What’s the buzz about Ketotarian diet?
The ketotarian diet is a keto diet without the meat. It is a plant-based version of the popular high fat, low carb diet. The keto diet is enjoyed by vegetarians, as there is also some flexibility where one may include eggs, ghee and even fish. Although, a typical keto diet consists of meat, dairy products like cheese, butter and heavy cream. But the vegetarian version excludes these and is a little variant in food choices.
What is different about the ketotarian diet?
Being on ketotarian means to have restricted daily carb intake i.e. less than 5% and aim to follow 70-75% of your calories from fat and calories coming from protein should be 20-25%. Quality is another important part of the ketotarian diet. Also, organic foods should be preferred when possible, and consumption of soya-fermented foods should be only limited.
Being on a ketosis diet implies burning fat instead of carbs for fuel, this happens when you severely restrict carbs intake and maintain your metabolic rate at the same time. In addition, the ketotarian diet balances hormones, which play a role in providing better satiety feeling. Additionally, a study carried out between 89 overweight or obese people with type-2 diabetes found that those on a low-calorie ketotarian diet were the ones who lost more weight, compared to those on an only low-calorie diet.
Furthermore, people on a vegetarian diet tend to usually lose more weight than those dependent on animal foods, as plant foods like non-starchy vegetables have greater volume and contain fewer calories than animal foods. Ketotarian diet is considered to be anti-inflammatory and may aid inflammatory conditions, such as type-2 diabetes and heart diseases.
Eating vegetables provides you with fibre while being effective in keeping your gut clean, reduces constipation issues and helps feed your healthy gut bacteria too.
What’s the downside?
The ketotarian diet is restrictive, as it is difficult to follow and sustain for a long period.
List of foods to eat
- Fruits: Blueberries, strawberries, blackberries
- Non-starchy vegetables: Broccoli, zucchini, cabbage, lettuce, avocado, mushrooms
- Proteins: flaxseeds, chia seeds, tempeh, spirulina, eggs, fish (optional)
- Fats: olive, coconut, avocado, nut butter, ghee(optional)
Foods to Avoid
- Carbs: Pasta, oatmeal, chips, crackers, cookies, cakes, ice cream
- Fruits: Oranges, apples, bananas, mangoes, cherries
- Starchy Vegetables: Corn, sweet potatoes
- Nightshades: Peppers, eggplants, tomatoes
- Dairy: Ice cream, cow’s milk, yoghurt
- Protein: Meat (beef, chicken, pork), beans, chickpeas, lentils, non-fermented soy products
The diet encourages you to avoid seed oils, such as corn, soybean, vegetable oils as they may promote inflammation due to high omega-6 fat content. It is also suggested to avoid nightshade vegetables such as eggplants, peppers, tomatoes.
There are no conclusive studies about this diet, so it is important to talk to a health professional before giving it a try as it is a restrictive plan and may not be suitable for everyone and particularly people going through health issues.