Plant based diet after diabetes diagnosis

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Amity Island

Amity Island

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
A bit of a local story about choosing a plant based diet to help with managing diabetes (i'm guesssing type 2?).

www.dunfermlinepress.com

Emma goes Vegan after diabetes diagnosis

A DUNFERMLINE mum has swapped eating meat at every meal for a plant-based diet after seeing the huge change it had on her health.
www.dunfermlinepress.com www.dunfermlinepress.com
 
There’s quite a lot of anecdotal information about vegan diets helping insulin sensitivity. I think it was Neal Barnard who wrote a book about treating Type 2 with a vegan diet.

I’m not vegan, but as I said in a thread recently, I find healthy vegan foods help my insulin sensitivity a lot even though it’s not bad to start with.

Even if people choose to eat a small amount of meat or whatever, I think plant-rich diets are great for general health too.
 
Funnily enough I've just dug out my copy of How Not To Die as there is a section in there about diabetic neuropathy and plant based diets. It's not for me; my partner suffers from neuropathy but is not diabetic, but it doesn't mean a plant based diet won't work for his poor feet. Although I have yet to discuss it with him! Wish me luck 😉
 
I have the How Not To Die cookbook as well as the How Not To Die book. There are some nice recipes in there. There’s also an app where you can tick off your daily essentials as detailed in the book.

I hope it helps your partner @Vonny
 
I have had long arguments with people who know diabetics who sorted out their problems eating a plant based diet - but they can't put me in touch with the actual people so I can invite them to join us and help others. I beg them for information on the diet but nothing is forthcoming so -well - you must draw your own conclusions.
To control my diabetes I had been eating lots of fresh veges, salads and small portions of fruit, and my blood glucose monitor told me that 50 gm of carbs was my limit - that is 200 calories a day.
I happily made up the rest of my requirements with protein and fat from meat fish eggs and cheese, plus other dairy.
These days I have a lot more frozen things, so I don't need to go out, sometimes I am at home for weeks at a time but there are lots of good things in the frozen cabinets which I would have been eating fresh.
 
I have had long arguments with people who know diabetics who sorted out their problems eating a plant based diet - but they can't put me in touch with the actual people so I can invite them to join us and help others. I beg them for information on the diet but nothing is forthcoming so -well - you must draw your own conclusions.

They most certainly exist. Usually they’re driven away or dissuaded by low carb extremists who sneer at anyone who dares to eat carbs. There are also numerous books, websites and videos. There’s plenty of evidence online but I don’t think you’re really interested, are you? You’ve already drawn your own conclusion.
 
Animal products also increase the risk of getting Type 2 diabetes:

Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes​

Diabetes prevalence in the United States is lower among vegetarians than nonvegetarians.12–15 In two large Adventist cohort studies (n = 25,698 and n = 60,903), the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes was 1.6–2.0 times higher among nonvegetarians than among vegetarians or vegans.12,15Part of the difference is attributable to higher body weight among nonvegetarians, but much of the difference persists after adjustment for body weight.

A 2009 study14 found that, among a range of diets from vegan to nonvegetarian, as consumption of animal products increased, so did diabetes prevalence, ranging from 2.9% in vegans to 7.8% among individuals with unlimited consumption of animal products.

Data from the Harvard Women's Health Study, the Nurses' Health Study, the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, and other trials were part of a systematic review15 of 12 cohort studies that found that men and women who ate the most meat had the highest risk of type 2 diabetes. Intake levels of red meat, processed meat, and fish were all associated with risk of type 2 diabetes.13–18 These studies suggest that the total amount of meat consumed may be more important than the type of meat.
 
I'm *almost* vegan these days - fish or chicken maybe once a week, otherwise all plants. But that's mainly for CV reasons; I attribute being in T2D remission (or, as I prefer to say, *cured*) to sustained weight loss, not really the plants.
 
Too many carbs make me feel unwell, so I could not eat a vegetarian diet even if I wanted to - so obviously there are going to be more people like me avoiding a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle and so the observation is entirely correct - there are more diabetics eating meat than being vegetarian.
I have always been this way and all my blood relatives are exactly the same. They found it impossible to keep their weight down when eating bread and potatoes, so they didn't.
Type two diabetes seems to be a range of different though similar conditions, so I am perfectly willing to agree that some people can eat a vegetarian diet and control their diabetes, I just find it rather odd that they prove so elusive.
 
...so obviously there are going to be more people like me avoiding a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle and so the observation is entirely correct - there are more diabetics eating meat than being vegetarian

Except that’s not what it says, is it? It’s saying that increasing consumption of animal products is linked to a greater prevalence of diabetes.

Obviously more people eat meat than are vegan or vegetarian. That’s not what the study is looking at. And it’s not talking about numbers of people, it’s talking about prevalence.

You keep talking about how ‘elusive’ these people are. Perhaps that’s because they no longer need to frequent diabetes forums due to their weight loss (if needed) and their improved insulin sensitivity. Not to mention cardiovascular benefits of a vegan diet and the many other benefits too. LCHF increases insulin resistance, so it makes sense that people would explore other diet options that actually improve sensitivity.
 
Just a reminder to respect each other’s points of view. There are no absolute answers, and the same diet or approach might work for one person, but not work the same, or not be sustainable for another.

What we aim for here is supporting people to find a way of eating that suits them, their taste buds, their weight goals, and is sustainable for them long term 🙂
 
I've thoroughly enjoyed all points of view on this thread. Like @Drummer I can only tolerate a very low carb diet, like @Inka I like to leave my options open for the most varied and nutritious diet I can get and like @Eddy Edson I do try to limit our red meat intake due to potential CV problems (especially for my partner who has heart disease as well as neuropathy, the poor old chap!). Just goes to show that it takes all sorts and we are different.

@Inka, I'd forgotten there was a How Not to Die cookbook. It's now on order and arriving tomorrow thank you 🙂 Update -it's just arrived!
 
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Ooh, exciting @Vonny! There are some great recipes in there. There are a number of lower carb ones eg Zucchini Noodles, Roasted Cauli, Stuffed Portbello Mushrooms, etc. Others can be adapted to suit too.
 
Inka said:
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Except that’s not what it says, is it? It’s saying that increasing consumption of animal products is linked to a greater prevalence of diabetes.

Obviously more people eat meat than are vegan or vegetarian. That’s not what the study is looking at. And it’s not talking about numbers of people, it’s talking about prevalence.
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But the logical conclusion is that people who feel ill when they eat carbs don't do so. Can you not see that there is both selection and conditioning going on?

All my family avoided carbs because so many were diabetic - so they ate more meat. The meat didn't make them diabetic, the diabetes made them select a higher meat diet as it made them feel better.
 
Drummer said:
But the logical conclusion is that people who feel ill when they eat carbs don't do so. Can you not see that there is both selection and conditioning going on?

All my family avoided carbs because so many were diabetic - so they ate more meat. The meat didn't make them diabetic, the diabetes made them select a higher meat diet as it made them feel better.
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No, the meat-eaters in the study were not people who were avoiding carbs. They were not people who were substituting meat for carbs.
 
Even though they were diabetics, and they probably had copies of Dr Atkins books?
 
Drummer said:
Even though they were diabetics, and they probably had copies of Dr Atkins books?
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They were not diabetics. That’s the whole point. The study/studies looked at the risk of developing diabetes later over a period of years. None of the people were diabetic at the start.
 
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