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Generally, do vegans and vegetarians have higher blood sugars....
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Micky25
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You can't really measure success by foods you don't eat but by foods you do. All meat, veg etc have their own GI values and different foods affect individuals BG differently so no way of answering accurately. Pretty sure there will be vegetarians with poor, avg and good control. Same with meat eaters.
This is true, I am on what I call a vegan type diet, I say this because I am not a vegan if you know what I mean.
I obviously do not have sugar, only whats natural. I also have many gluten free products + one b12 tablet
Oddly enough I had my 6 monthly 4 blood checks last week which all revealed normal results. ( I retain copies of my results for ref; )
As many say we are all different.
The best advice I can give, is just use you BG meter and enjoy what you eat.
Also I am spoiled as my family can make unbelievable meals, ( so can I
)
phoenix
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There is a fair amount of literature that suggests a plant based diet can be a very healthy one. Whether that has to be an all plant diet is less clear so for example there is often debate about whether vitamin B12 needs to be substituted, calcium intake etc
I just found an easy to read non technical review here about plant based diets and health . I know nothing about the authors apart from that they work for Kaiser Permanente which is one of the biggest health care insurers in the US.
.For diabetes it says
Plant-based diets may offer an advantage over those that are not plant based with respect to prevention and management of diabetes. The Adventist Health Studies found that vegetarians have approximately half the risk of developing diabetes as nonvegetarians.19 In 2008, Vang et al20 reported that non vegetarians were 74% more likely to develop diabetes over a 17-year period than vegetarians. In 2009, a study involving more than 60,000 men and women found that the prevalence of diabetes in individuals on a vegan diet was 2.9%, compared with 7.6% in the nonvegetarians.17 A low-fat, plant-based diet with no or little meat may help prevent and treat diabetes, possibly by improving insulin sensitivity and decreasing insulin resistance
(of course the Adventists are known for longevity but they have a very specific lifestyle of which vegetarianism is only a part)
The doctors concerned recommend a plant based diet (including vegan, vegetarian but not exclusively, they include a Med diet for example with small amounts of animal products.)
They say towards the end, Further research is needed to find ways to make plant-based diets the new normal for our patients and employees. We cannot cure chronic diseases, but we may be able to prevent and control them by changing how we eat
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3662288/?report=reader#__ffn_sectitle
The group has obviously endorsed this to the degree that it has brought out a booklet on eating a plant based diet. (edit they do actually say that they do not necessarily endorse it at the end! )
http://www.lanimuelrath.com/wp-content/uploads/New-Plant-Based-Booklet-1214_tcm28-781815.pdf
(so as a health insurer are they trying to reduce costs associated with chronic disease ? ( of course it could be a grand conspiracy to kill of their patients
)
Just a personal anecdote but in the last year I have done a couple of Massive online courses on Nutrition. In the forums there are people who like on many on here use low carb diets but there are also very large numbers who are equally vociferous about the benefits they have seen from very low fat plant based diets.
The one thing that they would mostly all agree on though is the use of non processed foods.
I've just noticed that the booklet in fact makes quite a big stance about this so suggests getting fats for example from avocados or olives rather than seed or even olive oil)
I just found an easy to read non technical review here about plant based diets and health . I know nothing about the authors apart from that they work for Kaiser Permanente which is one of the biggest health care insurers in the US.
.For diabetes it says
Plant-based diets may offer an advantage over those that are not plant based with respect to prevention and management of diabetes. The Adventist Health Studies found that vegetarians have approximately half the risk of developing diabetes as nonvegetarians.19 In 2008, Vang et al20 reported that non vegetarians were 74% more likely to develop diabetes over a 17-year period than vegetarians. In 2009, a study involving more than 60,000 men and women found that the prevalence of diabetes in individuals on a vegan diet was 2.9%, compared with 7.6% in the nonvegetarians.17 A low-fat, plant-based diet with no or little meat may help prevent and treat diabetes, possibly by improving insulin sensitivity and decreasing insulin resistance
(of course the Adventists are known for longevity but they have a very specific lifestyle of which vegetarianism is only a part)
The doctors concerned recommend a plant based diet (including vegan, vegetarian but not exclusively, they include a Med diet for example with small amounts of animal products.)
They say towards the end, Further research is needed to find ways to make plant-based diets the new normal for our patients and employees. We cannot cure chronic diseases, but we may be able to prevent and control them by changing how we eat
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3662288/?report=reader#__ffn_sectitle
The group has obviously endorsed this to the degree that it has brought out a booklet on eating a plant based diet. (edit they do actually say that they do not necessarily endorse it at the end! )
http://www.lanimuelrath.com/wp-content/uploads/New-Plant-Based-Booklet-1214_tcm28-781815.pdf
(so as a health insurer are they trying to reduce costs associated with chronic disease ? ( of course it could be a grand conspiracy to kill of their patients
)Just a personal anecdote but in the last year I have done a couple of Massive online courses on Nutrition. In the forums there are people who like on many on here use low carb diets but there are also very large numbers who are equally vociferous about the benefits they have seen from very low fat plant based diets.
The one thing that they would mostly all agree on though is the use of non processed foods.
I've just noticed that the booklet in fact makes quite a big stance about this so suggests getting fats for example from avocados or olives rather than seed or even olive oil)
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A
Avocado Sevenfold
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I am vegetarian and type 2. If I ate rubbish food then I would have higher bgs, so I don't. Plant protein is higher in carb than animal protein, but this way of eating is doable. My last two hba1c results were 38.
Emmotha
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This is interesting to me because I know someone who is a Fruitarian - meaning they only eat fruit, mainly bananas. They're not diabetic but they thought it would be good for me as they thought u don't need insulin for fruit. This is obviously not correct and I'd need a lot of insulin were I to follow that diet as it's high in sugar 
Molly0
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I have been veggie most of my adult life but when diagnosed three weeks ago with diabetes I took up a strict vegan diet. I had been a vegan about 15 years ago but had lapsed. I have already had positive results from my change of diet. I have lost 4 or 5 pounds already. My doctor was going to increase my metformin medication for my type 2 diabetes but then a recent blood test showed that my BG had improved a lot, so she now says I only need to take one tablet a day. I enjoy the vegan foods I eat and I do no find it t a hardship to live without dairy products. Its hard for me to get enough exercise because I have severe arthritis and COPD as welll as some other problems. I use a wheelchair to get around outside and have very restricted mobility. So I'm pleased to have made a good start by losing a few pounds.
