Diabetic vegetarian going vegan

[kmcd23]

Hi,

I have been lurking here for a bit, and finding so much information! Thank you for all the wonderful resources!

I am a Type 1 Diabetic, and I've been vegetarian for 2.5 years. I think I'm ready to go vegan. I'm on my 4th day of a completely vegan diet, and almost vegan lifestyle. I've never actually liked meat, but I've always been a sucker for butter.

I'm afraid I'll never be able to go 100% vegan since I need my meds, though I do use synthetic insulin thankfully, and synthetic thyroid meds. Bringing myself to the point that I was ready to go vegan was a tough road for me - ethically I knew it to be right, but practically I had issues, since I already have to limit carbs. I felt like there was nothing I *could* eat. Spending the last couple of years as a vegetarian helped me see that there are in fact countless options, and I learned a lot about cooking and meal planning that has made me feel confident in the next step.

I'm really enjoying the exploration of new recipes, new products, etc. And I'm really happy that my omni husband is being very receptive and supportive. Once I told him that this would help me with my cholesterol problems, he jumped right on board! He even went with me to a vegan macrobiotic restaurant tonight - a lucky find living in Hawaii!

So, I just wanted to say hi, introduce myself, and take the opportunity to thank you all for being such a great resource as I make the transition!

[kmcd23]

Just made it through my first social event with other navy wives, and I had no problems! I had the salad, and I ate the artichokes off of a cream cheese pizza that other people picked off! (I just chose the ones that didn't touch the cream cheese of course.)

I was nervous going there, but it wasn't hard at all. Since everyone already knew I was a vegetarian, no one even noticed the vegan thing, so I didn't have to do any explaining.

At the end of today, I will have one vegan week under my belt, in diet at least.

I'm so happy, and I feel GREAT!

[BlackCats]

I'm afraid I'll never be able to go 100% vegan since I need my meds, though I do use synthetic insulin thankfully, and synthetic thyroid meds.

Hi.:smile: I use animal tested medications but I still consider myself vegan. Some things are unavoidable I think. Good luck, I'm glad the social event went well.

[kmcd23]

Thanks BlackCats.

Well, today is my 10th day. No slip ups, and I'm really enjoying the change. Maybe it's not too soon to say I'm vegan? I already don't buy animal products, and I started buying products not tested on animals whenever possible a while ago. Now I've changed the food for 10 days. I think that's all I can change. I think the only thing left is the medicine. I hope I'm not missing something!

[pat sommer]

I worked for years as a civilian at an army recreation base in Bavaria so I understand the social angst..... but hey, Oahu has all kinds of people; you'll have to stand out for some other reason ; )

[Sluggie]

Congratulations on making the change. I'm sure you'll feel better for it.

[Melanie]

Oooh ello i'm a type one diabetic also
Congrats on the new found veganism

[kmcd23]

So today marks two weeks, and I thought I was doing so good... except I never thought to check my morningstar products. It never occurred to me that they would have egg in them! Grrr.

Luckily, I've only had them once or twice in the last 2 weeks, because I've been making fresh food.

But I'm disapointed by how many of them contain eggs.

[fiamma]

But I'm disapointed by how many of them contain eggs.

Welcome to the world of veganism

Seriously though, don't worry if you slip up, especially in the beginning. It happens to us all. It sounds like you're doing great - well done you!

[Digital Ghost]

I think you are doing very well.

I am also a type 1 diabetic.

[kmcd23]

I'm happy to see a couple of other Diabetics! Of course, I'm not happy that you have Diabetes...

Do you guys find you have better control as a vegan, or that you end up relying too much on carbs?

So far, my sugars have been better, which I didn't expect since I do rely more on carbs with the option for eggs. But then again, a lot of the sweets that I indulged in before are now off limits for dairy and eggs. So I guess that improvement outweighs the increase in complex carbs I get from sweet potatoes, beans, etc.

I am feeling much better with this diet, and even though I'm on both fast and long acting insulins, which tend to make it hard for me to lose weight, I've already lost a pound just by changing to vegan. I've actually exercised less these last few weeks!

I hope the weight loss continues, but I'm sticking with vegan for other reasons mostly. Like the wonderful feeling of knowing that I'm not causing the suffering of animals based on my appetite for unhealthy foods!

[lauren]

I'm also type 1 Diabetic (nearly 17 years now!)
I was totally vegan for 2 weeks and I loved it, but for the last couple of months I've badly slipped and need a fresh start!
I live in the UK and find it hard to find totally vegan bacon style products

[vegantraveler]

Lauren Welcome
Bacon - any style is loaded with salt and chemicals. Possible you should try making your own fake bacon with tempeh. There are so many recipes out there that you shouldn't find it hard to embrace new flavors and foods. Try www.fatfreevegan.com and other blogs. I sometimes use a little smoke flavoring or chipolte seasonings and get nice flavors. Keep it up. It will be good for your health and the animals.

[Ms_Derious]

I realise I'm bumping a very old thread, but there you go.

As I've mentioned elsewhere I'm currently 39weeks pregnant, and been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I'm really having problems controlling my carbohydrate intake without under eating and end up with ketones, which is far from idea for the pregnant lady.

Would any of you lovely diabetic vegans have some suggestions of healthy, fairly low carbohydrate recipes that might be useful? I'm finding even modest amounts of complex carbs like brown basmati rice spike my blood glucose to outside the parameters set by the consultant, but they seem utterly bewildered by the concept of veganism and just advised me to start eating meat/low fat dairy!

It might all become academic tomorrow as I'm having a membrane sweep which stands a fair chance of triggering labour. Once the baby is born hopefully the GD will go away, although I do have an increased risk of developing diabetes in later life so it makes sense IMHO to follow a fairly diabetic friendly diet now so as to slow down any future development of type 2 diabetes, which both my siblings have.

[harpy]

Sorry to hear that Ms_D although it sounds as if the problem will soon be sorted for the time being, one way or another!

I don't know if any of the people with diabetes are around at the moment, but there are a few web pages about being vegan and having diabetes which you've no doubt seen, like this one http://www.ehow.com/list_5782727_foo...ic-vegans.html - not sure if any are officially accredited though. There are a lot more sites about low glycaemic loads. From memory I think even brown basmati rice has quite a high glycaemic index relative to some other foods (even though it's better than other rice)?

Maybe later on you could try and track down a vegan-friendly dietician. All the best for tomorrow

[Ms_Derious]

I've had a bit of a google about the place (the NHS are shockingly poor at giving advice!) and found a few things here and there I don't know what we would do without the internet!

Brown Basmati rice has a GI of about 45, which is medium apparently. I've been using barley where possible, which is lower GI.

I think I'll put pressure on to find a decent dietician, even if I have to go private to do so.

[harpy]

Yes, there must be some vegan-friendly dieticians: maybe the Vegan Society would know of someone? I know there are some in the US, so you could contact them if all else fails - I suspect bodies are similar on both sides of the pond even if theories vary

From Googling, there seem to be a number of people who think being vegan should help manage diabetes, so that's something.

[kokopelli]

My son is a life vegan with Type 1 diabetes that came on when he was a teenager. We found the USDA food values table for carbohydrates really useful, it's much more comprehensive than the leaflets we were given by the hospital:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcom...k/sr16a205.pdf

His main snack food to begin with was brazil nuts, but I think all nuts are relatively low carbohydrate, but high in pregnancy-benefitting nutrients like iron, calcium, etc. Tofu is also low in carbohydrates. Just scan through and you can see what to avoid and what's OK to eat as much as you like....asparagus, avocados, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower....

[Ms_Derious]

Thanks, that's a really helpful link

I've got a big bag of carrots and avocados and have been munching away like crazy. I've even got some in ready for my hospital bag! Oh, they are going to love me in the maternity unit... the weirdy vegan one doing hypnobirthing and using carrot dippers to eat smooshed avocado

[Andy_T]

Hello Ms_D and diabetics,

One thing to consider ... check out Dr. Doug Graham's Book 80/10/10 diet where he practically suggests a low-fat, whole-food raw vegan diet where a minimum of 80 % of the energy should come from carbs, and max 10% from protein and fat.

I read the book some time ago and he mentioned that in case of diabetes, not so much the Glycaemic index of the food you eat causes the problem, but more any fat that you also eat with it that hinders the reception of the sugar in your blood vessels. The bottom line was that when you eat a low-fat diet, such 'sugar spikes' tend to lose their problems as the reception of the sugar is more even. That also chimes with Dr. Campbell's 'China Study' where he suggested that a low-fat, whole-food, plant-based diet would have been helpful in many cases of diabetes and helped to drastically reduce the amount of medication necessary. Sorry that I do not have the books with me right now (am on a business trip), so I am not able to give more information on that.

Best regards,
Andy

[kokopelli]

Good luck Ms Derious! It will be interesting to see how the hospital staff respond. I hope you've got someone who will fetch food in for you in case the hospital food is not as good as it should be. We've found that they usually have baked potatoes, chips, baked beans and salad that are vegan, but nothing in the way of staple vegan protein foods like tofu and nuts.

[Ms_Derious]

I've given Mr_Derious a big long list of stuff... and been filling the freezer up for the past month. As long as the GD does go away, I think I'll be fine as he'll be okay with cooking some rice and then defrosting & heating up one of my home made curries.