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vegans

Yes. Diabetes is an equal opportunities condition sadly. There are many types of diabetes and many reasons for developing it.

Are you worried about yourself?
 
Yes. As Type 2 can be caused by too much sugar in the body. Vegans eat many foods that break down to glucose. Of course it is possible to go low carb Vegan.
 
Avocado Sevenfold said:
Yes. Diabetes is an equal opportunities condition sadly. There are many types of diabetes and many reasons for developing it.

Are you worried about yourself?
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I am not a vegan but have prediabetes. Just watched a video on Utube that says a vegan diet can reverse diabetes. So, by definition thought that vegans do not become diabetics. According to this Dr. The reason why the cells of diabetics have resistance to insulin is because they are filled with saturated fat! So meat and dairy are out!
 
I am low carbing at the moment and hoping to get my ha1c back to normal as I had a few weeks where I had overdone it on fruit!
 
amalia said:
I am not a vegan but have prediabetes. Just watched a video on Utube that says a vegan diet can reverse diabetes. So, by definition thought that vegans do not become diabetics. According to this Dr. The reason why the cells of diabetics have resistance to insulin is because they are filled with saturated fat! So meat and dairy are out!
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You are opening a can of tofu worms there. I have read that people who follow a plant based diet are less likely to develop type 2, but nobody is immune as diet is not the only reason for developing it.

I was veggie for about 40 years when I became diabetic. I have since become vegan for ethical reasons. I have noticed a great improvement in my diabetes since which has been a nice bonus.

Keep in mind that there are saturated fats in plant foods too. Nuts, seeds, avocado all contain some saturated fats. I will tag @robin47 who may have something to add to the discussion.
 
amalia said:
I am not a vegan but have prediabetes. Just watched a video on Utube that says a vegan diet can reverse diabetes. So, by definition thought that vegans do not become diabetics. According to this Dr. The reason why the cells of diabetics have resistance to insulin is because they are filled with saturated fat! So meat and dairy are out!
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I have seen videos like this also, it is always good to review all opinions. I don't accept that eating bread, pasta, grains, oranges, bananas and the like will reverse Type 2, unless you are exercising like Andy Murray. I watched a YouTube video where a well respected Vegan stated that on his program of Veganism he would reduce carbs, I can agree with this methodology.

The saturated fat argument is in retreat. I subscribe to the argument that Triglycerides created by carbs are the problem. I back this in action by eating a third to half a coconut a day along with other good fats.
 
I think statistics tells that vegans get less diabetes type 2 than rest of the population, but this might be due to vegans usually being very aware of health more than average meat eaters in general are...

and vegans sometimes never eat pure white sugar but often make foods from scratch and also use other ways to make food sweet like dates with lots of fibres in their foods and so on...

it is a very good idea to eat much more vegetables of other kinds than the ones bad for diabetes

the vegs to avoid are; potatoes, grains , corn and rice and grains made foods like pasta and breads

there are exceptions like high protein roll from Lidl that has very few carbs ...

it is also good to avoid high spiking fruits and instead change to eating berries that have also much more fibres and less fructose in them...

and if you choose to eat the low carb eating style you can maybe prevent yourself from progressing into type 2 diabetes ...so try that ...
 
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saturated fats are also healthy we need a little of saturated fat for our hormonsystem too, there are great saturated fats in coconuts... some even claim it is especially good for brain health..

one of the areas that vegans are more prone to a disease is actually brain diseases ... by some scientist thought to be because of lack of vitamin B 12 that we get from meat and the EPA and DHA that we get from fish oil or krill oil
but those 2 can be taken as suplements instead... (my daugther does that )
 
Thanks Freema, MBaker and Avocado Sevenfold for your replies, much appreciated! I am low carbing again and hopefully will have my blood tested again by my GP's practice in about August. When I am back in the UK I am also planning to get myself a blood glucose meter and start occasionally testing how certain foods affect my blood. I am also planning to have at least three meat free days to start with which is not so easy as my husband who has normal cholesterol and blood sugar is a lover of meat dishes!
 
Not a vegan but I spent about 3-4 years on a very high veg diet before becoming diabetic (T2). My diet looked so healthy - fresh veg, salads, fruit etc - nightmare
 
amalia said:
I am not a vegan but have prediabetes. Just watched a video on Utube that says a vegan diet can reverse diabetes. So, by definition thought that vegans do not become diabetics. According to this Dr. The reason why the cells of diabetics have resistance to insulin is because they are filled with saturated fat! So meat and dairy are out!
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Fat in the cells is an element of insulin resistance, but the primary cause is a barrage of to much insulin for too long (just as, if you eat a diet high in salt, you develop a tolerance for the taste of salt and require more and more of it to be able to taste it). However, eating saturated fat doesn't fill your cells with fat. When you eat a diet high in carbohydrates, they are converted to glucose and glucose which is not used or stored as glycogen is stored as fat. That's where those triglycerides come from.
 
Freema said:
I think statistics tells that vegans get less diabetes type 2 than rest of the population, but this might be due to vegans usually being very aware of health more than average meat eaters in general are
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Quite an interesting point of view.. but interestingly there are quite a few ex-vegans who are now zero carb eaters (i.e. no plant food whatsoever) most of them that I have come across on various fora say that going zero carb has helped heal the health problems that their veganism caused. I have no personal experience of this but is something I have read about quite a few times.
 
Whenever I read about a particular way of eating being considered healthier than another way of eating, I always scratch my head.

I mean, are we talking about vegans who only eat toast and vegan margarine, or vegans who research, supplement with Vit B12, eat the rainbow and track their nutrients? Or are we talking about fruitarians? The raw fooders? The green smoothieites? Or any one of 50 other versions of veganism, including LCHF?

Mind you, anyone can become diabetic, given the requisite genetics, environmental, accidental and (insert unknown factor of choice), organ failure, disease, etc. etc.
 
bulkbiker said:
Quite an interesting point of view.. but interestingly there are quite a few ex-vegans who are now zero carb eaters (i.e. no plant food whatsoever) most of them that I have come across on various fora say that going zero carb has helped heal the health problems that their veganism caused. I have no personal experience of this but is something I have read about quite a few times.
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I personally don´think humans are meant to be vegans.. and that long term problems due to veganism like lack of vitamin B 12 and also lack of the EPA DHA that are contained in fish oil and maybe also in milk from mother that these long term problems can in fact be ireversible, my own daughter is vegetarian and only eat eggs of animal foods , I have told her to take suplements of krill-oil and also vitamin B 12 regularily ... but of cause she gets the vitamin B 12 from the eggs...
 
bulkbiker said:
Quite an interesting point of view.. but interestingly there are quite a few ex-vegans who are now zero carb eaters (i.e. no plant food whatsoever) most of them that I have come across on various fora say that going zero carb has helped heal the health problems that their veganism caused. I have no personal experience of this but is something I have read about quite a few times.
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These people you don't know but have read about, I suspect may be dietary vegans and not ethical vegans. They are quite different. I don't personally know any no-plant eaters or dietary vegans, but know lots of ethical ones and you will be happy to learn we are all healthy and happy.
 
Freema said:
I personally don´think humans are meant to be vegans.. and that long term problems due to veganism like lack of vitamin B 12 and also lack of the EPA DHA that are contained in fish oil and maybe also in milk from mother that these long term problems can in fact be ireversible, my own daughter is vegetarian and only eat eggs of animal foods , I have told her to take suplements of krill-oil and also vitamin B 12 regularily ... but of cause she gets the vitamin B 12 from the eggs...
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Plenty of B12 deficient people on this forum but very few vegans which suggests that deficiency is not exclusive to plant eaters. You can eat herbivorous animals to get this soil bacteria or you can take a tablet. It's no big deal.
 
well there are many reasons to become B 12 deficiant , one main reason is that metformin actually lowers ones abillity to uptake vitamin B 12 ... and maybe think metfomine even damage the cells in the intestines that are the only ones that can uptake vitamin B 12 , otherwise one has to have injections of vitamin B 12 .... vegans dont get enough vitamin B 12 because vitamin B 12 is only found in foods made of animal stuff also like eggs...
w
hen becomming older some also loose the abillity to uptake vitamin B 12 and in previous times they would have has a miserable life and died initially..

usualy the liver has a store of vitamin B 12 that can last up til 6 years , so going vegan will many times not result in a measuralble deficiency untill many years later like 6 years after becomming vegan, .. it is thought though that the body tries to save vitamin B 12 for the most essential use in the body , but the symptoms and damage that is unfortunately very often ireversible are nerve damage ....

the autoimune reactions toward ones own body and different functions also seem to cause a higher rate of diabetes and also casue sometimes the damage of these very special cells in the intestine that can uptake vitamin B 12 which maybe why there are many people in this forum having a lack of vitamin B 12 ...

there are reasosn for the deficiensy but the causing reason are many times not the same... it is a known fact that vegans very often end up with vitamin B12 deficiency.. many do "sin" and eat some animal stuff on seldome occasions and thereby delate the time where they´ll get this damage that vitamin B 12 deficiency causes...

Even vegan organisations aknowledge this problem , so it is certainly not something I have found up for being rude to vegans, and yes it can be taken as pill suplement which is why I believe humans were not truely ment to be pure vegans ... some do avoid even taking pills as they think that is also un-natural and that is a problem if one is vegan...
 
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