Vegan Diet for Diabetes

[WalkerInTheWoods]

http://www.pcrm.org/news/release060727.html

WASHINGTON—A low-fat vegan diet treats type 2 diabetes more effectively than a standard diabetes diet and may be more effective than single-agent therapy with oral diabetes drugs, according to a study in the August issue of Diabetes Care, a journal published by the American Diabetes Association. Study participants on the low-fat vegan diet showed dramatic improvement in four disease markers: blood sugar control, cholesterol reduction, weight control, and kidney function. The randomized controlled trial was conducted by doctors and dieticians with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), the George Washington University, and the University of Toronto with funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Diabetes Action Research and Education Foundation.


Here is the study:

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/29/8/1777?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&andorexacttitle=and&andorexacttitleabs=and&fulltext=vegan+diet&andorexactfulltext

[paint1]

Thanks for posting this.

[WalkerInTheWoods]

You are welcome. I hope you and others find it informative and helpful.

[melody]

Voctoria Boutenko has cured her son's diabetes with raw vegan food. You can read about it at
http://www.rawfamily.com

See my entry in the Healing section of this forum about Raw Vegetarian Food & a free eBook.

[Astir]

Ooh, Interesting, I'll have to show some friends of mine on another message board.

The cessation of eating meat has only ever made my blood sugars more erratic (and diabetes more brittle), because protein and fat slow down the rate of change (which can be dramatic) in glucose levels. But I suppose since I am a type 1, it is completely different. The type of insulin I'm on requires I eat a lot of protein before bed, but peanut butter and tofu really don't cut it, no matter how much. I don't know why, I always wake up sweating and hypoglycemic no matter how I adjust my insulin.

Bottled insulin is nothing like the real thing 

[leaf]

I read lemon juice helps lower blood sugar, but I don't know if it works for diabetes I or II. I did a basic google and this is the most relevant thing I found: http://www.naturaldiabetics.com/acid.htm

By the way, raw vegan diets are fantastic. I went on a raw vegan diet just to see what it'll do - I had so much energy I was bouncing off walls and I felt incredibly happy/postive/ecstatic. There was a glow in my eyes that I hadn't seen before and I hadn't expected when I looked in the mirror. After two days my blender broke, and I've been subsisting on cooked food since. I feel so blah. That stuff is addictive.

[andonitxo]

I had an accident when I was a child. I fell off a wall and one of my kidneys got hurt. Since them I had the creatinine levels high (a value taken from blood to know kidneys' state).

But 5 years ago I went vegan (a personal decision) and in one year those creatinine levels went to normal again.

I've also heard about people who cured their cancers just fasting and going on a raw vegan diet.

[leaf]

Would you consider yourself cured, or your condition managed by the diet? I read someone explaining that vegan diets don't cure, or treat the cause of the condition, and it is a misconception, but I didn't read the whole thing.

I'm eager to hop back into my raw vegan diet. I didn't think I could manage a week on it before, but just after two days, I don't see myself eating cooked food often.

Astir - perhaps a diet consisting mostly of vegetables would help control blood sugar?

[Astir]

I eat more vegetables and fruit than anything else, because (due to other issues) they are mainly all I can have. I don't eat dairy, I seldom eat meat, and I'm allergic to wheat/gluten. All I ever eat regularly is rice, tofu...fruit and vegetables. 
And chocolate sometimes!

Diets do not necessarily help my blood sugars. I can only help myself, by paying very close attention to insulin ratios, and counting every carb. I cannot avoid carbs completely, I need them or I eventually will go into ketoacidosis and on the short term, can become severely hypoglycemic.

Fat and protein are actually what keep my glucose levels a bit less erratic. But it is important to keep in mind each diabetic individual might be a little different than the next.

Green Tea helps some people, cinnamon helps others...people swear by these things, but they just don't work for everybody...which is too bad. 

[leaf]

I almost missed the chocolate reference!   Heh, I really don't eat much chocolate, but I like it enough to find unpleasant the idea of any kind of limitation on it!

Having a diabetic in the family, and having recently seen a skinny, exercising person become diabetic made decide I need to watch what I eat. (I didn't eat very well especially after  becoming semi-vegetarian, being a disinterested cook and lazy shopper...) Anyway, I've noticed that fruit was often a cause of high blood sugar for them, and I've been trying to eat low GI foods so my blood sugar levels are stable (not that I'm measuring). Also, I've cut out breads, potatoes, and noodles. I eat pasta when I'm desperate but it sits badly on me.

I have felt a difference since eating mostly vegetables (even if they are cooked). My energy levels are a lot more even. I think the reason why vegan diets help diabetics is they sharpen insulin sensitivity by smoothing the fluctuations in blood sugar. Proteins and fats do help, especially when eaten with high GI foods. Too bad you're allergic to gluten, you'll never know the joys of seitan worship! (Actually, seitan is gross unless you need a meat substitute.) I didn't mean to put you on the spot about your diet, but I would avoid rice for beans, pulses and legumes instead. Nuts, in particular, are full of monounsaturated fats, and have protein along with carbs. Beans too (and lentils, ugh) have protein along with carbohydrates and perhaps easier on the blood sugar.

Eating right is such a bother. At this point, I really wouldn't mind eating nutritionally balanced dogfood-like pellets daily.

With the option for chocolate at anytime, of course!

[Astir]

Everytime I eat even the tiniest bit of wheat, it is the biggest mistake of my life...lol every time!

Since you are diet conscious I have to share, I've had way more energy since cutting wheat/gluten completely out. To the point that I'm now convinced it is truly the grandest dietary woe. I believe it is the culprit that leads to insulin resistance (though not in my case, as my immune system is what destroyed my pancreas, I'm actually quite sensitive to insulin  ) Type 2 has risen in connection to -- not necessarily obesity, that's an effect -- but our diet over the past 100 years. Wheat flour, has become a filler in many many foods. A century ago, people ate far less wheat just because every single item on the shelf simply did not contain it.
Ooh, don't get me started on how terrible meat substitutes are due to their ingredients! If you do go strictly vegan, and are worried about diabetes...then certainly avoid them as much as meat. There are some items free of gluten apparently, but I have never seen them anywhere.

To be honest, (unless you are utterly allergic to something ) anything and everything can be good or bad for you. Good is in moderation, and bad is in excess. Good luck with your dieting, Mr. leaf! I pray that diabetes never gets its wicked hands on you.


PS
Chocolate is actually good for your heart, and strangely, your teeth 

[leaf]

You are so fast in reply!

You know what, I think I'm figuring out gluten is bad for me. Pasta wrecks havoc on me, and I feel wretched after eating it. I had a very brief flirt with wheat gluten as seitan, mainly because it was convenient and, that's it. My body tolerated that rather well, strangely. I wouldn't eat meat substitues now. It sometimes still is a novelty, like when I found mock fish steak (which flaked, had a bone and skin... ), but all the TVP and HVP and yeast and what not makes my skeleton want to jump out of my skin, Grandpa Simpson style.

PS
I will do my best for a healthy heart and good teeth. 

(ms.) leaf

[leaf]

Fingers crossed about the diabetes. Thank you!

[Astir]

I'm sorry! I have a bad habit of assuming everyone is male. *shakes head*

So you have pasta issues? Hmm. It seems like as with lactose intolerance, there are varying degrees of gluten intolerance in all populations. Many friends tell me they have issues. Of course I didn't realize people had issues with gluten at all until I started to.

I think part of the problem must be that the offending molecule itself is rather large...not impossible to digest, but harder to.

I miss bread greatly, but I've tried gluten free bread and it is fine, though you could break a plate glass window with a loaf of it.

[leaf]

I am quite partial to bagels.  They soften muchly if you toast them just right. That gives me an excuse to stand in front of the toaster and rub my hands with glee as I watch them brown lightly under the coils.

http://www.clubceliac.com/GF_Food_Taste_test.htm
http://www.google.com/search?q=gluten+free+bagel