Kristen Fleming holds a Master of Science in Nutrition. Over her 8 years of experience in dietetics, she has made significant contributions in clinical, community, and editorial settings. With 2 years as a clinical dietitian in an inpatient setting, 2 years in community health education, and 4 years of editorial experience focusing on nutrition and health-related content, Kristen's expertise is multifaceted.
Have you ever considered combining two popular diets together? If you have then you are not alone. Hybrid diets have popped up all over the place as more and more people look for ways to lose weight and live healthier lives, without giving up on all of their favourite foods. A perfect example of a hybrid diet would be a gluten-free low-carb diet. On their own, these two eating plans have different uses but when combined, one could reap the benefits of these two meal plans at one time. This article focuses on showing you how to eat low carb successfully while on a gluten free diet, and provides you with a simple meal plan to get you started.
A gluten-free diet is an eating plan often suggested to people with celiac disease, gluten sensitivity or some other food-related allergy or intolerance caused by the protein found in grains like wheat, barley, and rye. Such an eating plan helps alleviate their symptoms enabling them to live better quality lives.
A low-carb diet, on the other hand, is an eating plan that restricts a person’s daily intake of carbohydrates – especially those found in sugary foods, pasta, and bread. In place of these carbohydrates, this meal plan demands that its followers eat whole-foods that are rich in protein, fats and are full of vegetables.
The most commonly known and followed low carb diet is the ketogenic diet which is a high-fat, medium-protein and low carbohydrate diet. This diet has been touted to help with reducing body weight and body mass index, decreasing levels of triglycerides and controlling blood glucose in your body. Caution is however advised as it can lead to hepatic steatosis, hypoproteinemia, kidney stones, and vitamin and mineral deficiencies in the long-term ( 9 , 7 ).
Unlike some popular diet combinations, a gluten-free low-carb diet is surprisingly easy to follow. Here is why the foods to avoid on a gluten free diet are pretty straight-forward – if the food/product is made with wheat and wheat derivatives (like spelt, durum, couscous, semolina, farina, farro, kamut, einkorn, wheat berries, bulgur, wheat bran, etc.), barley, rye, triticale and seitan (found in meat substitutes) then it goes into the ‘NO’ pile. Other foods that are not gluten-free include soy sauce and other sauces, malts, beers, and lagers.
With the increase in popularity of this diet, figuring out what foods to and not to eat has been made even easier since most products now are labelled whether they have gluten or not
5-Day Juice Cleanse Explained: Recipes, Results, and Safety ConcernsOn the other hand, a ketogenic diet calls for very little to no carbs and replacing them with high intakes of fats. With many grain products already eliminated from this combined eating plan due to having gluten, this very easily drops the amount of carbs you need to watch out for or avoid adding to your grocery list .
For the most part, as long as you follow the keto diet guidelines, you will most likely stay gluten free – but it does not hurt to exercise caution.
Yes, you can go on a low carb vegan gluten free diet if you choose to. However, we must caution you that this eating plan will be harder to maintain long-term. Why is this? The main reason is that these two diets (i.e., ketogenic and vegan ) are vastly different from each other and thus combining them brings in a whole challenge, especially in figuring out which foods you can consume without blurring the rules set for either eating plan.
For example – As we are all aware, the ketogenic diet is a high-fat diet that relies heavily on animals and animal-based products for the required fat content. Such products include meats, fish and other seafood, dairy and dairy products, eggs, etc.
On the other hand, a vegan diet is a plant-based eating plan that excludes all animal products, including meat, dairy, and eggs due to either ethical, environmental, or health reasons.
Looking at these two diets side by side you see how difficult it could be to follow through – while we are not saying that you cannot get your keto friendly fats from plant-based foods, it will be harder for you to hit your fat goals on this meal plan.
Here are some pointers on how to follow a low-carb vegan gluten-free diet.
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Despite the claimed success of keto weight loss diets as well as this eating plan’s health benefits, some people are still quite concerned about this effect on cholesterol levels. According to the National Health Service, high cholesterol means that you have too much of a fatty substance called cholesterol in your blood.
This condition is mainly caused by eating fatty foods, especially those high in saturated fat or trans fats. High cholesterol can also be caused by not exercising enough, being overweight, smoking, drinking alcohol, and genetics. Refined carbohydrates can also contribute.
As previously stated, the ketogenic diet is a high-fat diet that relies on fat sources like fatty meats and full-fat dairy, known for their high concentrations of saturated fats. In relation to increasing LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, research has different opinions on the matter. Some studies say that this eating plan will lower LDL cholesterol levels while other studies claim the opposite ( 11 , 2 , 8 , 3 ).
So how can you do a low-carb low-cholesterol gluten-free diet, to avoid any potential increase in your LDL cholesterol levels? According to Beyond Celiac you should aim to consume lean cuts of meat and poultry, fish and shellfish, low-fat dairy products, fruits, vegetables, beans and gluten-free whole grains like quinoa, brown and wild rice, amaranth, and millet.
While this may put a dent in your fat macros, it can help prevent and even lower high blood cholesterol levels. You don’t have to go full keto, you can moderately reduce your carb intake with a healthy, balanced, fiber-rich gluten-free diet.
