Diabetes

[fieldoflavender]

What do you order at starbucks? I'm assuming a vanilla soy latte might be vegan but I'm not sure.

And is anyone diabetic in here? Because since I've been vegan its helped me a lot. I'm type 1 which is not what this article is refering to ( rather type 2) but I was just wondering :D

nutrition, body-health problems, body-diabetes, health

Comments

[violet_flames]

I have an online friend that is looking into gastric bypass (which she just barely qualifies for) and is concerned that her nutritional counseling (necessary for surgery) will put her under the limit, but in the long run she will gain weight and her diabetes will still be hard to manage.

I sent her this link:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1407054601065907544&q=raw+vegan+film+diabetes&hl=en

Which I found striking. However, your link above is really cool too. I wish more people had the opportunity to be pleasantly surprised when they realize that being veggie or vegan isn't that hard.

[violet_flames]

Didn't make that clear... she wants the GB to help her lower her weight and lower her meds.

And I'm all for people doing what they feel they need to do to feel better, I just think it's a shame that people don't realize they could probably do well with a vegan diet.

[fieldoflavender]

Gotcha. Well its possible the GB could help her if it really did help her lose weight! But I definitely think if she tried being vegan it could help her a lot as well. Does she not have any interest in becoming one?

I'm going to go watch that video now :D

[violet_flames]

She does not have any interest in losing weight before her surgery (vegan or not), because if she does she won't qualify for the surgery anymore. So I think her thought process is something like... I can't lose a substantial amount of weight without surgery. I may be able to lose 10-20 pounds, which would disqualify me from the surgery and then I'd gain it back like I always do

[fieldoflavender]

I really hope it goes well for her. Its scary the risks and even the effects after the surgery. I'm suprised it didn't change her mind at all considering it helped so many of them lose weight AS WELL as control their diabetes. Hahhaah no don't worry soapbox or not I'm so glad you replied to this. It's interesting because I've talked to people about it and they think its a load of crap but you truly don't know unless you have felt the difference.

[violet_flames]

I agree. I hope it goes well for her too. I think my feelings about the situation aren't really about her personally, more like we live in a society that has failed us in many ways and this is just one of them.

Even when I was a vegetarian I thought being vegan was extreme for a long time. It wasn't until much later (and reverting to omni for some time) that I started realizing the way I went about being a veggie the first time was less than ideal, and drank ate a lot more milk, because I thought I had to be a healthy veggie.

I'm all about low risk experimenting. Try natural cleansers, try different home made body products, try eating different. I've found that the majority of the time I'm pleasantly surprised by the results. You never could have convinced me even a year ago that I'd be a thriving vegan, but I've been with it for 4 months today (didn't even realize that), and what started as an experiment is definately a life style now.

[fieldoflavender]

Yeah it seems if you get rid of meat than you can overdose on dairy for sure. Whats omni?

Yeah! I'm definitely into natural remedies, cleansers, and things like that as well. It can't hurt really.

[tome]

My tastes have changed since I became vegetarian. I don't eat many sweets, I don't crave them and somethings that I used to like are way too sweet for me now.

[violet_flames]

Have you ever seen the movie Pecker? There's a character, Little Chrissy, who is a say 9 year old. For the first half all she wants is sugar, candy and jolt. Then she's diagnosed with ADD, and put on ritallin, and she's binging on raw veggies and snorting peas. That's me, minus the ADD and ritallin.

[neva_butterfly]

I agree though. I understand that people feel like they need to go to extremes to be healthy, but I fear that we don't really know all the long term effects of gastric bypass.

My problem with it is this: everyone I know who wants GB says "I've tried every single diet and I can't lose weight." But none of them has ever tried changing their total lifestyle, ie becoming vegan, eating less, working out.

GB forces you to change your lifestyle because it physically prevents you from overeating and makes you ill if you eat the wrong types of food. So why not try to see if you can make that change without the surgery?

But I shouldn't be too judgemental. I just worry they'll get really sick in about 15 years because they can't digest veggies or absorb vitamins.

[violet_flames]

Yeah... I think it bothers me, because I feel sooooo much better than I ever would have imagined eating like I do now. And I think if I had GB I wouldn't be capable of ingesting and digesting all the food I eat now. (not that I was anywhere near needing GB) So that makes me a little sad when I think of my cousin or my friends who have gone through GB, because to me it seems like a loss.

But I know, I'm not in their position, and ultimately it's not my place to be sad for them, it's not my place to worry about the potential consequences of their actions.