Control Diabetes With a Vegetarian Diet

Being diagnosed with diabetes can be overwhelming. The intricacies of planning your diet take some getting used to, but with practice you can incorporate them into your daily living. The payoff: lifestyle changes by way of the right food choices and regular exercise go a long way in normalizing blood sugar, reducing medication, delaying progression, and even preventing diabetes in high-risk individuals.

The diet connection

We now know that apart from family history, obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes, especially for the more prevalent form, type II (also called adult onset or non-insulin dependent) diabetes. A high-fat diet and lack of exercise has contributed to the rise in obesity and consequently to increased incidence of the disorder.

Being overweight and carrying excess fat particularly around the belly decreases the body's ability to use insulin, the hormone that regulates glucose by delivering it from the bloodstream to the cells. As a result sugar builds up in the bloodstream instead. A low-fat, low-cal diet and moderate exercise regimen showed a 5 to 7 percent weight loss and 58 percent reduced incidence of diabetes in a group of pre-diabetic and overweight participants. In contrast the drug metformin, which increases insulin sensitivity, lowered incidence by 31 percent.

Why go vegetarian?

A vegetarian lifestyle is more aligned to the above-mentioned approach towards management of diabetes. The diet fits the bill as it excludes high calorie and saturated fat-laden animal products and focuses on whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits instead. You get the necessary vitamins and minerals for your nutritional needs and also gain better control over diabetes. The all-important fiber content of the food serves the following purposes.

• A fiber–rich meal makes one feel full, which reduces the craving for “empty calorie” foods. This in turn aids in maintaining crucial weight control.
• Dietary fiber is therapeutic in pre-diabetic conditions, and also plays a protective role by lowering the incidence of developing type II diabetes in older persons.
• Fiber is associated with lower daily insulin requirements in type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes.
• Fiber, particularly the soluble type such as that found in beans, fresh peas, corn, zucchini and apricots improves blood sugar control in both type I and type II diabetes.
• Soluble fiber lowers cholesterol levels and provides vitamin B that helps for growth of cell. This in turn lowers the risk of getting heart disease for which diabetics are more susceptible.

When patients with type II diabetes were put on 50 gm of fiber eating plan, the diet significantly lowered their blood glucose and cholesterol levels. When pregnant women with type I diabetes upped their fiber intake to 20.5 gm/day, their daily insulin (hormone secreted in the pancreas) requirements were reduced by 16 to 18 percent.

That a vegetarian diet being the best source of fiber can help at every stage is evident. Replacing 6 ounces of meat with 1 1/2 cups of beans alone can reduce dietary fat by over 10 percent and add 10-25 gm of dietary fiber.

Doctors advocate the consumption of adequate amounts of fiber from a variety of plant foods and recommends aiming for 20-35 gm/day. Their menu for diabetics incorporates five servings of fruits and vegetables in their meals as well as snacks. However in the light of recent research nutrition experts suggest diabetics partake nine servings of the vegetable and fruit food group and six servings of whole grains for optimum benefit.

Easing the changeover

Are you convinced of the power of vegetarian fare, but find the diet too restrictive to follow? The fact is today more than ever you have a slew of delicious choices available when eating out or buying ready-to-eat meat substitute foods. The American Diabetes Association has also revised its meal exchange list due to the growing interest in reduced fat and vegetarian food products. For at-home cooking, several online resources bring you vegetarian recipes that suit your diet and appeal to your palate.

You will see how the intrinsic flavor of vegetables and fruits can be enhanced with lemon juice, vinegar, herbs and even a dash of canola oil (or salad dressings made from them). Before long you will be turning out treats such as Teriyaki Vegetable Kabobs that are scrumptious without piling on calories.

Of course, it goes without saying that making the switch to the vegetarian way is best done gradually so your body gets a chance to adjust to the food and gradually controls diabetes.