Vegetarianism and Diabetes
Vegetarianism has exploded across the country in the last several years. There are more restaurants that cater to the vegetarian and vegan lifestyle. If you’re a vegetarian or thinking about becoming a vegetarian and you’re worried that it won’t mesh with your diabetes healthy eating lifestyle, think again. There is no reason a person with diabetes can’t adopt a vegetarian lifestyle.
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The nutrients vegetarians need to be concerned about are those provided by meats, poultry, and seafood as well as dairy products and eggs (if these are omitted). Consider your intake of calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin B-1 2, vitamin D, riboflavin, and omega-3 fats. Discuss the use of vitamin and mineral supplementation with your care providers.
Being a vegetarian represents a broad range of eating styles. Some vegetarians do not eat any meat products but will still consume milk and eggs, while vegans restrict all animal products from their diet. Others do not eat red meat, but will occasionally eat seafood or poultry. The Vegetarian Resource Group (www.vrg.org) defines four categories of vegetarianism.
Research shows that vegetarians tend to receive a multitude of health benefits because of their higher consumption of foods from healthier food groups, along with fiber and other nutrients; however, just because someone is a vegetarian doesn’t mean they automatically eat more healthfully. Vegetarians need to work just as hard (if not harder) to choose healthy foods and eat them in healthful ways. It will be important to choose and prepare your foods with limited fats and salt (as suggested for everyone) and to monitor your ABCs to make sure you are hitting your targets. If your blood glucose is difficult to control, you may be ready for blood glucose-lowering medication.
Health Benefits of Vegetarianism
Proven health benefits for those people who practice a vegetarian lifestyle are:
• Lower LDL cholesterol
• Lower blood pressure
• Lower rates of type 2 diabetes (over non-vegetarians)
• Lower body weight
Secrets of Successful Weight Loss and Control
What You’ll Learn:
• realistic weight loss goals
• how weight loss can improve your ABCs
• an optimal eating plan for weight control
• secrets of successful long-term weight control
• whether weight loss medications or gastric surgery can be effective
During the last decade, much has been learned about the impact of weight loss on health and preventing or managing type 2 diabetes. Research studies have also revealed how people can succeed at losing weight and keeping that weight off over time. Bottom line: It takes a lot more doing than knowing when it comes to short- and long-term weight control.
Be Realistic about Weight Loss
For most people, it’s neither realistic nor necessary to get back down to the weight you were when you were a teen or young adult. This is especially true if you’ve become overweight or obese. Losing weight and keeping it off is tough for everyone for several reasons. People who lose weight seem to require fewer calories to maintain their lighter weight. There are also adaptations of hormones related to hunger and appetite control. Lastly, it appears that the presence of insulin resistance (a problem most people with pre-diabetes and type 2 have) makes weight loss and control even tougher.
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Keep in mind any weight you lose is a move in the right direction. It’s worth noting that on average, an adult puts on two pounds a year, so, just preventing further weight gain is an accomplishment!
Research shows that you’ll be more successful if you lose a small amount of weight (10 to 20 pounds) and work hard to maintain this healthier weight. Numerous studies show that your weight loss will be greatest at six months. If you want to lose a few more pounds, try it several months later; however, remember that maintaining the initial weight loss is what’s most important for your long-term diabetes control.
Weight Loss and Blood Glucose Control
For many years, it was believed that many people with diabetes could control their blood glucose with a healthy eating plan, weight loss, and by increasing physical activity. This notion no longer stands up to research for many people. Some people can control their blood glucose for a time if their type 2 diabetes is detected early (or if pre-diabetes is diagnosed), and they are diligent about implementing a healthy eating plan, etc.
Weight loss accomplished by healthy eating and physical activity can decrease insulin resistance, improve insulin sensitivity, and result in lower blood glucose, lower blood pressure, and improved blood lipids for a time.
You and your provider will be able to determine if healthier lifestyle habits and weight loss are effectively controlling your blood glucose anywhere from six weeks to three months after you start to change your lifestyle habits. For most people with type 2 diabetes, lifestyle changes and weight loss, though beneficial for a variety of reasons, will not be substantial enough to control blood glucose over time. By the time you are diagnosed or decide to take action, you may have had type 2 for years and your insulin-making capacity may have dwindled by 50 to 80%. Weight loss alone is unlikely to sufficiently improve blood glucose numbers. This doesn’t mean that you’ve failed, it means that your type 2 diabetes is progressing.
ADA recommendations suggest that most people diagnosed with diabetes be started on a blood glucose-lowering medication like metformin at diagnosis. There is no doubt that healthy eating, being physically active, and keeping your weight down will help any medication work more efficiently to help you control your ABCs over time.
Optimal Eating Plan for Weight Control
Research over the past few years points to the conclusion that the best eating plan for weight loss is one that fits your food and cultural preferences and one that you can follow comfortably for years to come. Sufficient research on low carbohydrate diets suggests that people can’t follow these plans any more effectively than high-carbohydrate (>50%), low-fat (<30%) plans. A large two-year study published in early 2009 showed that overweight people who were on a variety of diets gradually gravitated back to a carbohydrate range of 43-53%, within the range of current carbohydrate recommendations.
Secrets of Successful Weight Control
With the combination of research results and several studies of large groups of people who have lost weight and kept it off, the secrets of weight control success are emerging. Keeping weight off takes discipline and persistence and implementation of these successful strategies.
• Slowly change your food and activity habits.
• Put together an eating plan that considers your food preferences.
