less easily digested and absorbed by the body compared to animal proteins. For this reason, you may need more protein if you follow a vegan diet compared to a non-vegan diet.
Soy protein is comparable to animal protein in terms of quality and digestibility, while other plant proteins vary. Vegans who consume soy regularly may not need much more protein than those who eat animal products, while those who avoid it may need approximately 30% more.
You can learn more about the differences in plant and animal protein quality in our podcast covering this issue.
How much protein do you need on a low-carb vegan diet? Use the simple chart below to find out what your minimum daily protein target should be, based on your height.
At Diet Doctor, we recommend that most people aim for 1.2 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilo of reference body weight. The goal below represents the middle of that recommended protein intake range.
Minimum daily protein target:
Height Women Men
Under 5’4″ ( < 163 cm) 90 grams 105 grams
5’4″ to 5’7″ (163 to 170 cm) 100 grams 110 grams
5’8″ to 5’10” (171 to 178 cm) 110 grams 120 grams
5’11” to 6’2″ (179 to 188 cm) 120 grams 130 grams
Over 6’2″ (188 cm +) 130 grams 140 grams
It’s also important to spread your protein throughout the day instead of eating most of it in one sitting. That’s because your body uses protein best when you eat a minimum of 20 grams at a time, though you probably don’t need more than 35 grams.
Is there a maximum amount of protein your body can absorb at one time? Although that amount isn’t agreed upon by all nutrition experts, in order to meet your protein needs with plants, aim for about 25-35 grams at each meal.
Our list of low-carb vegan protein foods shows you how to get the right amounts of the right kinds of plant protein.
2. Count your carbs
Which is healthier and easier to follow long term: a low-carb vegan diet or a keto vegan diet?
Although keto vegan diets are popular, they don’t allow much flexibility. For some, eating this way all the time can make it difficult to meet essential nutrition needs. A low-carb vegan diet, as opposed to a vegan keto diet, includes more foods — such as beans and other legumes — making it easier to get the nutrition you need and stick with this plan long term.
Most vegan diets are high in carbs because they include lots of grains and legumes. By contrast, a low-carb vegan diet can provide anywhere from 30-100 grams of net carbs per day, depending on how strict you want or need to be.
Feel free to include keto meals like our vegan tofu scramble or even full keto days on a regular basis if you desire! If you have diabetes or want to lose weight, aim for less than 50 grams of net carbs most days in order to maximize results.
If you don’t have diabetes, you can experiment with eating different amounts of carbs until you figure out what works best for you.
3. Eat healthy fats
On a low-carb diet, fat provides most of your calories, and a vegan version is no exception. In fact, another name for your new way of eating could be low-carb, high-fat vegan, or LCHF vegan.
Unlike protein and carbs, we typically don’t specify how many grams of fat you should consume. Instead, we recommend adding enough fat at each meal to feel satisfied but not stuffed.
You can enjoy several healthy, tasty plant fats on a LCHF vegan diet, including olive oil, avocado oil, macadamia nut oil, and coconut oil or cream. Cocoa butter, found in chocolate, is great too.
Even though they’re plant-based, we don’t recommend using a lot of vegetable and seed oils because they’re usually highly processed. Try to choose natural fats from this list most of the time.
4. Choose nutrient-dense plants
Where should your carbs come from?
Remember, you’ll already get some carbs in your vegan protein sources. The rest should come from a wide variety of above-ground vegetables, nuts, seeds, and some berries. These foods provide important vitamins and minerals, along with fiber to fill you up. Plus, they taste absolutely delicious when paired with healthy fats!
Here are a few low-carb plants providing some of the vitamins and minerals vegan diets often lack:
Hemp seeds: A great source of zinc and omega-3 fatty acids; 1 gram of net carb per ounce (28 grams)
Sesame seeds: Rich in calcium, iron, and zinc; 3 grams of net carbs per ounce (28 grams)
Spinach: This versatile veggie is high in calcium, iron, and zinc; 1 gram of net carb per 100 grams (3 ounces), cooked
5. Supplement with vitamin B12
You may be able to meet most of your essential nutrient needs on a vegan diet. However, one nutrient you’ll definitely need to supplement is vitamin B12, which is found only in animal foods.
Vegans are at very high risk of vitamin B12 deficiency unless they take supplements or consume fortified foods. Failing to supplement with vitamin B12 on a vegan diet can lead to anemia, nerve damage, dementia, and other serious medical problems — some of which may be irreversible.
To prevent vitamin B12 deficiency, take a daily supplement that provides at least 5 micrograms. There are many vegan-friendly vitamin B12 supplements available in pharmacies and online.
While we don't count carbs on Bootcamp, I suspect (having read the above) that you may need to be more vigilant than this - certainly at the start while you're getting used to a low carb way of eating, as the carbs in a vegan diet can add up pretty quickly.