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Why do you follow a plant based diet?

E

EddieA12

Active Member
Messages
26
Hi guys.
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything. In fact, it was just as I was starting to go plant based over 2 years ago!
I’m type 1, and still follow a plant based diet (and will never go back).

I’d be interested to hear from anyone else (type 1 or 2) who is following a plant based diet and how they are finding it? How long have you been doing it? What impact has it made? And what got you started?

Thanks for you input
 
Hi @EddieA12 - you may get more responses if you post in the vegetarian part of the forum:
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/vegetarian-diet-forum.71/

I am closer to a carnivore than plant based. I'm always interested in how diabetics (particularly type 2 ) deal with it as my daughter is vegan.

If you are managing your condition well on a plant based. diet there will be lots of people wanting to discuss how you do it.

So welcome back and good luck
 

Good to have you, here. Been doing the vegan/PB thing, coming up on 3 years.

The first change I noticed was losing 10kg without doing much very different. I've tended to walk the same average per week, for about 3.5 years, and I swapped a pretty junky omnivore diet to an (at times) very junky vegan diet. Still managed to drop the weight, which was a good start.

The extent to which it helps my T2D is to the extent to which I stick to a more structured plan, and avoid eating too much fat. Fat is something I seem to have less control over, and when it comes loaded with salt e.g cheese, it all falls apart. Not so long ago, it was very easy to avoid vegan cheese, as it was just nasty. More recently, there have been some exponential leaps in taste, texture etc. to the point where I now have to consider giving up cheese...for the 2nd time

Despite not being what I'd consider healthy for along-time, I feel noticeably better on a vegan diet. Unfortunately, as someone who suffers from depression and anxiety (and have done, going back about 25 years), I'm prone to self-sabotage. Things are definitely getting better on that front, so that's good. I've also taken the pressure off myself with regard to classifications of food as good or bad. That's not to say that there doesn't exist a spectrum regarding foods' impact on health. I've just come to realise that when I don't demonise things, or absolutely 100% rule them out, they lose a lot of their pull/sway over me.

That said, I'm really trying to get on top of saturated-fat content and salt...hence lamenting that cheese might have to go. It wouldn't be so much of an issue if v-cheese had a comparable shelf-life to dairy cheese. Unfortunately, It doesn't...AT ALL!

The emphasis/direction for me is high-carb, low-fat. And, of course, 100% vegan.

My diabetes numbers have improved on this plan (Again, when I keep it together). The numbers certainly haven't been worse. I've come down from an average of 325 FBG, this time last year, to being anywhere between 150 and 200 now, again, dependent on compliance

And i came to veganism, via the ethical position. Though I think there are huge health and environmental benefits to be had from a predominantly plant-based/plant-strong diet, I don't believe either have to be 100% to make that difference.

What has your experience been like?
 
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@EddieA12 and.or @Beating-My-Betes could you explain the difference between PB and Vegan? My son is Vegan and I don't have too much trouble supplying food he can eat when he visits but must admit as an omnivore myself I'd have a lot of trouble giving up cheese....

Are you allowed alcohol under PB?
 
Plant-based has become a pretty-confusing term, unfortunately. However, at it's most basic, it refers to a diet based solely on plant-derived foods i.e animal-free. There are no other restrictions on a plant-based diet, so yes...you can have alcohol.

The reason a distinction is made is because a vegan will avoid, where possible and practicable, anything that involves some kind of animal part or ingredient and exploitation e.g clothes and shoes; cleaning and personal-hygiene products with animal-derived ingredients, and will often take a hardline on animal-testing of said products, even going back in the products history. A vegan also avoids entertainment such as zoos, shows etc. that exploit animals.

Where things start to get more confusing is that there are various people on the stricter whole-foods-only side of the spectrum, who have co-opted the term to mean non-processed, whole-foods. Then there's another group of people who use the term to refer to a diet that is 'BASED' on plants i.e the majority, but that still uses animal-products in the minority.

So, yeah...confusing

As for cheese? Things are really changing. There are some that might not be 100% analogous in flavour/texture, but they hit the right 'notes'. As with all foods, it only takes a little amount of change before one acclimatises. But one of my omni flat-mates likes one of the types I buy so much, that he now buys it himself...even though it's more expensive. So, no need to give up cheese
 

Thanks for your reply.

I guess mines a fair bit different. I got into PB after watching’Game Changers’ on Netflix. I’ve always exercised and enjoyed weight training, so wanted to see if making the change would help with recovery and injuries. From there I started to investigate more of the health reasons (heart diseases, cancer etc) and also the impact on the planet, and to me it was Win Win!

Thankfully my diabetes control has always been good, and having the Libre makes it even easier, so diabetes wise, I haven’t had any problems, or noticed any changes.

I know what you mean about cheese! I’ve tried a few vegan options. They are definitely getting better, but not the same.
 

Sometimes it’s just easier to say Vegan, and most people know what you mean (especially when in a food environment). This is what I tend to do (as I’m sat there ordering food in leather shoes!)
@Beating-My-Betes has covered it perfectly.
 

Interesting! I bought Game Changers when it first came out, but couldn't even make it to the end. I will go back to it at some point, even if just get my money's worth

But I am glad it managed to strike a chord with you, and got you to change. It's certainly helped a lot of others. What benefits have you noticed?

As for cheese? They aren't the same. But for me, some are close enough (at least, from memory) for me to want to eat it all the time. Not in a Barnard's addiction theory way, but in a cheese, Marmite and cucumber sandwiches are crazy-tasty, kind of way
 
Interesting combination for a sandwich! I fall on the ‘hate it’ side of marmite, but may try it just in case..!
I’d definitely recommend watching game changers again. It’s not all around the fitness side (although that’s the main thing!), there’s another great documentary called ‘forks over knives’ this one goes mainly into the health and planet reasons.
Personally I have found that my energy levels have increased, this was the first and biggest change! My strength increased too, although I can’t say this wouldn’t have happened anyway.
A friend of mine started at the same time and he lost a lot of body fat and his face looked like he’d been to the spa and had a facial! (He didn’t, just to clarify!).
I think some of the major benefits people just don’t see - improved blood flow, as the high cholesterol foods (meat & dairy) don’t clog up arteries. And seriously reducing the chance of getting cancer by not consuming products that cause cancer cells to fire up.
 

I would've loved GC to have just been about the sport. But just as with many of the vegan doc's, they over-reached. not into the propaganda. The High-fat, keto doc's are just as bad

I'm glad you've experienced positive benefits. Many, many thousands have experienced the same
 
EddieA12 said:
Personally I have found that my energy levels have increased, this was the first and biggest change! My strength increased too, although I can’t say this wouldn’t have happened anyway.
Click to expand...

What's your usual routine? When you refer to strength, is this lifting or bodyweight stuff? What about cardio etc?
 
@EddieA12

Forgot about your Marmite comment

I've long had the theory that those who hate Marmite just get the ratio (fat-2-marmite) wrong. I'm sure many people are still scarred (literally) from their first experience. The secret is that it just takes a very small amount.

The reason why I especially like it with vegan cheese is because I've yet to find a v-cheese that does a 'take-the-roof-off-your-mouth' mature. Even my current favourite - Violife's 'Epic Mature' - doesn't get close to being EPIC enough (at all, really). Adding Marmite to these products ramps up the umami and gets closer to hitting the spot.
 
Beating-My-Betes said:
What's your usual routine? When you refer to strength, is this lifting or bodyweight stuff? What about cardio etc?
Click to expand...

I aim for 6 times per week, main lifting weights. Sometimes a spin class, but not all that often. A bad week I’ll only do 3, but normally it’s closer to 6.
My usual routine is Push, Pull, legs , repeat. But when it goes a bit off track (usually working late), I’ll add in a spin, and not repeat.
 

Thanks
 
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