Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jamie on April 30, 2011 at 3:22pm

Tim, I have started the diet last spring and within two months I have lost 20 lbs. I liked the diet very much, bought a lot of vegan books (not all very low fat) and was always full, never hungry. My HbA1C was in the 6.5 range before but I was using Lantus insulin and Januvia once a day (along with Metformin). However, I had to stop this diet because I was thin to begin with, went down to 110 lbs. Since then I am on a modified diet, still keeping the very low fat and low GI index aspects but I am incorporating good proteins such as lean fish, egg white and very low fat cheese. I gained 10 lbs back but have not returned to insulin, only occasionally such as on vacation. My latest HbA1C was 5.7. Recently I have started to eat an ExtendBar as the night snack and noticed that my FBG was always under 100 on those mornings. I am afraid I wasn't much use to you but I thought I share my story with you.
Jamie

Permalink Reply by Mila on May 1, 2011 at 2:30am

Hi Tim,

I also lost a lot of weight (25 lbs) being on the Dr. Barnard diet, much more than I did following a low carb diet. Also my cholesterol levels and high blood pressure went back to normal. My endo, who at first was irritated by me as I reacted very sensitive to the medicines he prescribed, now is proud of me. He told me that he admired my strong willpower and even recommends the diet to his patients now.
My A1c hasn't dropped (it's 7.4), but I could totally stop my medication (gliclazide) and still have the same Ac1. I gained some weight back this winter because I left the diet for some time. But I lost it again now that I am back on track. This time I want to see how much more weight I can lose and see what it will do to my A1c.
I still have to lose 16 lbs to get my BMI into the normal range.
As far as tips for low carbohydrate vegan recipes, I don't really know. I myself try to eat as much vegetables as I can and I like to eat unsweetened soy yoghurt and tofu. You could look into Isa Chandra's website 'Post Punk Kitchen'. I love her cookbooks. She started to post more and more low fat recipes and has great recipes for tofu 'scrambled eggs' and things like that.
Nice that you shared you're experiences with us.
Good luck to you!
Mila

Permalink Reply by beachfield on May 1, 2011 at 2:32pm

HI MIla,
Thank you so much for your reply I have looked at the Post Punk Kitchen I must say I very much like what I see I have not had time to cook anything yet but the recipes seem to include strong flavours it's that makes me think that the food will be much more interesting.
Reducing your A1c is a challenge. My recommendation is to test your blood sugar before and after meals and see if you can spot the foods they give you a spike. Most of us seem to have quite restricted menus in that we eat the same or similar foods more or less constantly so finding anything which is causing a spike is not too difficult. This is not an area that Dr Barnard looks at in depth. Please see Jenny Ruhl's web page Blood Sugar 101 and (http://www.loanuniverse.com/Diabetes/) which allows you to put in your own daily bg values and get a reasonable estimate o your A1c that you will find is very encouraging.
I hope this helps you defeat our common enemy,
Take care
Regards,
TIM