My PCP strongly suggested a 90% plant based diet (due to cancer and rising cholesterol).
I am tracking my food intake and am not getting enough protein and getting too many carbs.
Any suggestions for high protein food combinations? Also, I can have limited whole soy but not processed. Thanks
Lentils, split peas and mung beans (and most beans) are great sources of plant based protein.
But why do you think you aren't getting enough? I follow a low fat vegan diet and target a macro ratio of about 80% carbs, 10% protein and 10% fat.
As long as the carbs you are taking are unprocessed complex carbs (like legumes, beans, brown rice, sweet potatoes) there is no need to fear them, as they are our bodies preferred source of energy.
You not eat enough meat maybe.
Eat only fresh meat and vegetables.
I only eat halal or kosher meat.
Mohammed.
I doubt if Diana will want to increase her meat intake if she's been advised to adopt a 90% plant based diet...
You not eat enough meat maybe.
Eat only fresh meat and vegetables is what i said.
90% plant based food is what i eat, the 10% is fresh meat.
But it has to be halal meat or kosher meat.
Mohammed.
I don't eat ANY meat. I also do not struggle to get enough protein in my diet.
I would NEVER recommend Halal meat as my personal belief is that it is not a humane way to slaughter animals. Your opinion on this will not change my mind.
The original poster (Diana) has been advised to adopt a 90% plant based diet.
How do you figure that this would mean eating more meat.🙄
Yes if you believe that. So 90% plant based and 10% fresh meat is good.
Try and get halal meat or kosher meat.
Can you tell me where I can get vegetarian Halal meat from then?
Halal and Kosher killing methods are both immoral.
I am vegan and find it can be difficult to get protein but chickpeas and soya seem to help.
I agree. I have been vegetarian for donkeys years and don't have a problem finding protein sources.
The 'vegetarian halal' comment in my previous answer to Fatboyslim was me being facetious..
Lentils are good too. This is one of my favourite comfort foods..
The lady who does the videos is highly entertaining too! 😊
If you like the taste of meat fine. But from a health point of view red meat is probably associated with cancer so hard to justify. And being halal or kosher is unlikely to change that.
Why you think maybe you get cancer from meat.
I do not know of anyone who got cancer from eating healthy meat.
Mohammed
The international agency for research in cancer has reviewed the available evidence and concluded there is evidence for an association between red meat and cancer:
Someone provided me with a good guide once, but I don't know how to share it. This one is pretty similar though:
Edited: sorry, i've provided an alternative link to a protein guide, as the previous one was incorrect: thelittlepine.com/plant-bas...
Easy ways to increase your protein would be to add seeds (chia, flaxseed, sunflower) to your breakfast, to bulk out dinners with lentils and legumes, and to snack on nuts 
I think benwl's advice is totally sound.
Are you feeling well, or at least better than previously is a very good guide. If your diet is supportive of your body then health improvements should come slowly, possibly very slowly, but surely. Try not to over-analyse things - that can lead to needless worry.
Saying "don't worry" is easy to say and no-one wants to get recovery from cancer wrong. While I have (thankfully) no cancer in my body afaik I do have other health challenges. I don't bother tracking my carbs, protein or any micro or macro nutrient on a regular basis. A varied WFPB diet reliably sorts all that out.
Unless you like it, there is no need to include soya, processed or otherwise in your diet. I eat some soya possibly once a year. I know society is obsessed with protein and carbs, but it need not be that way. Just eat until you are reasonably full (ie satiated) at each and every meal and the WFPB lifestyle sorts out everything neatly.
Where you may need advice is if your body is not absorbing certain nutrients or you are reacting to certain foods. This is why the guideline of "is your health generally improving" is so valuable. Another area is if you have been really ill (and PCP may qualify there) then you may need to focus on improving the WFPB lifestyle to be even more healthy. Benwl talks about legumes - these have been shown to kill off cancer cells. I'd research Dr Fuhrman's nutritarian diet.
On the other hand be wary of nuts - nuts and cancer needs special attention. I am not sure but some nuts may need to be avoided or at least reduced in a cancer context. (Ask if you want more info on nuts.) Final point, removing refined oils from your diet might be in order, but look at other things first.
I agree with andyswarbs and Cooper27. There's just one thing I'd add. You mention finding "high protein food combinations". Are you referring to the idea that we need to combine plant proteins in the same meal in order to get "complete protein"? This idea is pretty outdated, although there is a little truth to it. First, proteins are complete if they contain all the types of amino acids we need. Except for the protein we know as 'gelatin', which is missing one amino acid, ALL plant-based proteins contain all the amino acids we need. In other words, you can't live on gelatin alone.
Our bodies are smart and will do all of the amino acid combining we need. It keeps a "pool" of amino acids and combines them as they are needed; no need to try to combine, say, beans and rice in the same meal in order to get "complete protein". nutritionfacts.org/2018/12/...
Also, you may not need as much protein as you think, unless you're adding a lot of muscle fast. If not, then a good amount of protein would be 45 grams a day. Vegans get almost 70% more than that without really trying. nutritionfacts.org/video/do...
As andyswarbs mentions, one good plant-based doctor to follow in Fuhrman. He's not always as strict as many others and believes that whatever is most nutritious is best for us.
Hi DianaTrapani
I haven't got anything to add, except to Welcome you to the Healthy eating forum.
Zest
DianaTrapani
It is possible to choose plant based ingredients to meet any macronutients within reasonable limits. If you can provide the following information, I may be able to suggest you the list of ingredients that will meet your requirements. You can then discuss their suitability with your Doctor/Nurse/Dietitian.
1. Your daily carb requirements in gms
2. Your daily protein requirements in gms
3. Your daily requirements of healthy fat in gms
4. Are eggs acceptable?
5. Have you considered cheese e.g. paneer which has texture similar to toffu (Soy).
6. Do you need to lose/gain/maintain bodyweight? Please indicate whichever is applicable.
7. Do you know your lipid profile? Total cholesterol alone is not very useful to assess possible CVD risk.
Thank you for the reply. Although I previously ate about a 65% plant based diet, becoming vegan is new to me. We did eat red meats, along with others daily.
With Er/Pr+ breast cancer I am on an estrogen inhibitor. With no estrogen I am more likely to experience increased cholesterol, which has started to occur. My numbers increased to 214 total. HDL 59, LDL 135, Trig 978, VLDL 20, ratio 3.6.
I’ve always been active but less so during treatments. I’ve always felt better and more energetic with more protein. I think I would like at least 60 g/ protein per day -recommended min from sources I’ve read. I don’t know about fat or carbs g/day. I would like to increase muscle and maintain weight or not lose more than 10 pounds.
My oncologist has a new health coach/certified nutritionist in her office and has scheduled me for three appointments starting next Friday.
I am reading the whole food guide for breast cancer patients. I am tracking diet intake on Lose It app, which gives me nutritional info.
Vegan is new to me, so I am learning, trying to be aware, and figure where to make changes.
Thanks for any further information.
DianaTrapani
Thank you very much for providing the useful information.
1. Lipid profile: I do not see any issue with your cholesterol numbers except TG which is very high ( 978 ). Your HDL is very good. I was wondering if TG number was a typo! Assuming it is correct, Doctors should address the underlying cause.
Following ketogenic dietary approach should be very helpful to reduce TG fast. One has to limit the dietary carb preferably to less than 30 gm with upper limit of 50 gm. That will promote using stored TG as energy source in absence of glucose. TheAwfulToad may provide more input on this.
2. Protein: I agree you should consume 60 gm protein which will be good for bodyweight between 140 and 150 lbs. Rest of the energy should be supplied by healthy fat.
3. Low carb sources of meat free protien:
All legumes which supply protein have typically 60% carb and therefore not suitable for keto diet. Consider the following:
a. Flaxsedds: has net carb 2 gm and protein 18 gm per 100 gm.
b. Chia seeds: has net carb 6 gm and protein 14 gm per 100 gm.
c. Sprouted fenugreek seeds (as salad ingredient): has net carb 33 gm and protein 23 gm per 100 gm ( dry seeds).
d. As you mentioned soy not suitable for you, consider paneer cheese which has typical protein content of 25 gm and negligible carb per 100 gm.
e. Low carb vegetables grown above ground will provide upto 5 - 10 gm protein assuming you consume 500 - 600 gm total.
Standard dietary recommendations of high carb starchy food are not going to be helpful in my opinion. I suggest you do your own research also. As you like eating meat,in my opinion, a simple approach would be eating fatty cuts of good qualty organic beef e.g. ground beef, ribeye steaks and low carb vegetables till you are full. That should resolve your TG issue within three months and keep you in best health. But you should consider all options carefully along with your Doctors.
Thank you very much for the information!
The link that Cooper27 provided is very good.
I regularly use Quorn. It's a very easy meat alternative to use and has a reasonable protein content. They have recently introduced quite a few Vegan product to their range if that's what you're looking for (the original contains egg as a binder).
Another meat substitute is Seitan which is gluten.
Quark, which is dairy but has a high protein content and no fat, is also a thing to have in the fridge.
As you can imagine there are thousand of websites to explore for 'high protein vegan meals', including ones which show meal preparation for a week - useful if you don't have the energy to cook every day..
I found that I could introduce a lot of protein into my diet by having soya milk, soya yoghurt and soya cream. There are 38grams of protein for every 100grams of soya. I often stir soya cream into soup and sometimes have soya yoghurt for breakfast. However, you can also have a drink with soya cream and introduce protein that way.
I'm vegan and get my protein from protein shakes made with almond milk, chickpeas and peas are great for protein, some of the shop bought alternatives are also high in protein, investigate it, change it up to suit your taste, use spices to add flavour, Ive not eaten meat for the last 15 years, just bare in mind that if you decide to go vegan vitamin B12 is a must, good luck x
Solein plant based protein made from CO2 approved to go on the market in 2023 
Arnold Schwarzenegger on plant-based food.
