does anyone have type 1 diabetes and is a vegetarian? my boyfriend has type1 and i'm a vegetarian so cooking dinner is a little tricky since he is used to eating meat to have the protein to curb his sugars. i'm curious if there is anyone out there that has to work with these two diets.

I have had type 1 diabetes for ~23 years now and I have been vegan for almost three years. It is not any more difficult to control my blood sugars as a vegan than it was as an omni (I find it equally challenging). Meals with whole grains (instead of processed), protein (tofu, beans, etc) and some fat can keep blood sugars just as stable as a meat containing meal. Actually, diabetics (even type 1) have a higher risk of heart disease than non-diabetics which is a good reason to avoid meat/cheese/etc. and use plant protein sources instead.

Does your BF use an insulin pump? I <3 my insulin pump!!! I can be so much more flexible with my pump than I ever could with multiple daily injections.

Let me know if you have any specific questions.
(and feel free to PM me if you would like)

This book

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1570671397/102-4231412-3619364?v=glance&n=283155

might have some interesting things to say. One of the authors (Brenda Davis) is vegan and a dietician.

I know this is a bit off topic, but I wasn't aware we had such a great source of diabetes information on our board. May I pick your brains?

My husband has recently been diagnosed with diabetes. He is on a pill to help stablize his insulin level. He is having a hard time keeping it level just by controling his diet. 1st, he's not good at it yet. How long does that take? Is it normal for the patient to be casual about it until they get really sick? I can't make him educate himself about it, nor can I be with him all the time. I hate to ask him what his numbers are when he tests, because I feel he might not be totally honest to avoid me worrying about him. Can you tell me about your experiences as newly diagnosed diabetics? I really need some peace over this.

Life2k, (This will be a lengthy post.)

Ma'am, you have come to the right place. My husband is Type 2 diabetic, but he requires insulin. Now, his mother is diabetic, and she does NOT NOT NOT take care of herself. She's only in her 40s, but she already has neuropathy (loss of feeling, particularly in her legs), foot problems, sores that don't heal properly, etc. She admits that she 'doesn't eat like a diabetic' - meaning she just doesn't give a hoot about what she is supposed to eat or not supposed to eat. She's massively overweight, and I expect her to die in her 50s. Seriously.

So, when my husband was diagnosed, I had all of these fears about him not taking care of himself. I figured he would just follow his mother's example. But we really talked about it, and we talked about how this disease could kill him (and make his life hell in the process), or it could just be a minor inconvenience for him. He's decided to try to keep his diabetes under control.

One thing I would recommend is reading up on the subject (although be careful of your sources, since there are books out there that tell you they have the 'cure' for diabetes, The only 'cure' is taking care of yourself.) The American Diabetes Association (if you're in the US) has a great little paperback that's chock full of all sorts of information and terminology to help you understand what this disease is all about. It's also easy to read. (You can read a few pages here and there without losing the overall train of throught. And you can skim through the parts that don't apply to your situation. But it's a nice resource to have on hand.)

One thing you will learn is that there are significant health risks for diabetics. If the disease is not kept in check, you can suffer loss of nerve feeling (particularly in the legs), inability to heal properly (this is usually what causes diabetics to need to have their feet/legs amputated), loss of vision (leading to blindness), heart disease, etc. These diseases are scary, but very real.

My husband and I decided, up front, to share his information about testing. He has a logbook that came with his monitor, and he usually leaves it on the kitchen table, where I can take a peak at it if I like. In general, he is doing very well. But if I notice that his numbers are higher than they should be, we talk about it. I try not to be preachy - rather, we talk about it. He tells me about what he's been eating and why, and I tell him what my concerns are, and we go back and forth and have a real heart-to-heart communication on the topic. As part of this, I usually offer to help out with his meals for a few days (we don't get to eat at the same time because of our work schedules), and I try to get good foods into the house for him. This takes the pressure off him for a while, because he doesn't have to worry about making food choices.

The running joke in our house (but it's not a joke) is that one of the most major (and earliest) complications of diabetes for men is erectile dysfunction. Sometimes it can be helped with ED treatments (pills, etc.). Sometimes, however, it cannot. So one way to get my husband to re-focus on his goals is to say to him, "Wanna keep your penis?" (Of course, taken out of the context of our very jovial, loving relationship, that sounds just horrible. You'd have to really know us to know how that fits in to our lives.) The point is, a man who does not take control of his diabetes may eventually become unable to have sex. And I think men (and women) would do anything to stop that from happening.

Now, here's the good news. There were two very signficant studies done on diabetes and the associated health risks. One study was for 10 years (in the UK), and the other study was for 20 years (in the US, I think). Scientists wondered if diabetics would get the associated health complications of diabetes no matter what, or if there was something diabetics could do to really decrease their chances of having those complications. The good news (yay!) is that both studies showed that diabetics who kept their blood sugar within their target range (generally 90-130, depending on the patient) were MUCH less likely to suffer the complications of diabetes. And I mean they were *significantly* less likely to suffer the complications. (Something like 65% less likely to get neuropathy, 45% less likely to have their diabetes cause major heart disease, etc. I don't have the exact figures available.)

The point is, diabetes does not have to mean that a person will get all the nasty health complications that can be associated with diabetes. The trick, of course, is to keep the diabetes under control.

I would suggest that your husband take steps NOW to learn how to get this under control. You can't let him wait until he has a major illness to do anything about it. (Imagine, for instance, if his first major complication was loss of vision - and that he couldn't get it back. Don't you think you'd both be kicking yourselves for not doing anything about that when you had the chance?)

Now, there are two major ways to treat diabetes. One is to take a pill and/or insulin at particular times of day, and then try to get the blood sugar to remain in target range by eating certain things at certain times, etc. (By the way, if your husband's blood sugar level is too high, exercise can help bring it down.)

Another approach is 'intensive management'. My husband is doing this. It sounds complicated at first, but it's not that bad. We've become so used to it, it's totally second nature. (He's been diabetic for approximately one year.) My husband tests his blood 5x a day, and injects himself with insulin 5x a day. Here's how it works: right before each meal (3 meals, one snack), he checks his blood. Then he figures out what he's going to eat. (He has to count carbs, which is easy, and we even have a little pocket size book we can take with us everywhere so he can always make an educated guess about the carbs in a meal.) Say his blood sugar is a little high. That may equal 2 units of insulin. (We have a little chart for this, which he keeps with his monitor.) And he's going to eat 50 carbs. That equals 5 units of insulin. Together, that's 7 units of insulin. So, he knows to take 7 units of insulin for that meal. And, his insulin is rapid-acting, so he can take it right after he eats. (That's nice too - say he thought he was going to have 50 carbs, but something tasted awful and he didn't eat it. So he only had 30 carbs. He can adjust his insulin accordingly. You don't want to take too much, because that can lead to hypoglycemia.)

Then he tests his sugar right before bed, and gives himself an injection of a long-acting insulin that he takes to keep his insulin levels down overall. (Of course, this varies from patient to patient. Some people probably do not need this step.)

I'm sure this sounds very complicated and involved. But I'd say, by the end of the first month, it was second nature. It takes no longer than washing your hands, really. And this method gives my husband a lot of flexibility. See, one of the problems with the method your husband is using is that, for it to work well, a person basically has to eat the same amount of foods/carbs at the same time every day. The intensive manamgement method allows you to be more flexible. (For instance, my hsuband can skip the 'snack' meal - he just doesn't take any insulin for that, then. A person using the regular method (like your husband) might have problems if they skip meals or change their eating times.)

Now, I know I have just sung the praises of the intensive management method. But it is really up to a doctor to decide if that's a good idea for your husband. My point, though, is that there are many ways to get this under control. Your husband AND YOU really need to talk about this with a doctor. Make sure you get to see a diabetes educator. (My husband and I had exactly ONE session with a diabetes educator, but it was very helpful. Make sure you get to sit down with an educator. They also usually give you all sorts of pamphlets - which may include a full-length book or two - to help you learn about this disease.)

I think diabetes is one of those diseases where you and your husband cannot just leave this in the hands of the medical professionals. You have to learn about it. You have to learn what problems to look for. You have to learn how to keep it under control yourselves, because no doctor can help you do this on a daily basis.

Many insurance plans (in the US, again) offer some sort of coverage for diabetes management. By that I mean that they take extra steps to make sure that the insured can get the full treatment: they want the diabetic patient to see a foot doctor, opthamaologist, diabetes doctor, nurse educator, etc. If you've got insurance, please get in touch with them or read the prospectus to figure out what kind of special services they offer. (It's in their best interest to keep the diabetic patient healthy - it's a lot cheaper to give preventative health care up front than it is for them to pay for the treatment of complications of diabetes. But you benefit from this - because you don't want the complications either.) Also, contact your local hospital, which probably offers some cheap and/or free classes on diabetes.

Life2K, the bottom line is that this is your husband's responsibility. You certainly can't take care of this for him. (Like you said, you can't be there every second of his day.) But you need to express to hime, in a loving way, why this is so terribly important. And then you two need to go get more help about this. It is very important to get it under control. The sooner the better.

Hope that helps!

Thanks so much. I knew there had to be a better way than he was doing it. This method is like a blind man wondering in a fog. I'll pass this on to him.

This book

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1570671397/102-4231412-3619364?v=glance&n=283155

might have some interesting things to say. One of the authors (Brenda Davis) is vegan and a dietician.

Keep in mind though that this book is for people with type 2 diabetes, not type 1.

my father has type 2 diabetes.

the most amazing thing about his diabetes, is that it can actually go away completely. not all forms of type 2 are like this, but 'obesity onset' diabetes absolutely can.

when my father looses weight, watches his diet, and takes his medication, he gets to a point where he no longe rneeds medication and the whole thing stays ok. when he gets upset and begins to turn to comfort food and gain weight, the diabetes comes right back!

currently, he's in a situation where the diabetes is going away. i've suggested to him that to 'help it stick' he finds a way to disconnect his self esteem and weight issues. when he feels hurt (gets upset) he turns to food and stops exercising. when he feels happy, he eats well, treats himself well. he doesn't want to go to a psychologist, but i did photocopy some of the things that Dr Phil wrote about in his 'ultimate weight loss solution.' I told him that these exercises were no different than his 'positive motivation' stuff that he raised us on, and that since i find benefit in it, maybe he would too. He's started doing that, and i hope that this time, his weight loss and everything really 'sticks.'

he's doing so great. it does take time to adjust. My mother takes a very 'hands off' approach, as we all do. we recognize that this is largely an emotional issue for him, and if he's not willing to talk about it, then that's that. But, we also talk about how much we love him and want him around, and as he becomes healthier, we give him lots of congratulations and praise for his hard work. i've also given him praise for doig the work that i'd given him--hoping that it would help him out. He's been more open about it, and it's been great.

I don't know how much this applies to the two different types of diabetes, but evidently, "whole grain" doesn't always mean the carbs are absorbed more slowly. In one study, bread that was made from flour that wasn''t ground too finely and had a lot of whole kernels of grain in it caused a much slower rise in blood sugar levels than the usual whole wheat bread. I think it also reported that rolled oats which were fairly thick were absorbed more slowly than thin oat flakes.

It's been some time since I read it, and I guess I deleted the link. Try a Google (or other) search on the terms "Glycemic index" and/or "glycemic load".

Keep in mind though that this book is for people with type 2 diabetes, not type 1.

I looked more closely at what it says on the cover of the book and you are right the book is about type 2 diabetes. I don't have a clue about diabetes but I wonder if there are some things common about type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Would a diet that's good for type 2 diabetes also be good for type 1 diabetes.

Some things are common between type 1 and type 2 diabetes, such as diet issues. (The current trend in diabetes care is to have patient count carbohydrates as a way of estimating how their food intake will effect their blood sugar.) So, that's common between the two. But there are differences, so a book on Type 2 diabetes might not be appropriate for someone with Type 1 diabetes. The American Diabetes Association book I mentioned earlier covers both types.

I would strongly caution against a diabetic getting involved in the whole concept of 'glycemic load' or 'glycemic index' without first talking it over with their doctor. For diabetics (in general) a carb is a carb is a carb, and they all have to be considered carbs for the purposes of watching blood sugar, regardless of their 'glycemic index'. (I'm sure some diabetics have much more advanced understanding of their diet and can, perhaps, adjust their carbs according to the glycemic index. But when we met the diabetes educator, I asked her about that, and she said to just count all carbs as carbs. Granted, there would be a difference in a diabetic eating, say 60 carbs of pure sugar, versus eating 60 carbs of low-glycemic index foods. But the difference is one in timing - how quickly the blood sugar will rise. The point is, it will still rise for every carb eaten, and that's what diabetics have to watch.)

Similarly, this recent 'low carb' craze has led to a lot of foods on the market being labeled on the front of the box as having, say "7 net carbs". But when you look at the nutrition information panel, it will say that there are, for example, 29 carbs. The difference is that some carbs don't 'count' for people doing the Atkins thing (or other low-carb diets). I asked the educator about this too, and she emphasized that my husband was to count ALL carbs, not just 'net carbs'. ('Net carbs' really isn't a standardized term either - individual manufacturers can decide what is going to be counted as a net carb. So that's not a good source of information on the carbs in a product.)

Interestingly, 'low carb' products, such as one with 7 'net carbs' but 29 'real' carbs, usually have more 'real carbs' overall than the original version of the product. (E.g., if you pick a low carb version of your favorite cereal, the original version probably has less overall carbs listed in the nutrition facts panel than the 'low carb' version.)

This again just reinforces the idea that one needs to discuss diet with a medical professional, to find out what carbs should be counted for you, how much insulin to take, when to take it, etc. Like I've said before, it sounds really complicated at first, but it's not hard, I promise. One thing my husband and I do is that, for things he eats requently, we cut out the nutirtion information panel and stick it on the fridge, so we don't have to worry about whether we threw out the panel on the new package. And certain foods that don't come with nutrition info (such as fruits and veggies) we've looked up in our little carb book, and we keep the most frequently-used ones on the firdge as well. That just makes it so easy. (We have many of them memorized by now, too.)

I have type 1 diabetes and was diagnosed with it very young. I sometimes partake of soy protein shakes to make sure to get enough protein but other than that, my vegan lifestyle has assisted in containing and maintaining my diabetes. I am very strict on myself and what I eat to make sure that I get in enough of the essential nutients and vitamins that are needed each day.