Is anyone else on the Neal Barnard Diet?

Not doing it myself but if it works for you then carry on with it. Controlling diabetes is all about finding the way of eating that suits us personally there is no one diet to suit all so if the Neal Barnard diet suits you then go for it

Great that it's working for you. For me that diet would reduce my cholesterol to dangerously low levels and increase my blood sugar. you stated that LCHF 'clearly worsened' [sic] your arteries. Can I ask how you know this?

I guess I must be one of the lucky ones that LCHF works for - been following the diet for 4.5 years and I'm still here

Last time I saw the cardiologist, he said he didn't need to see me for another 5 years - my echocardiograms and stress tests are all good.

sugarleveller said:

Hi All,

I wanted to know if anyone else is on the Neal Barnard diet (Very low fat Vegan) and how long for? I have searched and I can't seem to find many people trying it out.

I switched from LCHF (8 months) to the Neal Barnard diet. It is really working. My time on LCHF ended in disaster when I incorporated intermittent fasting. My sugars went totally out of control and I couldn't get them back under control with normal LCHF. Then, I found I had to inject for practically zero carbs and my weight loss stalled.

I switched to Very Low Fat Vegan diet due to an angiogram that showed a worsening of my arteries after a year. I have no doubt LCHF contributed to it.

Within ten days of the Neal Barnard diet, my sugars were back under control.My latest HbA1C was better than when on the LCHF. Now, my 'carb tolerance' has greatly increased and I can eat oatmeal or bulgur or lentils without injecting anything. My medication has reduced, along with my weight and blood pressure. I would say I consume about 150-200g carbs a day and my body is handling it and I am losing weight. This is a total flip from the LCHF, which seemed to make me less and less carb tolerant and clearly worsened my arteries - although it did stabilise my sugar/cholesterol for 6 months.

Am I the only one? Is there anyone else?!!

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Hi

Hi i just wondered if you are still following Neal Barnard's diet, having been diagnosed one month ago ,i do not like the idea of LCHF diet and would like to try his diet, even though it seems a bit scary to make such big change.

rosajean said:

Hi i just wondered if you are still following Neal Barnard's diet, having been diagnosed one month ago ,i do not like the idea of LCHF diet and would like to try his diet, even though it seems a bit scary to make such big change.

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I think @sugarleveller was last seen a year ago, and may not be monitoring this site. You may not get a reply. Others may contribute here instead, but there do not appear to be many who use this diet.

rosajean said:

Hi i just wondered if you are still following Neal Barnard's diet, having been diagnosed one month ago ,i do not like the idea of LCHF diet and would like to try his diet, even though it seems a bit scary to make such big change.

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For what it's worth, I have been doing low-carb, low-fat. For three decades before my Type 2 diabetes diagnosis I was eating "low fat" Mediterranean-style food and old habits die hard. So I just removed the carbs from the existing diet, and added new stuff including fun stuff to cook with vegetables. I did not switch to full-fat dairy products or whatever. I had been eating butter all along, but in moderation and almost entirely for cooking omelettes, that sort of thing.

I did slightly increase meat but not dramatically: it used to be perhaps three nights a week and is now probably four. We now have fish more like twice a week when it used to be just once. I always ate lots of cheese and that has increased somewhat. Overall, I am probably eating a small amount more fat but it is still a low-fat diet compared to LCHF.

I feel fine and the energy level is good. I am not sure why I am still alive, since in theory when you reduce the carbs you need to find the energy from somewhere else. But nine months on, it is working for me. I don't know whether it would work for others.

Good luck with finding something that works for you!

Grateful said:

For what it's worth, I have been doing low-carb, low-fat. For three decades before my Type 2 diabetes diagnosis I was eating "low fat" Mediterranean-style food and old habits die hard. So I just removed the carbs from the existing diet, and added new stuff including fun stuff to cook with vegetables. I did not switch to full-fat dairy products or whatever. I had been eating butter all along, but in moderation and almost entirely for cooking omelettes, that sort of thing.

I did slightly increase meat but not dramatically: it used to be perhaps three nights a week and is now probably four. We now have fish more like twice a week when it used to be just once. I always ate lots of cheese and that has increased somewhat. Overall, I am probably eating a small amount more fat but it is still a low-fat diet compared to LCHF.

I feel fine and the energy level is good. I am not sure why I am still alive, since in theory when you reduce the carbs you need to find the energy from somewhere else. But nine months on, it is working for me. I don't know whether it would work for others.

Good luck with finding something that works for you!

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There have been some studies that have shown that an ultra low fat diet can be of benefit to some diabetics, and the Mediterranean Diet is also well recognised as a means for sugar control, but largely with those on insulin. But the only study that I have seen that establishes that a high carb low fat vegan diet works was performed by the Mormons in Utah, and only they seem to be able to claim success, There have been some here that have tried this diet, and found out very quickly that it worked against their best interests, I have seen one other person loudly proclaim here that it worked for them, where LCHF did not, but then they lost it in a spate of almost religious zeal and crashed the thread. I would have tagged @zand, who was one who attempted this diet, but then that too will lead to a no-response since they are no longer following this forum.

One thing that I find in common with followers of this particular diet is their reluctance to post their own findings, or provide any links to proper archived science papers that support their claims of success. Any articles they quote tend to be from body builder mags, or from Nutrition, which is the Mormon in-house fitness magazine. I have yet to see any peer reviewed, independently conducted studies that show the HCULF diet is worth picking up if you have diabetes, especially T2D.