Paleo, gluten-free and vegetarian?

[PaleoBonnie]

Whatever I do, I have to be gluten-free but I would like to cut meat.  Has anyone done the Paleo Diet as a Vegetarian?

[tallson]

When I hear someone say they are on a Paleo diet, I assume they mean eating as our caveman ancestors did.  I can"t imagine vegetarian cavemen making it through a drought or famine.  I think we were omniverous by necessity.  Meat, fish and fowl when we could get them and tubers, nuts and seeds when we couldn't. The Masai word for hunger roughly translates into "the time when we had to eat the plants".

[cjsharma]

Paleo vegetarians do exist, but it's tougher.  If you do a search on the internet, you can find lots of recipes.  If you eat dairy and eggs, then it's easier.  I also know a lot of pescatarians who are Paleo.  By adding fish, you are adding on more layer of stuff you can eat.  

[PaleoBonnie]

You are right Tallson, Paleo is synonymous with meat eating.  No wonder that question has not been asked.  I was a vegetarian 20 years ago and over time I transitioned to my version of Paleo when I figured out wheat and grains were making me sick.  Now that I have more time for food prep, my Paleo diet is pretty correct according to the books (but I'm sure not according to history)  ... So Paleo vegetarians do exist, thanks for the response.  I like the suggestion to at least eat fish. 

[cjsharma]

Mark Sisson from Mark's Daily Apple - Primal (but pretty much Paleo) eat meat, but his wife is a Pescatarian who eats Primal.  Pretty easy to do it that way.  

But if you want to stick pure vegetarian, here's a website: http://www.paleovegetarians.com/

It's all possible.  🙂  Enjoy

[MrKetogenic · Accepted solution]

I've been eating paleo diet for 2 years in order to fix a chronic adrenal deficiency I've had since I was a kid.  It's changed my life.  But with vegetarians, I've known many who end up having health issues because they are not getting the fat, protein, and support they need to live active lives.  Vegetarianism is an incredibly stressful diet as is, and though beautiful in short-purification fasts, I would never recommend someone pursue a lifestyle around vegetables and nuts.  It's simply mean to your body to put all that stress on your nervous system.

[micheleski · Accepted solution]

I've been almost entirely vegan for almost 20 years. I've raced mountain bikes professionally, exercise regularly, feel great and will be turning 50 this year. I have many vegan friends, just as active and healthy. One of the world's strongest men is vegan and many ultra distance athletes are vegan. It must be the dairy and cheese in a vegetarian diet along with processed foods hurting the vegetarians you know. Every whole food vegan I know is much healthier than any non vegan I have met.

[steff]

Have you checked out Larabars?  No gluten, no dairy,  and vegan.

[PaleoBonnie]

Actually I have, they are good.

[pokie]

totally agree..veganism is far healthier than eating meat!!

[SunsetRunner]

hmm....stress and digesting animal proteins raise cortosol levels in the body which then triggers/leads to adreanal fatigue. 

Any limited diet be it vegetarian, vegan, Atkins (aka Paleo) and even SAD (Standard American Diet) can result in nutrient deficiency.  A diverse diet with a range of plants, nuts, grains, beans, etc. (with or without meat/dairy) and avoidence of processed crap is path to health and is TOTALLY sustainable.  (Ditching the meat/diary/etc) is not only better for you, but better for the earth, better for humankind, better for animals ==> win win win).

Yeah, it just as possible to be a junk-food vegan as it is a typical american diet eater with very little diversity in their food choices.  Could drink diet coke and eat bags of potato chips and call yourself vegan.  Won't be healthy and will likely get fat, sick, etc..  Society gets us deluded into accepting that illness/medications/disease are 'natural' parts of aging.  "We got a pill for that!" so just keep eating the same stuff that makes some 66+% of the adult population overweight/obese and wondering what happened???

Most of us were raised and later on continue to eat like robots, whatever we at growing up, or learned from friends must be 'good enough'.  Being pescatarian-vegetarian for 8 years was mostly pretty easy.  Going vegan 3+ years a go, took a little more effort in both learning actual cooking, experimenting with lots of new/strange/unusual veggie and finding a meet-up to learn/teach each other elevated both my cooking game and my knowledge to much higher level. 

Then, pushing on for more fitness -- read, watch, listen, learn more on how to live. 

Once armed with good information, I can pretty much go into ANY restaurant and if they don't have a vegan option on the menu, can usually pick assorted ingredients off the menu and as the kitchen to whip something up! 

Having seen yet another of my co-workers who typically likes to have a laugh at my lifestyle and offer up the random flesh during pot-lucks trying to 'suade me to their paleo/SAD diet go info stents due to clogged up arteries, moving along the path to bypass surgery, and another guy a touch younger than me get self-induced diabetes, or young Lt who is on 2 kinds of high blood pressure meds at 24 yrs old, or others on statins and other meds for cholestoral/reflux/etc......

- becomes a question of choice.

Choose easy, don't learn new things, do as society does is to choose/risk heart disease, cardio-vascular disease, diabetes, etc.....Or forget/relearn what you thought you knew and be on the path to much higher quality of life.

Which is stressful?  Not knowing initially what veg/grain/bean/etc and what variety to include for complete, balanced, plant-based nutrition, or stents or having your chest cracked open, or having to jab yourself to test/correct your sugar levels?

{sorry to original poster...didn't mean to hijack your topic....}

[SunsetRunner]

lots of gluten free options for you...quinoa for one comes to mind.  beans.  fruit.  rice (I think?). Oats....don't know what of those are included in 'paleo'...but either way, quinoa is awesome!  🙂

[bh54]

61 year old just completed 1/2 marathon in the same amount of time as 10 years ago.  Have been vegetarian for over 40 years.  If you eat junk, I am sure a vegetarian diet could be stressful to your body. Healthy food, real cheese, eggs, whole grains, provide plenty of protein, and fat for good nutrition.  Fresh fruit and vegetables round things out.

[SuperNoah]

I love paleo. 

[PaleoBonnie]

Can't do gluten so paleo is working for me.  

[Inga · Accepted solution]

I know this is an old post but I just saw it and I have no idea what these two things have to do with one another, or rather what the poster thinks they have to do with one another. I am vegan and I don't eat bread. 

In fact I don't eat gluten because I rarely eat any grain at all. Vegans like me eat fruit, some veg and a very few seeds and nuts. Vegan pizzas, vegan lunchmeats, breads, beans, cheeses and nutmilks are processed foods not a necessary part of the food-plan. 

[Dominique]

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@Inga wrote:

Vegan pizzas, vegan lunchmeats, breads, beans, cheeses and nutmilks are processed foods 

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I’ve never understood the aversion of Paleo people for beans. In what way are beans "processed" (if you buy the dry version, rather than the canned one)? What’s wrong with them?