Hello all!
I just joined today because I am struggling, going back and forth between sticking to the keto diet I'm currently eating or switching to a whole foods plant based diet.
A little back story: I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in April 2017. I struggled with the ADA guidelines and my blood sugars were all over the place. In September 2017 I adopted a vegan diet after watching several shows on Netflix and doing some research. I followed the vegan diet for 4 months but my blood sugar/diabetes still didn't really improve. I felt better over all, and felt I was eating as I should from an ethical standpoint, but my vision was worsening, I started having neuropathy type tingles and pains in my feet, and my blood sugars rarely came below 190. So I quit. I just went back to an unhealthy standard American diet.
In August 2018 my husband told me about the ketogenic diet. It touted claims of reversing type 2 diabetes, and melting excess weight off the body. We did our research and dove in. We have followed that diet from August 2018 until now, August 2020 falling off the bandwagon multiple times, but hopping back on after a few months each time.
The keto diet seemed to work. I went from 315 pounds to a current 246 pounds, and my blood sugars went from the 200s down to the low 100s or under. But now I am noticing to get the same results I have to cut back more and more. I am only eating 1 meal per day and under 10 net carbs. Anything over and my blood sugars will jump back to the upper 100s and takes hours, sometimes 24 hours, to come back to a healthy range. I'm still losing weight, but I think that's because I'm routinely eating 700 to 850 calories a day, which I know isn't healthy!
So I started looking up videos on YouTube and came across one by Dr. Cyrus Khambatta where he gave a beautiful visual of why fats in the diet destroy cellular function due to fat toxicity, and that this is the real cause of insulin resistance. It made so much sense and I've been researching ever since feeling more and more drawn to go back to a meat and dairy free lifestyle. This time as whole foods plant based with no or very limited oil and no processed sugars. I think this was my down fall last time (I mean Oreos are vegan after all, lol) and I was still consuming a lot of processed food and sugar. But I'm also kind of scared.
I'm worried that my blood sugars are gonna go crazy high and I will gain back weight I've lost and this diet won't work. My husband who will never give up meat has already shown he's not very supportive of the switch and if it doesn't work he'll be even more convinced to never go vegan/WFPB.
So, all of that to ask...has anyone been in my shoes before? What were your results? Did eating clean vegan/WFPB help your blood sugars and stabilize or reverse your diabetes? I'm feeling so drawn to go back to vegan but scared it isn't going to work and I'm going to mess my health up even more.
Thanks in advance for reading and for any advice.
Jenny
I just joined today because I am struggling, going back and forth between sticking to the keto diet I'm currently eating or switching to a whole foods plant based diet.
A little back story: I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in April 2017. I struggled with the ADA guidelines and my blood sugars were all over the place. In September 2017 I adopted a vegan diet after watching several shows on Netflix and doing some research. I followed the vegan diet for 4 months but my blood sugar/diabetes still didn't really improve. I felt better over all, and felt I was eating as I should from an ethical standpoint, but my vision was worsening, I started having neuropathy type tingles and pains in my feet, and my blood sugars rarely came below 190. So I quit. I just went back to an unhealthy standard American diet.
In August 2018 my husband told me about the ketogenic diet. It touted claims of reversing type 2 diabetes, and melting excess weight off the body. We did our research and dove in. We have followed that diet from August 2018 until now, August 2020 falling off the bandwagon multiple times, but hopping back on after a few months each time.
The keto diet seemed to work. I went from 315 pounds to a current 246 pounds, and my blood sugars went from the 200s down to the low 100s or under. But now I am noticing to get the same results I have to cut back more and more. I am only eating 1 meal per day and under 10 net carbs. Anything over and my blood sugars will jump back to the upper 100s and takes hours, sometimes 24 hours, to come back to a healthy range. I'm still losing weight, but I think that's because I'm routinely eating 700 to 850 calories a day, which I know isn't healthy!
So I started looking up videos on YouTube and came across one by Dr. Cyrus Khambatta where he gave a beautiful visual of why fats in the diet destroy cellular function due to fat toxicity, and that this is the real cause of insulin resistance. It made so much sense and I've been researching ever since feeling more and more drawn to go back to a meat and dairy free lifestyle. This time as whole foods plant based with no or very limited oil and no processed sugars. I think this was my down fall last time (I mean Oreos are vegan after all, lol) and I was still consuming a lot of processed food and sugar. But I'm also kind of scared.
I'm worried that my blood sugars are gonna go crazy high and I will gain back weight I've lost and this diet won't work. My husband who will never give up meat has already shown he's not very supportive of the switch and if it doesn't work he'll be even more convinced to never go vegan/WFPB.
So, all of that to ask...has anyone been in my shoes before? What were your results? Did eating clean vegan/WFPB help your blood sugars and stabilize or reverse your diabetes? I'm feeling so drawn to go back to vegan but scared it isn't going to work and I'm going to mess my health up even more.
Thanks in advance for reading and for any advice.
Jenny