It’s Easier Than Ever To Be A Phase-One Vegan!

Having said that, I eat a lot of vegetables and fruits. Being a meat-eater doesn’t mean I’m anti-vegetable. On the contrary, I think veggies and certain fruit should comprise the majority of the diet. It’s where the majority of nutrients come from, including plant anti-fungals.

Occasionally, I’ll go on an all-vegan kind of program. I’m on one right now, as a matter of fact. I’m doing a juice fast. All I’m “eating” is freshly juiced vegetables and Kaufmann 1 fruits. It’s my Spring detox for 2013.

For many people, the Kaufmann Diet (Kaufmann 1) is mistakenly perceived as a version of the Atkin’s Diet where you eat endless trays of meat, eggs, and grease. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, it’s possible to do a “high protein, low-carb” version of this diet. But you could easily do the opposite, as well. I’ve done every variation of the diet for variety, and for different goals. Even now when I’m juice-fasting, I consider it a Kaufmann Diet program.

For vegans and vegetarians, Doug’s program may seem a little intimidating, or something that is entirely opposite of what your health philosophy is. I will agree that a strict vegan diet is difficult to maintain if you only do the Kaufmann 1 portion of Doug’s diet. Kaufmann 2 is more realistic in order to get appropriate levels of protein. (If you’re a vegetarian and eat eggs and some dairy, Kaufmann 1 should be less challenging.)

If you’re a vegan, you’re obviously going to stick with the animal-free foods on the Kaufmann 1 and Kaufmann 2 side of the diet. Lots of vegetables, fruits, nuts, and oils to choose from. For folks who are concerned about protein, a little extra brown or black rice with beans from the Kaufmann 2 menu may be in order. For even more protein, you may want to investigate Sun Warrior’s Warrior Blend raw protein, which is plant-based and sweetened with stevia. There are others, but I’m currently very happy with Sun Warrior’s product.

The real challenge comes when deciding on grains. This, in my opinion, is where vegans and vegetarians run into the most trouble – even more so than the protein issue. Wheat, corn, rye and other such grains are neither on Kaufmann 1 nor PhaseTwo of the program. It’s not because of gluten, either. It’s because these grains, along with nuts like peanuts and pistachios have been shown to harbor higher levels of mycotoxins, according to the research.

Our choices for grains are the “pseudo-grains” and certain seeds. These include buckwheat (which isn’t wheat at all), amaranth, quinoa, flax, chia, millet, oats, and brown and black rice. Check the books to see which phase of the diet each of these fall under.

For those of us who aren’t vegan or vegetarian, we tend to stick with Kaufmann 1. In fact, I rarely think about Kaufmann 2 except for plant-based diets, children, and those trying to gain weight. There’s actually a phase of the diet after Kaufmann 2 called “Life Phase”. I just told Doug that I probably couldn’t state the features of this phase because I always stick with Kaufmann 1, myself, and Kaufmann 1 is virtually all I recommend. But it may be worth reviewing the post-Kaufmann 1 portions for more options for vegans.

The great thing about the cookbooks is that they have a lot of options for vegan/vegetarians even though they aren’t books that specialize in that kind of diet. You’ll find a lot of options in the “Side Dishes” section that focus primarily on vegetables. There are also lots of salads, snacks, dressings, sauces, soups, and sweet treats that will fit nicely into your lifestyle. (When a recipe calls for egg whites, sour cream, yogurt, etc., you’ll find yourself using things like pureed pumpkin, soaked flax seeds, unsweetened applesauce, coconut milk yogurt, etc. If you’ve been vegan for a while, you’re already used to making these kinds of substitutions.)

So, every time I do a version of a vegan or vegetarian Kaufmann 1 Diet, I have no problems at all. Those of you who eat that way are already used to being creative. With the popularity and availability of pseudo-grains, it’s even easier. For those of you who aren’t vegan/vegetarian, you’d still do well to look through the cookbooks and find more opportunities to incorporate the nutrient-rich plant foods into your diet.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go make a vegan Kaufmann 1 kale, spinach, green apple juice. Mmmm…

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