Introduction
When I mention I’m on a ketogenic diet, most people picture plates of steak, greasy bacon, and coffee with a lot of butter in it.
Then I tell them I’m vegetarian keto, and their reactions often resemble someone who just heard I’m running a marathon backwards while juggling.
But here’s the reality: cancer doesn’t care about what you eat. It cares about glucose. When you have stage IV cancer, food is no longer just energy; it becomes a tool.
This post discusses why I chose vegetarian keto, how I determined my macros (with guidance from the amazing Amanda King – https://www.amandakingnd.com/ – a highly talented naturopath and nutritionist), what I eat, and how it keeps me alive – not just in a theoretical “food is medicine” way, but in the real, daily, sometimes difficult, sometimes humorous reality of keeping cancer deprived without depriving myself.
Why Diet Became Non-Negotiable
When I received news that I was “palliative only,” most of my options disappeared overnight. I couldn’t change the scan results. I couldn’t magically remove a tumour wrapped around my oesophagus. But I could control what I ate.
That may seem small, but it’s crucial. Otto Warburg’s discovery (Here’s a more in depth blog on the Warburg effect if you want to understand more) from the 1920’s shows that cancer cells consume glucose at alarming rates, even when oxygen is available. They use sugar not only for energy but also to signal their growth. Healthy cells can switch to ketones when carbs are low, but cancer cells generally cannot.
This is why I chose keto.
By shifting my metabolism from glucose to ketones, I could deprive the tumour of its preferred fuel. Was it a cure? No. Was it leverage? Definitely. When facing a disease that constantly changes the rules, having leverage is vital.
So food transitioned from being background noise to a key part of my strategy.
Why Vegetarian Keto (Not Bacon Keto)
Many people assume that keto means eating a lot of meat, with heaps of protein, cheese on everything, and perhaps a vegetable here and there if you feel guilty.
That was never an option for me. I’ve been a vegetarian since childhood – long story, one I’ll maybe cover in a future post. My whole household eats vegetarian at home, and whilst Ana and the boys sometimes have meat when they’re out, I’ve always stuck to veggies. So when it came to creating a therapeutic diet, the question was not “should I give up meat?” but rather “can keto even work without it?”
The answer, I’ve discovered, is yes, but it requires careful planning.
Meat-heavy keto might provide ketones, but it often brings higher inflammation, gut health problems, and fewer cancer fighting phytonutrients.
When you’re trying to reduce a tumour microenvironment, those factors are important. I also needed a version of keto that I could maintain longer term, not just weeks – something sustainable, not a metabolic prison.
Amanda King has been essential in this journey. She is a very skilled naturopath and nutritionist who helped me navigate many questions, hurdles, and breakthroughs. Her usual focus is on meat-based keto, which is understandable since the science backs it. However, she collaborated with me to adapt the principles to a lifelong vegetarian setup. She assisted me in defining macros that suited my biology, ethics, and situation.
Without her knowledge, I would have struggled with the complexities of nutrition and metabolic issues. Thanks to her support, vegetarian keto became not only possible but also effective.
My Macros –
The Framework That Keeps Me Alive
If you’ve never tracked macros, let me simplify: macros are just the amounts and/or percentages of fat, protein, and carbs in your diet. Keto isn’t about specific meals; it’s a framework for what you eat. If you don’t get it right, you might end up out of ketosis or so undernourished that you can barely function.
With Amanda’s help, I learned how to define and adjust the numbers that worked for me – not her, not some textbook, but my own needs.
Here’s how I break it down:
Fat: 70-75%
Mostly extra virgin olive oil, ghee, coconut oil, nut butters, seeds, and avocado. These form the core of my calories.
Protein: 25-30%
Plant protein powders, tofu, tempeh, and legumes in moderation (too many and you exceed your carb limit). Protein is vital for maintaining muscle, especially when you’re losing weight from treatment.
Carbohydrates: 5-10%
Mainly leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, nuts, seeds, and occasional berries. Essentially, carbs that have a purpose – fibre, antioxidants, micronutrients.
Then there are some outliers: fibre syrup for baking, a bit of honey now and then when I need it. I avoid flour, processed carbs, hidden sugars and sugar alternatives. I also use Baja Gold salt since electrolytes are crucial when restricting carbs.
Do I count every gram? Not anymore.
I used to track everything carefully to understand my diet. Now, after months of practice, I can estimate. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s consistency.
If macros sound dull, trust me – they’re much less tedious than dying.
A Day in My Food Life
People often ask what I eat. Here’s a normal day.
Breakfast (sometimes skipped)
Organic Natural Yoghurt, with: almond butter, chia seeds, a small handful of berries, pomegranate seeds, some chopped walnuts and pecans, a few 85% dark chocolate drops, and some fibre syrup.
Or, a shake: almond milk, plant protein, cacao, MCT oil.
Lunch
Big salad: rocket, spinach, avocado, sauerkraut, pumpkin seeds, drizzled with olive oil.
Or, soup: broccoli, blue cheese and coconut with homemade stock.
Dinner
Courgetti Spaghetti (aka Spiralized zucchini, for my American friends) with homemade kale pesto, sat atop roasted cauliflower steaks.
Or, Keto curry with coconut milk, spinach, and Mr. Organic chickpeas.
Or, a “pizza” with an almond flour base topped with vegetables and cheese.
Snacks
Nuts.
Seed crackers.
Fermented vegetables – especially homemade fermented pickles, yum…
85% dark chocolate (the line between medicine and pleasure is thin here).
Sometimes I skip breakfast, or even lunch, depending on how I feel. Fasting increases ketones and lowers glucose levels, making life simpler. Flexibility is key.
One of my best moments came after chemo when I managed to enjoy a full keto dinner with Ana without pain – not because the food was fancy, but because it felt like a win over everything cancer tried to take from me.
My Vegetarian Keto Pantry Staples
You can’t do vegetarian keto without a solid pantry.
Here are mine:
– Baja Gold Salt – essential for electrolytes: Amazon Link
– Extra Virgin Olive Oil (High polyphenol where possible): Amazon Link
– Grass fed ghee: Amazon Link
– Pure coconut oil: Amazon Link
– Almond flour and coconut flour – key for low-carb baking.
– Mr. Organic and Biona products – sauces, pulses, tomato bases.
– Homemade or Freja vegetable stock – base for soups and curries.
– Fermented condiments – sauerkraut, kimchi, sugar-free pickles.
– Nut butters – almond, macadamia, cashew.
– 85%+ dark chocolate – because joy is important.
These staples make the difference between a diet as punishment and one as an opportunity.
Challenges and Trade-Offs
Let’s be clear: vegetarian keto isn’t easy.
Social eating: Restaurants, birthdays, family gatherings. I’m often the one with different food rules.
Weight loss: Treatment has already cost me weight, so balancing protein without exceeding carb limits has been a constant challenge.
Boredom: You can only eat so much cauliflower rice before questioning your life choices. That’s where creativity – and Ana’s talent for presentation (she is a qualified architect after all) – comes into play.
Cheat moments: In Gran Canaria, I gave myself a week off. And, in Mexico, I gave myself the month off. I drank beer, ate bread, and ignored my macros. Strangely, this made me stronger when I returned.
Sometimes a reset is needed – not just metabolically, but emotionally.
And there’s the reality: living with kids means making compromises. Sometimes you bend the rules for family meals. Sometimes you stick to your principles. It’s a messy but doable balance.
Why This Works For Me
The blood tests don’t lie. Glucose levels are down. Ketones are up. Inflammation markers are better. More importantly, I feel like I’m taking active steps every day – not waiting for the next scan or relinquishing all control to the system. I’m shaping my path meal by meal.
This diet also works alongside everything else I do: the off-label treatments, fasting, exercise, mistletoe, and high-dose IV vitamin C. It’s not a standalone cure. It’s one part of a larger plan.
But it’s also about life. Cooking with Ana, sharing bits of dark chocolate with Axel, watching Cole steal avocado from Ana’s plate – food is my way of fighting cancer and connecting with my family.
Amanda’s support has been invaluable. Without her ability to simplify complex nutrition into a workable plan, vegetarian keto would have been just a thought. She combined science, data, and my strong will to avoid meat, and helped me make it happen.
Keto isn’t just about starving cancer. It’s about nourishing life.
Conclusion
Vegetarian keto isn’t for everyone. But for me, it’s the diet that keeps my metabolism unfriendly to cancer and supportive of my health.
It’s not perfect. It’s not easy. It’s not always visually appealing. But it works, and it’s sustainable.
If there’s one takeaway here, it’s not that you should follow my macros. It’s that diet is one of the few aspects you control every single day. Whether facing cancer or just trying to live healthier, food is never neutral.
My challenge to you: replace one carb-heavy meal this week with a vegetarian keto alternative. See how it feels. You can find some of our favourite recipes here.
I’ll be sharing more recipes, pantry tips, and routines in the coming weeks. If you have questions or want me to address a specific food challenge, please do let me know – your feedback shapes these posts just like mine does.
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