Vegan diet no longer control my Glucose level

Is there any reason you have to be on a vegan diet? Perhaps that's not good for your health.

NickCanto said:

I started vegan diet 6 months ago (with Metformin max dose), glucose was OK ~7.5 AiC 6.7
Now my glucose is going up, I reduced my carb to ~100gr/day, but glucose still going up.
I would like to avoid going back to insulin.
What Can I do?

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Welcome, Nick.

What is your HnA1c 6 months on? What do you eat to achieve 100 g carbs per day & adequate Kcals? Must be a lot of nuts & pulse.

Hi @NickCanto please introduce yourself and let us know a bit more about you so we can be able to make some more informed suggestions. Things like how long you've been diagnosed, possible other health issues, weight issues, normal diet, how long you've reduced your carbs.
And welcome to the forum.

NickCanto said:

A year ago I switch to keto ,meat dairy eggs 35gr carb per day.

A1C went down to 6.1%, I got off insulin completely.

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Amazing results well done

NickCanto said:

The first 4 months it was effective, A1c 6.7%

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Not as effective as keto with meat though..?

NickCanto said:

6 months ago I got concerned of so much animal fat and protein,

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Why?

Looks like the vegan way isn't so good for you whereas the keto with meat and dairy was.. personally I'd go back to that.. you know it works..

NickCanto said:

I am 15 years type 2 on 150 units of insulin per day A1C of 6.9%.

90 kg 61 y.o. no other relevant heath issues.

A year ago I switch to keto ,meat dairy eggs 35gr carb per day.

A1C went down to 6.1%, I got off insulin completely.

6 months ago I got concerned of so much animal fat and protein, switch to vegan.

Low fat high carb, moderate Protein, 2gr metformin.

The first 4 months it was effective, A1c 6.7%, last 2 months glucose started to creep up, to 8- 9.

I reduced carb to 100gr eating low carb veg tofu and avocado

last 2 months glucose continue to creep up, to 9-10.

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If I were you I'd try going back to keto since it seemed to be working.

NickCanto said:

I am 15 years type 2 on 150 units of insulin per day A1C of 6.9%.

90 kg 61 y.o. no other relevant heath issues.

A year ago I switch to keto ,meat dairy eggs 35gr carb per day.

A1C went down to 6.1%, I got off insulin completely.

6 months ago I got concerned of so much animal fat and protein, switch to vegan.

Low fat high carb, moderate Protein, 2gr metformin.

The first 4 months it was effective, A1c 6.7%, last 2 months glucose started to creep up, to 8- 9.

I reduced carb to 100gr eating low carb veg tofu and avocado

last 2 months glucose continue to creep up, to 9-10.

Click to expand...

It is notoriously difficult to follow a vegan diet and control blood sugars. There are far too many carbs from the flour, grains, pulses, beans, chickpeas and so forth if you are to also consume sufficient protein and good fats - and by good fats I mean no vegetable oils.

If your only reason for going vegan was your concern over eating animal fats and animal proteins, rather than genuine ethical reasons, then I suggest you consider being less of a vegan and either more of a vegetarian that eats eggs, dairy and possibly fish, or go back to eating animal products properly. Was your health suffering previous to going vegan, your blood markers cholesterol, heart issues for examples? Were you won over to veganism because of all the hype they have been submerging us with in the media?

I suggest you have a rethink as to where your health priorities lie. Please don't take me the wrong way. I am not against veganism for healthy people. My 2 adult grandchildren are committed vegans down to not having anything at all made from animal products such as shoes, belts, purses, wallets etc. I don't judge them and wouldn't judge any genuine ethical vegan. I do judge the activists that try to force it on everyone else through sensationalist media coverage.

If you didn't switch to a vegan diet for ethical reasons of some sort, I wonder if it's worth you sticking with it?

I could no more eat a piece of meat, fish or dairy produce than fly, but I have my own reasons and because of that it's worth me sticking to a vegan whole-food lifestyle. If you're eating vegan junk food (and there's a frightening amount available) and do want to stick with the lifestyle, then it might be worth your switching to a more whole food based diet? Junk food of any type is scarily high carb. It is certainly possible to get good glucose control with a vegan diet but you do have to work at it.

I eat masses of vegetables and salad, just a little fruit, and a goodly amount of tofu flavoured in various ways. Lots of other stuff too, but I don't eat much of the high carb foodstuffs.

Humans are, by nature, omnivores. We evolved eating meat and animal products, and grains and sugar are a very recent introduction into our diets - it is not surprising that it is all going wrong.
Someone keeping a Human as a pet would be told off for trying to make them eat a vegan diet, in any civilised society.
There is a big problem worldwide with stunted growth and mental retardation of children due to the lack of animal products in the diet.

WuTwo said:

If you didn't switch to a vegan diet for ethical reasons of some sort, I wonder if it's worth you sticking with it?

I could no more eat a piece of meat, fish or dairy produce than fly, but I have my own reasons and because of that it's worth me sticking to a vegan whole-food lifestyle. If you're eating vegan junk food (and there's a frightening amount available) and do want to stick with the lifestyle, then it might be worth your switching to a more whole food based diet? Junk food of any type is scarily high carb. It is certainly possible to get good glucose control with a vegan diet but you do have to work at it.

I eat masses of vegetables and salad, just a little fruit, and a goodly amount of tofu flavoured in various ways. Lots of other stuff too, but I don't eat much of the high carb foodstuffs.

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But aren't you a T1 so maybe a different strategy will work better for you?

If you search on Amazon for low carb vegan cookbooks there are some brilliant ones to look at, filled with yummy and filling meals.


I've never bothered posting in this veggie/vegan forum before simply because of the comments slagging of my life choices. I probably won't bother again either. I thought this particular forum would be a safe haven but I see I am wrong.

NickCanto said:

I started vegan diet 6 months ago (with Metformin max dose), glucose was OK ~7.5 AiC 6.7
Now my glucose is going up, I reduced my carb to ~100gr/day, but glucose still going up.
I would like to avoid going back to insulin.
What Can I do?

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Hi Nick,

It looks (from the info you have given) as though you have a variety of options:

- Stay on your vegan way of eating at current carb levels, and likely return to insulin
- Stay vegan and go keto vegan, by lowering carbs further. I imagine this would be really challenging
- Switch to keto (or lower carb) vegetarian including animal protein and fat sources
- Switch to keto omnivore (or lower carb) including animal protein and fat sources

Unfortunately, it looks to me as though it boils down to assessing your priorities (avoiding increased medication, or avoiding animal products, and/or lowering your current carb intake). I am afraid that you are the only one who knows your own situation well enough to decide which of those options is best for you.

WuTwo said:

I've never bothered posting in this veggie/vegan forum before simply because of the comments slagging of my life choices. I probably won't bother again either. I thought this particular forum would be a safe haven but I see I am wrong.

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I see no slagging off or negativity of the choice to be vegan, I see supportive comment on the way a vegan lifestyle can affect type 2 diabetics, and suggestions.

If you see differently, I strongly recommend reporting those post to a mod.

Everything I have read so far about being vegetarian / vegan and diets to reduce insulin resistance etc, also requires a complete removal of fat from the diet as well - and I mean almost down to 0.

There are numerous sites, articles and social media content out there on the subject, but it seems hard to fathom.

Nexus6 said:

Everything I have read so far about being vegetarian / vegan and diets to reduce insulin resistance etc, also requires a complete removal of fat from the diet as well - and I mean almost down to 0.

There are numerous sites, articles and social media content out there on the subject, but it seems hard to fathom.

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I agree. Some amount of dietary fat intake is essential to be alive. We humans cannot function with no fat in our diet.

For fats I use vegan butter and cheese, also peanut oil and rapeseed oil. My diabetes consultant is more than happy with all my bloods. On her advice I take flaxseed oil capsules to get my Omega group vitamins, and sunshine (I live in a sunny area of the UK) provides my vitamin D. She's happy, I'm happy. I get eczema but it's part of the hayfever/eczema/allergy group of problems that I have.

Tonight I had Naturli spread (not-butter) on my spicy beanburger bun (I get the bottom half only), and a slice of not-cheese together with vegannaise (can't actually taste the difference between that and regular mayo) on my huge mixed salad. I don't feel like I missed out on anything, and certainly I'm fit, strong and healthy (other than age related things).

I have a book of keto recipes for vegans - there are loads of them - it's great and the recipes are household favourites now.

Nexus6 said:

Everything I have read so far about being vegetarian / vegan and diets to reduce insulin resistance etc, also requires a complete removal of fat from the diet as well - and I mean almost down to 0.

There are numerous sites, articles and social media content out there on the subject, but it seems hard to fathom.

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Not sure how removing the only macro that requires virtually no direct insulin response - and offsetting it with more of the two that do - is going to improve insulin sensitivity. Also, trying to reduce fat intake to zero is trying to kill yourself. It’s an essential nutrient that we will quite literally die without.

All of the above considered, it’s not surprising that it’s hard to fathom

Fats are what make up a lot of your nervous system, they are essential to much of the body chemistry and provide an ideal source of energy - reduce them below the required level at your peril - trust me on this, I have been interested in what sustains life for over 60 years.