What diet am I on?

December 3, 2021 6:09 AM

I'm doing my best to cut out sugar & complex carbohydrates. Also trying to minimize the amount of meat that I eat...it's not forbidden, but I'd prefer to be mostly plant-based. It's not exactly Whole 30, not exactly Paleo, not exactly Vegetarian...is there a name for this type of diet?
posted by richmondparker to Food & Drink (21 answers total)

Sounds like Michael Pollan to me: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
posted by Mid at 6:17 AM on December 3, 2021 [4 favorites]

Mediteranian?
posted by pyro979 at 6:30 AM on December 3, 2021 [2 favorites]

I think you are looking to cut out sugar and simple carbohydrates? Complex carbohydrates come from plant-based foods that you digest slowly. They are generally considered a good thing.

Maybe planet-friendly?
posted by TORunner at 6:30 AM on December 3, 2021 [2 favorites]

It might help if you tell us why you want a name for the diet. There's not generally a need for a diet to have a name, but maybe you're looking for recipes or an easy explanation. If the latter, it would be best to go with something that's most people understand. I knew someone who used "pure vegetarian," which means vegan, but I thought that was kind of ridiculous because almost no one knows that meaning.

For a long time, I described myself as "mostly vegan" (I changed when I switched to actually vegan). In the vegan world, "plant-based" usually means someone who also avoids processed foods, but it's become a meaningless buzzword. There are literally cigarettes that have the label "plant based" on them.
posted by FencingGal at 6:43 AM on December 3, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: So...to clarify, TORunner is correct that I'm cutting out simple carbs.

And my purpose in trying to find a name is to make it easier to search for recipes that will fit with this way of eating.
posted by richmondparker at 6:49 AM on December 3, 2021 [1 favorite]

Some use the term Blue Zone Diet. It turns up a lot of recipes and some cookbooks.
posted by mumimor at 6:54 AM on December 3, 2021 [1 favorite]

Recipes for DASH or Mediterranean should work.
posted by amarynth at 6:55 AM on December 3, 2021 [1 favorite]

Mindful or Mediterranean.
posted by artdrectr at 7:03 AM on December 3, 2021

I agree with Blue Zone and Mediterranean.

"Plant based" will turn up a lot of recipes you can use if you're OK with sometimes excluding animal products. That term is also likely to get you sites that exclude oil as a processed food, but if it says to saute something in stock, you can just use oil if you want to.

Also, Oh She Glows is vegan, but otherwise mostly what you're going for, and it's just a generally great source for recipes. I am in love with her walnut lentil loaf.
posted by FencingGal at 7:07 AM on December 3, 2021 [2 favorites]

If you search for vegetarian keto recipes, you'll meet your restrictions (and then some, as this will remove almost all carbs and all meat)
posted by cgg at 7:20 AM on December 3, 2021 [2 favorites]

Mark Hyman’s Pegan Diet sounds very close (think Whole 30 but plant-based). Pegan is a dumb word that is meant to combine paleo and vegan. The book has some good recipes.
posted by stellaluna at 7:49 AM on December 3, 2021 [2 favorites]

Another vote for Mediterranean.
posted by pazazygeek at 8:07 AM on December 3, 2021

The MIND diet is a Mediterranean-DASH diet combo, also fits your parameters.
posted by assenav at 8:21 AM on December 3, 2021

Sounds also like Amy Shah’s WTF diet, which is highly search engine friendly.
posted by eleanna at 11:14 AM on December 3, 2021

I've also heard the word "flexitarian" for someone who is mostly vegetarian but occassionaly eats meat. In terms of cutting down on sugar, there is the I quit sugar series which now has a vegetarian version. We found the recipes to be simple and tasty for the more general version at least.
posted by piyushnz at 12:06 PM on December 3, 2021

Whatever you call it, it sounds pretty healthy to me.
posted by kingless at 12:08 PM on December 3, 2021

You could try “vegetarian paleo.” It will exclude all grains and so might be extra limiting (but less than keto), but you’ll find some tasty things.
posted by Comet Bug at 1:32 PM on December 3, 2021

This is really awesome because it's also the diet that I follow. Do you also try to eat "wholer" grains, like brown rice and oatmeal? Do you also try to eat as many fruits as you can stand, and try to pretend that an apple is as delicious as a candy? Do you also try to focus on enjoying the natural flavors already inside the food, instead of adding a ton of sauces, flavors, and chemicals?

I don't know if there's a name for it. if you find one, please share!
posted by rebent at 7:05 AM on December 5, 2021

Maybe "nutrient-dense"? I learned that phrase from Sarah Ramey's chronic-illness memoir The Lady's Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness and I have personally found it pretty helpful. There are a lot of articles using that phrase online, like this one.
posted by Nibbly Fang at 10:15 PM on December 5, 2021

I think this might be kind of like a Vegetarian Low-Glycemic Index diet.
posted by pixiecrinkle at 1:49 PM on December 8, 2021

Also macrobiotic. Some people say that doesn't include meat other than fish, but others include some meat.
posted by lgyre at 8:24 PM on February 26, 2022