zoebird
June 19th, 2005, 12:39 PM
mommyof1:
I'm going to post this in two parts, first dealing with the gycemic issue, and then dealing with the iron issue.
i agree, basicly, with iamjen that it's not necessary to consume dairy to be healthy if you have glycemic issues (hypoglycemia or type 1 diabetes--type 2 is slightly different, but has similar glycemic issues).
but, what i feel is important is taking stock of the process of becoming vegetarian. A lot of people like to 'change overnight' and i can understand this desire. You have a strong emotional reaction and want to make changes. For the average person without any special health needs or specific health needs, a change like this isn't going to be that big of a deal. in fact, it will probably better their diet (particularly if they live predominently on omnivorous convenience and processed foods).
For people with 'special needs' so to speak, it's important for them to 1. understand what those needs are and how their current, omnivorous diet fulfills and doesn't fulfill those needs; 2. to understand how vegetarianism can fulfill those needs, and what their options are in regards to achieving those needs; and 3. transitioning (while experimenting) to make certain that their needs are being met in an effective manner.
I see that you have two primary needs: 1. an issue similar to hypoglycemia, and 2. an iron issue. These are pretty major issues that can be easily addressed through vegetarianism, but it will take education, time, and effort to work them out.
To the hypoglycemia issue, it's important to understand your body and what triggers 'episodes' for you. For example, when i have an 'episode' from hypoglycemia, i have very noticeable results. If i eat something too sugary (for example, pancakes with maple syrup), i get an instant, slamming head ache, followed by a great sugar crash that then leads to bloating, gasto-intestinal distress (gas), and i have to water and fiber load to bring my body back into balance. If i don't eat in regular intervals, and if at those intervals i don't eat something that contains protien and fat (though not necessarily from dairy), then i tend to get a mild sugar buzz (from eating, for example, just fruit alone, without eating nuts with it or whatever) and then a crash. If i know that i'm going to eat a meal soon, within 15 or 20 minutes of eating just a piece of fruit, then i'll have just fruit and be able to pick up my blood sugar before the 'crash' with my balanced meal. In this case, the fruit (or vegetable) is there to tide me over until my main meal.
Knowing this, a lot of the things that people recommended for you may not be appropriate. There may be too many carbs, not enough fat, and the sugars may be too simple. For instance, i have strong reactions to maple syrup, black strap molasses, honey, and agave nectar. I can only use these sparingly--and certainly not enough to increase my iron intake via black strap molasses. For the average person who can eat a 'twinkie'-type food without a strong bio-chemical reaction, a couple of tablespoons of black strap molasses is no big deal. My max amount that i can manage is about a teaspoon, and sometimes only half a teaspoon. So, it wouldn't help me out too much.
Similarly, you have to look at the protien and carbohydrate issues. Soy protien isolate is virtually undigestable, so it doens't function as 'useable protien' for the body. All other vegan protien sources come attached to carbohydrates. Understanding the carbohydrate spectrum and how it's going to affect you makes a difference.
Say, for example, you want to drink soy milk instead of cow's or goat's milk. this makes sense; soymilk tastes good (to me, much better than animal milk, which is why i make kefir, ice cream, and mix it with fruit and stuff!). But, certain brands of soy milk do a number to my sugars. Silk brand soymilk, for example, is higher in sugar (from the sweetners) and soy-carbohydrates (from the beans) and lower in protien than EdenSoy brand. Silk also contains less fat (as far as i remember from reading the label). Silk will send me into sugar-hell, whereas moderate amounts of Edensoy were manageable as long as i was consuming it *with* something else. Alone, it simply wasn't enough to keep me ok. I find that with animal milk, once the lactose has been broken down (from natural enzymes in milk that are usually destroyed during pasturaization, hence the reason for raw; from the active elements of yogurt; from the elements that make cheese, cheese--these break down lactose to make cheese), is far lower in sugar, higher in fat (and fat soluable nutrients) and in protien (useable). So, it's much easier for me to consume and not get sent into sugar problems. Similarly, eggs are a great source of protien, without carbohydrates--so they function great for me. Nuts are also good, but so high in fat, that the amount of protien in them is far less--and consuming more nuts and nutbutters would make a diet too high in fat to meet all of my protien needs from here and from carb-heavy sources such as beans and grains).
So, what you can see from this is that i first had to have an understanding of what affects me and how, and then whether or not or how i could manage with or without dairy and eggs. Admittedly, i was vegan for 5 years--so it is possible. But, i did have to pay very close attention to how i ate each meal, when, and so on. It was easy, once i got the hang of it, but it did take three months to transition and then probably another six months to refine everything to my needs. it took me a year or slightly more to transition back to dairy and eggs to meet my needs. It's appropriate to take your time!
(see next post! part two!)
I'm going to post this in two parts, first dealing with the gycemic issue, and then dealing with the iron issue.
i agree, basicly, with iamjen that it's not necessary to consume dairy to be healthy if you have glycemic issues (hypoglycemia or type 1 diabetes--type 2 is slightly different, but has similar glycemic issues).
but, what i feel is important is taking stock of the process of becoming vegetarian. A lot of people like to 'change overnight' and i can understand this desire. You have a strong emotional reaction and want to make changes. For the average person without any special health needs or specific health needs, a change like this isn't going to be that big of a deal. in fact, it will probably better their diet (particularly if they live predominently on omnivorous convenience and processed foods).
For people with 'special needs' so to speak, it's important for them to 1. understand what those needs are and how their current, omnivorous diet fulfills and doesn't fulfill those needs; 2. to understand how vegetarianism can fulfill those needs, and what their options are in regards to achieving those needs; and 3. transitioning (while experimenting) to make certain that their needs are being met in an effective manner.
I see that you have two primary needs: 1. an issue similar to hypoglycemia, and 2. an iron issue. These are pretty major issues that can be easily addressed through vegetarianism, but it will take education, time, and effort to work them out.
To the hypoglycemia issue, it's important to understand your body and what triggers 'episodes' for you. For example, when i have an 'episode' from hypoglycemia, i have very noticeable results. If i eat something too sugary (for example, pancakes with maple syrup), i get an instant, slamming head ache, followed by a great sugar crash that then leads to bloating, gasto-intestinal distress (gas), and i have to water and fiber load to bring my body back into balance. If i don't eat in regular intervals, and if at those intervals i don't eat something that contains protien and fat (though not necessarily from dairy), then i tend to get a mild sugar buzz (from eating, for example, just fruit alone, without eating nuts with it or whatever) and then a crash. If i know that i'm going to eat a meal soon, within 15 or 20 minutes of eating just a piece of fruit, then i'll have just fruit and be able to pick up my blood sugar before the 'crash' with my balanced meal. In this case, the fruit (or vegetable) is there to tide me over until my main meal.
Knowing this, a lot of the things that people recommended for you may not be appropriate. There may be too many carbs, not enough fat, and the sugars may be too simple. For instance, i have strong reactions to maple syrup, black strap molasses, honey, and agave nectar. I can only use these sparingly--and certainly not enough to increase my iron intake via black strap molasses. For the average person who can eat a 'twinkie'-type food without a strong bio-chemical reaction, a couple of tablespoons of black strap molasses is no big deal. My max amount that i can manage is about a teaspoon, and sometimes only half a teaspoon. So, it wouldn't help me out too much.
Similarly, you have to look at the protien and carbohydrate issues. Soy protien isolate is virtually undigestable, so it doens't function as 'useable protien' for the body. All other vegan protien sources come attached to carbohydrates. Understanding the carbohydrate spectrum and how it's going to affect you makes a difference.
Say, for example, you want to drink soy milk instead of cow's or goat's milk. this makes sense; soymilk tastes good (to me, much better than animal milk, which is why i make kefir, ice cream, and mix it with fruit and stuff!). But, certain brands of soy milk do a number to my sugars. Silk brand soymilk, for example, is higher in sugar (from the sweetners) and soy-carbohydrates (from the beans) and lower in protien than EdenSoy brand. Silk also contains less fat (as far as i remember from reading the label). Silk will send me into sugar-hell, whereas moderate amounts of Edensoy were manageable as long as i was consuming it *with* something else. Alone, it simply wasn't enough to keep me ok. I find that with animal milk, once the lactose has been broken down (from natural enzymes in milk that are usually destroyed during pasturaization, hence the reason for raw; from the active elements of yogurt; from the elements that make cheese, cheese--these break down lactose to make cheese), is far lower in sugar, higher in fat (and fat soluable nutrients) and in protien (useable). So, it's much easier for me to consume and not get sent into sugar problems. Similarly, eggs are a great source of protien, without carbohydrates--so they function great for me. Nuts are also good, but so high in fat, that the amount of protien in them is far less--and consuming more nuts and nutbutters would make a diet too high in fat to meet all of my protien needs from here and from carb-heavy sources such as beans and grains).
So, what you can see from this is that i first had to have an understanding of what affects me and how, and then whether or not or how i could manage with or without dairy and eggs. Admittedly, i was vegan for 5 years--so it is possible. But, i did have to pay very close attention to how i ate each meal, when, and so on. It was easy, once i got the hang of it, but it did take three months to transition and then probably another six months to refine everything to my needs. it took me a year or slightly more to transition back to dairy and eggs to meet my needs. It's appropriate to take your time!
(see next post! part two!)