Operation Plant-Based Keto
Have you ever wanted to do something, but for that
You just got goosebumps imagining that
Anyway, that was the exact scene playing out in my mind while contemplating jumping onto the keto train. The issue – It’s Restrictive! Especially when I add my plant-based whole food requirements (Yes, technically Vegan by definition) into the mix. My beloved nightshade veggies, the lineup of winter squashes and any thought of a post-pump fruit smoothie gets tossed out the window. I’ll update my comment from before – It’s EXTREMELY Restrictive. Soo my Keto-Vegan Experiment just bounced around my cranial cabinet, becoming a “Local” among the cities of neurons. Until one day, that keto-vegan cube beelined it right into that corner and left me no other logical choice, Operation Plant-Based Keto-Vegan was a GO!
Operation Plant-Based Keto
What was this metaphoric corner climax? Well, it was a spontaneous extension on a 24 hour fast (water and minerals). Creeping its way to 36 hours, then 60 and finally in a very thrill-seeking, Kramer-like way, to a conclusion of 120 hours (or 5 days). Don’t Worry, I’ll fill you in on that experience soon, but to return to my previous point, this fast perfectly primed me to take sail. Here’s the “10,000ft view” on why…
Ketosis is a biological state in which an organism utilizes byproducts of fat oxidation as energy. These byproducts are Ketones! Long story short, ketones are not our bodies preferred source of energy, that title would be held by Glucose (a byproduct of the breakdown of carbohydrates). BUT when glucose is scarce, say if you were fasting, and if your reserves run-out (you typically have a day worth of stored glucose – called glycogen), your body must find a source of energy quick , or risk imminent failure. Thus, it falls back onto this biologically lifesaving and evolutionary critical process of turning Stored Fat into Energy (See more on Fasting HERE).
WHOA! Right!
So to bring this extremely oversimplified explanation full circle, by entering a prolonged fast, I kicked off a natural state of raging ketosis and was in a perfect position to roll right into nutritional ketosis at the end of the fifth day. And we all know…
You Miss 100% of the shots you don’t take…
-Wayne Gretzky – Michael Scott
Things to Note…
It’s funny, you never realize how much time you spend eating until you remove it from your daily 24-hour equation. The freedom was invigorating, no planning, shopping, worrying, just water and pee breaks. The real challenge was having to transition from nothing to the extremely curated task of preparing keto meals. In order to stay in ketosis, it’s a general guideline to have a ketone blood serum between 1.5-3.0 mmol/L. To achieve these levels, a Fat First diet modification is needed, the general guidelines go as followed:
- 70-80% of calories from fats
- 20-25% of calories from protein
- 5-10% of calories from net carbs (Net carbs are the grams of carbohydrates in a food minus the grams of fiber in it)
This is a drastic reverse march from the typical western (carb-heavy) norms, but determined to not miss this perfect opportunity, it wa full steam ahead!
Here’s How It Went Down
Days 1-5:
I acted precise and methodological these first few days, for two specific reasons:
- You need to be cautious while breaking a prolonged fast, as a-lot has biologically changed
- I had no clue how my body was going to react to the high-fat diet I was about to throw at it
So the first five days were filled with portion control and hourly testing. The main dishes during this period were:
- A low-crab stir-fry
of: - Spinach Salad with broccoli sprouts, half an avocado, a handful of Macadamia nuts, flax seeds, nutritional Yeast with olive oil
- Cucumber Slices and Celery with imaginary Hummus (pretending to dip eases the pain)
- Macadamia and Brazil Nuts as the occasional crunchy snack
That was It!
Note: There are soy based meat options (Tofu and
Days 6-20
With my fasting Blood Serum Ketone levels at a consistent 2.0 and above, it was time to get a little more scandalous. I continued to eat all of the above but added :
- Broccoli, Cauliflower, Onions, and Carrots (still monitoring Net Carbs)
- Edamame & Green Beans
- Walnuts and Pecans
- Basic Homemade Guac
- Almond Butter
The Results? For the most part, I stayed in a steady state of Ketosis. Occasionally when I indulged a little too much I’d see (and feel) a carbs-induced blush-ness make its way through my body and to my cheeks. This is where the tuning began.
Days 21 – 60
I had already achieved my goal of going a few Plant-Based Keto weeks, so here on out, I was playing with House Money. The experimentation continued, slowly adding more foods (with higher carb profiles) such as:
- Spaghetti squash
- Eggplant
- Sweet Potatoes
- Peppers
- Peanut butter
- Cashews
- Peas
And Even a Christmas Vegan Eggplant Lasagna (which was dope, might I add). The interesting thing was, during this opening of the carb floodgates, I only dipped below a fasting blood-serum ketone level of 1.0 two or three times. That was primarily due to a nifty little hack that I borrowed from one of the keto-gurus himself, Peter Attia. In essence, it’s the strategic consumption of carby foods (that you love!) at specific times during and directly after physical activity (see his awesome and slightly technical breakdown here). This hack is focused around creating glycogen (stored glucose in cells) debt appropriate enough to enjoy them without interfering with ketone production. If you’re interested, check out the link above.
Now, the gotcha here is, you have to partake in moderate to intense physical activity. If you don’t this strategy WILL NOT work and you’ll be stuck with this intense dietary restriction as your only way to stay in ketosis. I timed my carby meals around a variety of circuit workout routines (which you can check out FOR FREE here), thus giving me more flexibility with foods than the average Plant-Based Keto-Vegan Joe (or Jane).
So was All this W
As a personal philosophy, anything that allows me to test my bodies possible point of optimization is DEFINITELY worth it. Were the restrictions a bit of a pain in the ass? Yes, but there were a few key benefits that will have me following this protocol again:
- Increase in Focus and Cognitive Performance – I felt like I definitely got MORE Done in
LESS Time - Improved Sleep – I needed less sleep and felt MORE Energized
- Drop in Body Fat – Funny how this metabolic switch to healthy fatty foods typically causes Fat L
oss
In addition, blood work from before and after showed no change in cholesterol measurements (LDL-Particle Direct-HDL, Triglycerides), and a slight improvement in fasting glucose (both were good to start with). That being said, I did notice I was physically colder during this period, with my fingers and toes
In the end, following a Plant-Based Keto protocol for a few weeks was, in my eyes, definitely worth my time and effort. It’s completely doable with a little up-front planning – no need for a “Cube-to-Corner” spring into action. The most important aspect of it all is to listen to your body! Every one of us lives a different lifestyle, with unique environmental conditions, genetic predispositions, diets and levels of physical activity.
All This Matters!
So before embarking on any drastic change in lifestyle, consult the proper experts (aka your doctor). Because, I can assure you, your experience will be unique to you. And that’s the beauty of it all…
Good Eatin’!
Ohh Yeah, if you try this, do yourself a favor and don’t pick a date-range that overlaps with Thanksgiving and Christmas
P.S – In case you were wondering, here are the tools I used to monitor both my Blood Glucose and Ketones over this 10-week experiment…
