Cutting out Foods - diet-sugar/vegan ketogenic?

[KB200]

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

 

[amberfunk]

Honestly it just sounds like you need to get away from your mother. Do you have a job? You should work on moving out and buying your own food. No one should control what you eat like that. Sounds like you're being starved. Our bodies need a certain amount of calories a day to function properly. The pain and fatigue could just be from hunger.

 

[poivron]

It seems to me that your mother is conducting a medical experiment on you without having the necessary scientific background to conduct such an experiment, let alone your permission. You are an adult. No one has the right to force you to do something you don't want to do. You should probably establish some boundaries with your mother. First of all, make an appointment with your doctor (a medical doctor chosen by you, not your mother), and get his/her opinion on this diet that your mother is imposing on you. Second, tell your mother politely but firmly that you trust your doctor, and only your doctor, to give you medical advice, and that while you love her and understand she wants what's best for you, she must respect your wishes as an adult.

Beans, quinoa, almond butter, cashews, sunflower seeds, and eggplant are some of the healthiest foods on Earth. Skipping meals is generally considered to be a bad idea for all sorts of reasons. And while sugar may not be the healthiest thing for you, I doubt it hurts in small quantities, especially if it comes from fruits and vegetables.

I've struggled with depression before. The way to treat it is through talk therapy with a qualified professional, and through medication if the depression is severe or the talk therapy is not working. Trying to treat it through diet seems wrongheaded and dangerous. Moreover, no one gets Alzheimer's at the age of 22. Even early-onset Alzheimer's normally starts in one's 40s or 50s. All this suggests to me that your mother lacks the scientific training to distinguish fact from fad.

As for weird chest pains that last 1-2 seconds, we all get stuff like this. It's a part of living inside a human body. The way to figure out whether they're normal or dangerous is to ask a medical doctor -- not your mother or random people on the internet. So I urge you to talk to a physician to sort all this out. Good luck, and hang in there.

 

[Flowrydabae]

I like cookies. No. For every cookie you don't eat, I have to compensate and eat two.

 

[David3]

Hi KB,

I've found that the best nutrition advice comes from a Registered Dietitian. A Registered Dietitian will work with you and your physician to plan a vegan diet that addresses your health issues. Family, friends, and internet forums, while well-meaning, are not equipped to diagnose your medical issues.

In the United States, you can find a local Registered Dietitian through the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: http://www.eatright.org . Just click on the "Find an Expert" button, located in the upper-right-hand portion of the webpage.

In the U.K., you can find a local Registered Dietitian on the Freelance Dietitians website: http://www.freelancedietitians.org/

In New Zealand, you can find a local Registered Dietitian through the Dietitians New Zealand website: http://dietitians.org.nz/find-a-dietitian/

In Australia, you can find a local Accredited Practising Dietitian through the Dietitians Association of Australia: https://daa.asn.au/find-an-apd/

In Canada, you can find a local Registered Dietitian at the Dietitians of Canada website: http://www.dietitians.ca/Find-a-Dietitian.aspx .

In the Nederlands, you can find a local Registered Dietitian at http://www.nvdietist.nl/ .

 

[David3]

Omg, I just realized that the OP posted this message 2 years ago! Oops! Hopefully he has improved his diet.
.

 

[Lou]

I don't think there is such a thing as a vegan keto diet.

A keto diet excludes or at least severely limits carbohydrates. It is all just protein and fat. animal products are mostly fat and protein and have very little carbs. Plant foods are mostly carbs.

The keto diet has only one purpose: to lose weight. And it is pretty effective By not eating carbs you force your body to metabolize the fat in your body.

Even the Doctors who promote the Keto diet do not endorse it as a long term diet. Low carb diets have been shown to lower life expectancy. Ketogenesis can be hard on your liver and kidneys.

You might try getting your mom to read a vegan diet book or maybe watch a vegan diet movie.

The only movie I can think of offhand is Forks Over Knives. but there might be others and maybe another forum member can recommend one. Eat To Live or How Not To Die are both really good books.