Meat Free Everyday - Food for Thought

Low Carb Vegetarians

Low carb diets have been on a roller coaster ride and back. Once upon a time Dr Atkins had a plethora of disciples who all lost weight and kept it off. Copy cat gurus published books and along came the Scarsdale diet, South Beach diet and The Zone. Somehow high protein diets became public enemy number one, and governments issued food pyramids that made it clear that the bulk of our food had to come from grains. We became aware there were good fats and bad fats and old school high protein diets were packed full of the very worst fats. When Dr Atkins, a cardiologist, died allegedly of heart disease most people were more than keen to eat carbs again.

But we need to consider what our bodies were designed to eat. Seemingly our digestive systems have not changed much since stone age man walked the earth. We are still hunter gatherers when it comes down to it. And so we should be eating what can be hunted or gathered. It should go without saying that one does not hunt or gather a Fetuccini Alfredo, Pepsi lite or Oreos. Anything refined or processed should be off the menu. Paleolithic diets which are high in protein and lower in carbs are becoming more popular. Where does that leave a vegetarian? And can vegetarians benfit from a low carb diet?

I think so. There is overwhelming argument to suggest that high animal protein diets can cause kidney problems and contribute to heart disease. However, high carb diets, particularly refined carb diets, are now being viewed with fresh eyes and opinion is that they are major cause of diabetes and obesity. Which in turn causes cardio arterial diseases. I can only speak from my own experience. I find that as soon as my carbohydrate and sugar intake goes up, so does my weight and I start to feel rubbish. And since most vegetarians eat inordinate amounts of rice, pasta and starchy food I don't do well on a regular vegetarian diet. There are enough carbs in fruit, vegetables and beans. I see no reason to add noodles and bread to my diet.

Here are some of my favorite cook books. Apart from great recipes they also expound a little more on the benefits of a low carb diet:

My diet consists primarily of fruit, vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds. I make sure I eat a vegetarian protein source with every single meal. So my diet is more a medium to low carb diet. But vegetarian protein is not the same as animal protein. It doesn't have the nasty fat profile and it has fibre. Most vegetarain proteins also have a higher carbohydrate ratio than animal proteins.

If I do eat grains, it's low carb options such as Ryvita cracker biscuits or bran. I make my own muesli and I make sure I put a small amount of oats in it. But I make up by putting in nuts, seeds, dried fruit and berries. Commercial mueslis have refined grains, predominantly grains and sugars in them. Dried fruit does have sugar but it comes with lots of fibre.

I don't touch table sugar. I read somehwere that sugar, salt and white flour are the three white devils. I have long believed that sugar should come with a health warning. Instead I sweeten with Stevia or Xylitol. I manage to keep active, runnng a half marathon every now and again. It works for me.

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