Hey I'm a 22 year old guy and I'm a vegan. My mom's been trying to get me on a vegan version of the ketogenic diet for health reasons.
I have depression, allergies, weird chest pain (lasts a second or 2) every now and then, and a few weeks ago I had this terrible pain in my shoulders and my thyroid. My mom thinks a vegan ketogenic diet will make all of these things go away (she's really big on health and nutrition. She's taught me a lot about it too) She also thinks that I shouldn't eat any kind of sugar at all.
For almost a year now she's had a problem with me eating anything with sugar in it. She won't let me eat any kinds of sweets if she can help it and she gets upset even if I get one box of cookies or French fries or a piece of gluten free bread. I don't even eat that stuff as much. I eat a fairly healthy diet and if anything I'll only have a box of cookies or a vegan pizza or energy bar every other week or once a week or something.
I eat mostly homecooked meals with the exception of blue corn chips with guacamole. It's one of my favorite foods. I've heard about some people saying sugar is addictive and bad for you but I haven't seen the documentaries yet. Is sugar really that bad, even if you have it every now and then? Am I really sabotaging my health by eating things with sugar (dates, brown sugar, agave, bananas, anything sugary)?
My mom's been looking a lot at the ketogentic diet and she wants me to do a vegan version of it. She follows a doctor who's successfully treated vegan patients with a vegan keto diet. She's been pushing for me to try and so I agreed to give it a try. I didn't have much of a choice anyway because she's gotten rid of a lot of the foods I was eating before. She doesn't buy any beans or rice or even quinoa, or blue chips or almond butter. Or cashews or sunflower seeds or eggplant. The list goes on. And she won't let me eat anything processed. No frozen Amy's dinners or blue chips. I love all of that food, too. I like having chips with my guacamole and almond butter with my apples.
She said this diet would make me happier but I just feel sad because I'm not enjoying my favorite foods, and I get hungry and tired. I told a friend of mine at a vegan potluck that I'm trying a vegan ketogenic diet and he said it's not healthy for some reason, but I'm reading articles online that say it's perfectly fine. It's conflicting information. One article said you should consult a doctor before considering a ketogenic diet. I wonder if you really need to. What do you all think?
Also, I've read that ketosis (a period of time in the ketogenic diet) comes with side effects that are normal, aparently. Nausea, stomach cramps, fatigue, etc. I've had all of those side effects. I don't know if this is a part of ketosis but I've also had frequent headaches, almost daily. I don't know if it's because I've been drinking vegan milks a few times this week while trying to do the keto diet (I've been drinking almond and soy milk) but these symptoms that I'm having aren't pleasant. The article said as well that if the symptoms last longer than a few days then something is wrong. I don't know if the symptoms are gone yet but I still have the headache and I had a stomach cramp two nights ago. It's been almost a week or more that I've been on the keto diet.
My mom also read that you should eat once a day missing breakfast and lunch and I don't want to do that, but over the days I kind of have a somedays unintentionally, and I feel what I describe as hunger pains. Feeling like I seriously need to eat something.
And I eat these foods that my mom buys and makes and sometimes they don't seem to satisfy my hunger. I want something more. (She's buying a lot of foods that I hate, and I'm not much of a picky eater either. For some reason this diet has a lot of foods I don't like or my mom just so happens to be selecting them).
She got me some supplements and I've taken them pretty frequently. The pain that I had in my shoulders went away before I even started the keto diet due to the supplements, I believe. And I don't know if it's the diet or the supplements I'm taking, but the pain in my chest is gone now. I honestly think the supplements would be enough. I don't know if I need to completely cut out all of my favorite foods in order to get rid of my sinuses or get rid of depression, or anything like that. Is all of this necessary or mandatory?
My mom also thinks I have Alzheimer's because I forget things sometimes (small things like forgetting what I was going to say or something like that) and because of my depression. She thinks it's because of what I eat. But is all of this really necessary? I'm sure there are lots of other things I can do or incorporate into my (regular) diet to be healthier too, right? Do I really have to cut out all of that food from my diet?
Someone said in an article that an indefinitely ketogenic diet is unnecessary if you don't feel you need to do it that long for your health, or if you're just doing it for weight or fitness or something. That you can just do it for a period of time every now and then. I wonder where I stand in that situation. I just know it doesn't feel very good, despite the chest pain going away.
What do you all think? And do you all have any sources as well?
Also, I know the subject of me buying my own foods or moving out may come up. If I could I would, and I will when I have the cahnce but my situation's a bit challenging right now in this moment.
Thanks,
KB
I have depression, allergies, weird chest pain (lasts a second or 2) every now and then, and a few weeks ago I had this terrible pain in my shoulders and my thyroid. My mom thinks a vegan ketogenic diet will make all of these things go away (she's really big on health and nutrition. She's taught me a lot about it too) She also thinks that I shouldn't eat any kind of sugar at all.
For almost a year now she's had a problem with me eating anything with sugar in it. She won't let me eat any kinds of sweets if she can help it and she gets upset even if I get one box of cookies or French fries or a piece of gluten free bread. I don't even eat that stuff as much. I eat a fairly healthy diet and if anything I'll only have a box of cookies or a vegan pizza or energy bar every other week or once a week or something.
I eat mostly homecooked meals with the exception of blue corn chips with guacamole. It's one of my favorite foods. I've heard about some people saying sugar is addictive and bad for you but I haven't seen the documentaries yet. Is sugar really that bad, even if you have it every now and then? Am I really sabotaging my health by eating things with sugar (dates, brown sugar, agave, bananas, anything sugary)?
My mom's been looking a lot at the ketogentic diet and she wants me to do a vegan version of it. She follows a doctor who's successfully treated vegan patients with a vegan keto diet. She's been pushing for me to try and so I agreed to give it a try. I didn't have much of a choice anyway because she's gotten rid of a lot of the foods I was eating before. She doesn't buy any beans or rice or even quinoa, or blue chips or almond butter. Or cashews or sunflower seeds or eggplant. The list goes on. And she won't let me eat anything processed. No frozen Amy's dinners or blue chips. I love all of that food, too. I like having chips with my guacamole and almond butter with my apples.
She said this diet would make me happier but I just feel sad because I'm not enjoying my favorite foods, and I get hungry and tired. I told a friend of mine at a vegan potluck that I'm trying a vegan ketogenic diet and he said it's not healthy for some reason, but I'm reading articles online that say it's perfectly fine. It's conflicting information. One article said you should consult a doctor before considering a ketogenic diet. I wonder if you really need to. What do you all think?
Also, I've read that ketosis (a period of time in the ketogenic diet) comes with side effects that are normal, aparently. Nausea, stomach cramps, fatigue, etc. I've had all of those side effects. I don't know if this is a part of ketosis but I've also had frequent headaches, almost daily. I don't know if it's because I've been drinking vegan milks a few times this week while trying to do the keto diet (I've been drinking almond and soy milk) but these symptoms that I'm having aren't pleasant. The article said as well that if the symptoms last longer than a few days then something is wrong. I don't know if the symptoms are gone yet but I still have the headache and I had a stomach cramp two nights ago. It's been almost a week or more that I've been on the keto diet.
My mom also read that you should eat once a day missing breakfast and lunch and I don't want to do that, but over the days I kind of have a somedays unintentionally, and I feel what I describe as hunger pains. Feeling like I seriously need to eat something.
And I eat these foods that my mom buys and makes and sometimes they don't seem to satisfy my hunger. I want something more. (She's buying a lot of foods that I hate, and I'm not much of a picky eater either. For some reason this diet has a lot of foods I don't like or my mom just so happens to be selecting them).
She got me some supplements and I've taken them pretty frequently. The pain that I had in my shoulders went away before I even started the keto diet due to the supplements, I believe. And I don't know if it's the diet or the supplements I'm taking, but the pain in my chest is gone now. I honestly think the supplements would be enough. I don't know if I need to completely cut out all of my favorite foods in order to get rid of my sinuses or get rid of depression, or anything like that. Is all of this necessary or mandatory?
My mom also thinks I have Alzheimer's because I forget things sometimes (small things like forgetting what I was going to say or something like that) and because of my depression. She thinks it's because of what I eat. But is all of this really necessary? I'm sure there are lots of other things I can do or incorporate into my (regular) diet to be healthier too, right? Do I really have to cut out all of that food from my diet?
Someone said in an article that an indefinitely ketogenic diet is unnecessary if you don't feel you need to do it that long for your health, or if you're just doing it for weight or fitness or something. That you can just do it for a period of time every now and then. I wonder where I stand in that situation. I just know it doesn't feel very good, despite the chest pain going away.
What do you all think? And do you all have any sources as well?
Also, I know the subject of me buying my own foods or moving out may come up. If I could I would, and I will when I have the cahnce but my situation's a bit challenging right now in this moment.
Thanks,
KB