I Need Help

[Marc2109]

I went on a plant based diet in March of this year. At the time, my A1c was 7.0, and I had high triglycerides, low good cholesterol and high bad cholesterol. My Diet has been mostly rice, lentils, corn, grapenuts, oatmeal and potatoes. I have a few vegetables buy not a lot. I also have some fruit and berries in my cereal. I have lost 20 pounds. I had a new blood test two weeks ago and I am devastated.

After 6 months on this diet, My A1C WENT UP to 7.3. There was no change in cholesterol, and only a small change in triglycerides. My blood pressure also went up quite a bit. I do not know what to do. Every thing I have seen from Dr Neal Barnard and Dr. McDougall said my A1c should have gone down.

My Doctor is telling me the carbs are bad and to get off them. This would leave me very little to eat.

I'm about ready to give up. Please help me if you can.

 

[Lou]

Losing 20 pounds is great. So let's not forget that part. That alone puts you at a lower risk for diabetes and heart disease.

So i see no reason to give up. I think things are working to your benefit. Maybe a bit slower than you would like.

You left out a lot of stuff and I'm not one to pry but I'd bet money that the disappointing results are a consequence of something other than "carbs".

I've never read Barnard or McDougall, but I think I am familiar with their work. I'm more of a Gregar/Fuhrman man. But I'm pretty sure that the diet recommendations are about the same. Maybe the only significant difference is the number of grains that is recommended. I'm pretty sure that everyone recommends vegetables. Lots of vegetables. And fruit.

Eating a lot of grains, fruits and veggies probably seem counter-intuitive to someone concerned about blood sugar and cholesterol. Gregar and Fuhrman (and probably Barnard and McDougall) make it pretty clear that the low fat and high fiber diet is what can lower cholesterol and and blood sugar.

Have you ever used Cronometer. If not you should give it a try. It's pretty easy to use and understand. Just a glance at the color-coded bar graphs might reveal something you are doing wrong. Perhaps you ARE eating too many carbs. Cronometer can reveal that. also, use it for a week and you can print out a summary sheet. You can take that to your doctor.

Another tool you might want to try is Dr. Gregar's checklist. There is an app for that or you can just print out and laminate this PDF and stick it on the frig.

https://veganuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Daily-Dozen-Checklist.pdf

At first glance, it looks like its too much food but keep in mind that the serving sizes are pretty small.

Veganuary

At Veganuary we inspire and support people to try vegan for January and throughout the rest of the year. Visit our website and take the Veganuary challenge!

veganuary.com

And at the risk of stating the obvious, alcohol, cigarettes and exercise are all very important factors.

 

[Marc2109]

Losing 20 pounds is great. So let's not forget that part. That alone puts you at a lower risk for diabetes and heart disease.

So i see no reason to give up. I think things are working to your benefit. Maybe a bit slower than you would like.

You left out a lot of stuff and I'm not one to pry but I'd bet money that the disappointing results are a consequence of something other than "carbs".

I've never read Barnard or McDougall, but I think I am familiar with their work. I'm more of a Gregar/Fuhrman man. But I'm pretty sure that the diet recommendations are about the same. Maybe the only significant difference is the number of grains that is recommended. I'm pretty sure that everyone recommends vegetables. Lots of vegetables. And fruit.

Eating a lot of grains, fruits and veggies probably seem counter-intuitive to someone concerned about blood sugar and cholesterol. Gregar and Fuhrman (and probably Barnard and McDougall) make it pretty clear that the low fat and high fiber diet is what can lower cholesterol and and blood sugar.

Have you ever used Cronometer. If not you should give it a try. It's pretty easy to use and understand. Just a glance at the color-coded bar graphs might reveal something you are doing wrong. Perhaps you ARE eating too many carbs. Cronometer can reveal that. also, use it for a week and you can print out a summary sheet. You can take that to your doctor.

Another tool you might want to try is Dr. Gregar's checklist. There is an app for that or you can just print out and laminate this PDF and stick it on the frig.

https://veganuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Daily-Dozen-Checklist.pdf

At first glance, it looks like its too much food but keep in mind that the serving sizes are pretty small.

Veganuary

At Veganuary we inspire and support people to try vegan for January and throughout the rest of the year. Visit our website and take the Veganuary challenge!

veganuary.com

And at the risk of stating the obvious, alcohol, cigarettes and exercise are all very important factors.

Lou thanks for Replying. I'm not sure what else to include but I did think of a few things...

My current weight is now 196, and I am 5'10, so my BMI is 28.5. I do not smoke or drink, but my lifestyle is pretty sedentary. I do walk a couple of times a day at work for about 20 minutes each.

My usual portions are roughly the following...
1/2 cup oatmeal with some raisins or banana for breakfast.
Uncle Ben's rice or Progresso Lentil soup for lunch- sometimes I eat both the rice and the soup a couple of hours apart
Dinner is typically something like two ears of corn, or a large bowl of Grapenuts in Almond Milk, A couple of small potatoes, or a bowl of mashed potatoes Right now I am eating very little vegetables mostly because I can't cook well and when I prepare them they taste awful.

So you can see my diet is like 80% starch. My main goal in all of this is to lower my A1C by loosing weight and the fat in the liver and pancreas that increases insulin resistance. I am flabbergasted the feven with loosing 20 pounds, my A1C went up from 7.0 to 7.3 during the last six months.

I downloaded Cronometer and started using it this morning. Any suggestions for lowering the A1C would be very much appreciated.

 

[Emma JC]

That is an interesting menu you are serving yourself and my first impression is that you could include more beans and, of course, vegetables.

One of the easiest ways to eat more veggies is in soups as it is easy and quick and hard to mess up.

Into a pot put water (or low sodium veggie stock) and then start adding vegetables like onions, garlic, celery, carrots, broccoli, etc. Add a can of diced tomatoes and whatever starch you prefer, potatoes or rice or a whole grain pasta. Then throw in a can of beans or lentils, rinsed pinto beans or white kidney beans or chick peas or lentils. Towards the end (once the veggies are cooked and the starch is cooked) add some more greens like frozen or fresh kale or spinach or arugula. Oh, and don't forget to put in any spices that you like... paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, ginger powder or even some curry or chili powders. Make it tasty.

My other favourite lunch is a one pot noodle lunch. I keep frozen veggies like broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts around and put a small pot on the stove with water and add the frozen veggies and bring to a boil. Then I add either udon noodles or some other 3-4 minute noodle and let it cook. I also open a can of lentils and rinse half of them, saving the other half for the next day. When the pot is almost done I add some frozen kale. I pour the pot of noodles, veggies and kale over the lentils in the strainer and then into my bowl. I then add tamari and rice vinegar, lemon juice (bottled) and a bit of sweet chilli sauce and a drizzle of tahini. It is satisfying and filling and full on nutrients.

I love that you are eating oatmeal with banana. I do the same only I add frozen berries, and a couple of tablespoons of flax meal (this is very inexpensive and should be kept in the fridge)(it adds lots of great fibre which should help with the A1C. I usually add some greens powder too and a couple of tablespoons of powdered peanut butter or a small amount of regular peanut butter.

Be patient and keep us updated!

Emma JC

 

[Marc2109]

That is an interesting menu you are serving yourself and my first impression is that you could include more beans and, of course, vegetables.

One of the easiest ways to eat more veggies is in soups as it is easy and quick and hard to mess up.

Into a pot put water (or low sodium veggie stock) and then start adding vegetables like onions, garlic, celery, carrots, broccoli, etc. Add a can of diced tomatoes and whatever starch you prefer, potatoes or rice or a whole grain pasta. Then throw in a can of beans or lentils, rinsed pinto beans or white kidney beans or chick peas or lentils. Towards the end (once the veggies are cooked and the starch is cooked) add some more greens like frozen or fresh kale or spinach or arugula. Oh, and don't forget to put in any spices that you like... paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, ginger powder or even some curry or chili powders. Make it tasty.

My other favourite lunch is a one pot noodle lunch. I keep frozen veggies like broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts around and put a small pot on the stove with water and add the frozen veggies and bring to a boil. Then I add either udon noodles or some other 3-4 minute noodle and let it cook. I also open a can of lentils and rinse half of them, saving the other half for the next day. When the pot is almost done I add some frozen kale. I pour the pot of noodles, veggies and kale over the lentils in the strainer and then into my bowl. I then add tamari and rice vinegar, lemon juice (bottled) and a bit of sweet chilli sauce and a drizzle of tahini. It is satisfying and filling and full on nutrients.

I love that you are eating oatmeal with banana. I do the same only I add frozen berries, and a couple of tablespoons of flax meal (this is very inexpensive and should be kept in the fridge)(it adds lots of great fibre which should help with the A1C. I usually add some greens powder too and a couple of tablespoons of powdered peanut butter or a small amount of regular peanut butter.

Be patient and keep us updated!

Emma JC

Soups! OMG why didn't I think of that! Emma thanks for that. I added your ingredients to my grocery list. That is probably something I need, simple and easy to make Vegan recipes. So I am probably eating too much starch and not enough vegies???

 

[Emma JC]

You are most welcome!

No, I don't think you are eating too much starch as many vegetables are starches, beans are starches etc. You may not be eating enough fibrous starches? getting in some greens and a variety of vegetables is good. Do you like spices? like garlic and ginger and the hotter spices? also include some turmeric (I sprinkle it on my oatmeal too) and even fennel seeds.

If you do like spices there is a great recipe out there for North African Spiced Soup and it is so amazing and tasty. Variations of it can be made.

The beans will help you up your protein a bit and do be sure you have some fat in your day, hopefully natural fats from avocado or tiny amounts of nut butters, or nuts and seeds. It will help absorption of the nutrients and also the lemon juice, in with any greens, will help to absorb those nutrients as well.

I have taken to putting lemon juice on almost everything including pastas etc as it is so tasty and I buy the large bottles of it as it is a lot less expensive then buying lemons fresh and it means I use it more often.

As @Lou suggested Cronometer will definitely help.

Emma JC

 

[Emma JC]

btw when I said flax meal, I should have said ground flax... flax meal is more of a floury substance whereas as ground flax is more fibrous - you can grind your own if you have a spice or coffee grinder - it is the best way to eat flax seeds as they may go right through you otherwise

also congrats on your weight loss! some exercise wouldn't hurt, however, I can not talk about that as I tend to couch potato too much, I would like to change that also

Emma JC

 

[Lou]

Lou thanks for Replying. I'm not sure what else to include but I did think of a few things...

Thanks, Marc. You included everything that I wanted to know but was afraid to ask.

Two 20-minute walks a day are great and more than the minimum. so you probably shouldn't consider yourself sedentary. Are they outside? Walking outside 20 minutes a day is a good way to meet your vitamin D requirements.

Your meal plan is so simple I just went ahead and plugged it into my Cronometer. First of all congrats on low fat and low sugar diet. Except for the Progresso soup, you are also really good with sodium.

In Cronometer, there are a few things that jumped out at me. The first thing is that you are eating way too few calories. Which explains all the good weight loss. But it is not sustainable.

The next thing is all the missing nutrients in your diet. I'm assuming your doctor did the standard blood tests. Did he mention any deficiencies? Are you taking a multivitamin?

Emma gave you some GREAT ideas, easy to do, and will do a lot to fill in some of your nutritional needs. I feel challenged.

Two nutrients that you are that are especially important at our age is calcium and protein. And i have a quick fix for both of those: Soy milk. Two or three glasses of soymilk will help you with protein and calcium. And make a good dent on some of the other missing nutrients. I added two glasses of milk to your meal plan in my chronometer and it made a huge difference.

Now if you are about to tell me you don't like soymilk - I have a hack for that.

Make your oatmeal with soymilk. one half cup oats to one cup soymilk. I nuke it for 3 minutes. but be sure to use a big bowl to keep it from boiling over. add your ground flaxseed and whatever else you like. In the summer i use fresh berries and the rest of the time of year i use frozen berries. But there are so many other great oatmeal recipes - some people eat oatmeal every day and it is really good for lowering cholesterol (and i think blood sugar too).

The other trick is smoothies. You can make multiple servings at a time in your blender. Split up the contents into small containers and then freeze it. Take the smoothies to work for an afternoon snack. They should be defrosted by afternoon. They are also a good pick me up if you have an afternoon commute. Or you can just have one for dessert after dinner.

Just to get you started here is one of my favorite recipes.
1 c soymilk
1 banana
1 tbsp flaxseed (you don't need this if you already had a tbsp in your oatmeal)
1 - 2 tbsp peanut butter

I added the smoothie and a multi to your meal plan and got almost every yellow bar to turn green.

 

[Marc2109]

Thanks, Marc. You included everything that I wanted to know but was afraid to ask.

Two 20-minute walks a day are great and more than the minimum. so you probably shouldn't consider yourself sedentary. Are they outside? Walking outside 20 minutes a day is a good way to meet your vitamin D requirements.

Your meal plan is so simple I just went ahead and plugged it into my Cronometer. First of all congrats on low fat and low sugar diet. Except for the Progresso soup, you are also really good with sodium.

In Cronometer, there are a few things that jumped out at me. The first thing is that you are eating way too few calories. Which explains all the good weight loss. But it is not sustainable.

The next thing is all the missing nutrients in your diet. I'm assuming your doctor did the standard blood tests. Did he mention any deficiencies? Are you taking a multivitamin?

Emma gave you some GREAT ideas, easy to do, and will do a lot to fill in some of your nutritional needs. I feel challenged.

Two nutrients that you are that are especially important at our age is calcium and protein. And i have a quick fix for both of those: Soy milk. Two or three glasses of soymilk will help you with protein and calcium. And make a good dent on some of the other missing nutrients. I added two glasses of milk to your meal plan in my chronometer and it made a huge difference.

Now if you are about to tell me you don't like soymilk - I have a hack for that.

Make your oatmeal with soymilk. one half cup oats to one cup soymilk. I nuke it for 3 minutes. but be sure to use a big bowl to keep it from boiling over. add your ground flaxseed and whatever else you like. In the summer i use fresh berries and the rest of the time of year i use frozen berries. But there are so many other great oatmeal recipes - some people eat oatmeal every day and it is really good for lowering cholesterol (and i think blood sugar too).

The other trick is smoothies. You can make multiple servings at a time in your blender. Split up the contents into small containers and then freeze it. Take the smoothies to work for an afternoon snack. They should be defrosted by afternoon. They are also a good pick me up if you have an afternoon commute. Or you can just have one for dessert after dinner.

Just to get you started here is one of my favorite recipes.
1 c soymilk
1 banana
1 tbsp flaxseed (you don't need this if you already had a tbsp in your oatmeal)
1 - 2 tbsp peanut butter

I added the smoothie and a multi to your meal plan and got almost every yellow bar to turn green.

Ok I'm writing everything down. I still have one thing eating at me though. And this is for both you and Emma. What about my diet made my A1C go up? Prior to this I was attempting LOW CARB diet, but wasn't very stricked. I did at one time get the A1C down to 6.2. But I couldn't keep eating like that.

 

[Lou]

Ok I'm writing everything down. I still have one thing eating at me though. And this is for both you and Emma. What about my diet made my A1C go up? Prior to this I was attempting LOW CARB diet, but wasn't very stricked. I did at one time get the A1C down to 6.2. But I couldn't keep eating like that.

I really don't know. I wonder if anyone knows. However, on Cronometer before I added "my stuff", your diet was almost 80% carbs. 77/14/9. I think the WFPB doctors recommend carbs to be in the 40 - 60% range. So maybe we need to give your doctor some credit. Maybe it is the carbs.

BTW once i added the soy milk and smoothies to your diet (without any other changes), it went to a 64/23/13. which is much better. Thirteen percent protein is maybe too low - but you still hit 60 g protein which is probably close to your goal.

Calories were 1678. That is a good weight loss goal and sustainable.

My best guess is that with proper nutrition and exercise you will continue to lose weight and everything else will follow.

 

[Lou]

This week it has been so hot, I have been having big salads for dinner. You can add beans, sunflower seeds, almond slivers, to your salads for protein. I know a lot of the WFPB diets recommend having big salads almost daily. No cooking is required (although you get tired of all the chopping), and big salads are very low cal.

Yesterday for lunch I had lentil stew over mashed potatoes. My recipe for lentil stew includes a lot of veggies.
Today I'm having Cuban black beans over rice.

I also have an apple after dinner.

 

[Marc2109]

I really don't know. I wonder if anyone knows. However, on Cronometer before I added "my stuff", your diet was almost 80% carbs. 77/14/9. I think the WFPB doctors recommend carbs to be in the 40 - 60% range. So maybe we need to give your doctor some credit. Maybe it is the carbs.

BTW once i added the soy milk and smoothies to your diet (without any other changes), it went to a 64/23/13. which is much better. Thirteen percent protein is maybe too low - but you still hit 60 g protein which is probably close to your goal.

Calories were 1678. That is a good weight loss goal and sustainable.

My best guess is that with proper nutrition and exercise you will continue to lose weight and everything else will follow.

Ok Thanks Again Lou...I feel so much better after some input from you and Emma. You guys are the best.

 

[Marc2109]

This week it has been so hot, I have been having big salads for dinner. You can add beans, sunflower seeds, almond slivers, to your salads for protein. I know a lot of the WFPB diets recommend having big salads almost daily. No cooking is required (although you get tired of all the chopping), and big salads are very low cal.

Yesterday for lunch I had lentil stew over mashed potatoes. My recipe for lentil stew includes a lot of veggies.
Today I'm having Cuban black beans over rice.

I also have an apple after dinner.

I'm gonna need that lentil stew recipe, Lou...

 

[Lou]

I'm gonna need that lentil stew recipe, Lou...

Do you have an InstantPot?

I bought my InstantPot last Christmas, and I wouldn't say it totally changed my life but I really like it. The vegan forum has a section on recipes and you might want to look at that too.

This recipe is for 8 servings. I makeup 8 one-cup servings in Tupperware or Freezer bags.

• 8 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 20 oz of sliced mushroom (mix of cremini, white and portabello)
• 2 - 3 tbsp of soy sauce
• 1.5 cups sliced carrots, or other veggies such as zucchini, celery, or a mix*
• 2 tsp fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried
• Optional: 1 tsp ground sage, rosemary, oregano
• 1.5 cup (144 g) uncooked brown lentils
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• pinch of salt
• 4 cups (500 ml) of water or veggie broth

* Trader Joes sells a prechopped mix of "Healthy Veggies". I just throw in the whole container. I hate chopping. It's onion, carrots, and celery. I also buy chopped garlic. And the sliced mushrooms come in 10 oz packages. Almost no prep time for the stew. the mashed potatoes requires more processing.

InstantPot Directions

• Start the instant pot on sauté. add a half cup broth, when hot add garlic and cook for a minute. Then add the mushrooms and a good pinch of salt and cook for 3 minutes, add the soy sauce, mix well and continue to cook for 2 more minutes.
• Cancel sauté, add the veggies, dry lentils, salt, herbs, tomato paste, water or broth and give it a good mix.
• Close the lid. Pressure cook for 15 minutes, longer for older, green lentils
• Let pressure release naturally.
• Taste and adjust the lentil stew in the instant pot and add salt if needed, add a good dash of black pepper. You can also fold in some baby spinach and 1/3 cup green peas at this point.
• Serve the stew over mashed potatoes. Garnish with fresh herbs and black pepper. You can also add toasted breadcrumbs and olive oil garnish.

Stovetop directions.

Do the saute step in a saucepan over medium heat. Add lentils and 5 cups of water/broth. Partially cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to simmer for 25 mins or until the lentils are tender to preference.

I basically stole this recipe.

https://www.veganricha.com/2018/11/lentil-mushroom-stew-with-mashed-sweet-potatoes-instant-pot.html

The last time I made this recipe i made it with the potatoes at the same time. Then I just added one cup of lentil stew and one cup of mashed potatoes to the Tupperware containers. Then freeze. I like to always have one container in the frig at all times. It reheats in the microwave in about 3 minutes. I haven't tried nuking it frozen yet.

this has become one of my favorite go-to meals when I don't want to cook.

Oh, I just remembered, I once put this into chronometer. not sure if I did that right. I got it to be about 200 calories and about 8 grams of protein. The mashed potatoes add another 300 calories and 5 grams of protein. For a total of 500 calories and 13 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber. Almost no fat. Which is different from what the author got. But i am not sure why. I know our ingredients are a bit different.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

Lou and Emma make some good suggestions. I did wonder if you need a more varied diet. It looks like they are helping you take care of it.

People going on a vegan diet and seeing no cholesterol change, even though vegan food has no cholesterol seems to happen quite often. I sometimes wonder if it means that the body thinks its cholesterol level is about right and knows what it's doing? But, note, that is total speculation on my part unsupported by expert opinion or science and anyone whose cholesterol is way above the ideal range ought to try and get it back towards the range.

 

[Bob Who]

Hi Marc,

I eat a vegan diet, and my wife eats vegetarian, about 95% vegan. We eat a low added fat, sugar, and salt diet--though not 100%. Our diet is mostly whole foods made from scratch.

My wife is a type 2 diabetic--or was, according to our doctor. She is on zero medication and her A1c at last test was 5.1 and has been holding steady for about 2 years(I think). Officially her diabetes is diet controlled. We did change the way we ate when she was first diagnosed, Sept of 2014, and we both lost weight--quite a bit more than you have/ want to. I think she's been off meds for 2 years now, but I'd have to ask her in case I'm short. I'm not in anyway trying to say we have any expertise on this subject, but our experience may be of help.

Are you on any medications for diabetes?

Do you test your blood glucose regularly? Ever test to see how certain foods affect it? My guess would be the amount of refined carbs you eat may be part of the reason that your A1c was 7.1. I hesitate to say that it actually increased, because --if I remember correctly-- the margin of error of the lab test is slightly above .1.

Is the oatmeal you eat, instant or quick cooking rolled oats? I 'd suggest trying old fashioned or even steel cut oats. Swap the Uncle Ben's for brown rice. Adding legumes or other protein sources when you consume refined carbs may help moderate your glucose levels. When you eat potatoes do you just eat jsut the white part? Try eating the whole thing. Obviously reading labels on packaged food looking for added refined sugars and starches helps. We found that we could even have our homemade pizza by substituting half of the white flour for whole wheat and her glucose reaction was significantly lower.

You've been given some good suggestions already how to incorporate more vegetables into your diet. It would be a good idea, regardless. As far as what you may like and dislike or have time or inclination to prepare there are many ways to over come these issues.

I haven't gone into much detail, if there is anything you'd like to know just ask.

At first eating a whole food plant based diet can be daunting, but it does get easier.

All the best,

Bob

 

[Marc2109]

Hi Marc,

I eat a vegan diet, and my wife eats vegetarian, about 95% vegan. We eat a low added fat, sugar, and salt diet--though not 100%. Our diet is mostly whole foods made from scratch.

My wife is a type 2 diabetic--or was, according to our doctor. She is on zero medication and her A1c at last test was 5.1 and has been holding steady for about 2 years(I think). Officially her diabetes is diet controlled. We did change the way we ate when she was first diagnosed, Sept of 2014, and we both lost weight--quite a bit more than you have/ want to. I think she's been off meds for 2 years now, but I'd have to ask her in case I'm short. I'm not in anyway trying to say we have any expertise on this subject, but our experience may be of help.

Are you on any medications for diabetes?

Do you test your blood glucose regularly? Ever test to see how certain foods affect it? My guess would be the amount of refined carbs you eat may be part of the reason that your A1c was 7.1. I hesitate to say that it actually increased, because --if I remember correctly-- the margin of error of the lab test is slightly above .1.

Is the oatmeal you eat, instant or quick cooking rolled oats? I 'd suggest trying old fashioned or even steel cut oats. Swap the Uncle Ben's for brown rice. Adding legumes or other protein sources when you consume refined carbs may help moderate your glucose levels. When you eat potatoes do you just eat jsut the white part? Try eating the whole thing. Obviously reading labels on packaged food looking for added refined sugars and starches helps. We found that we could even have our homemade pizza by substituting half of the white flour for whole wheat and her glucose reaction was significantly lower.

You've been given some good suggestions already how to incorporate more vegetables into your diet. It would be a good idea, regardless. As far as what you may like and dislike or have time or inclination to prepare there are many ways to over come these issues.

I haven't gone into much detail, if there is anything you'd like to know just ask.

At first eating a whole food plant based diet can be daunting, but it does get easier.

All the best,

Bob

Hello Bob, thanks for your insight! The oats were the one minute kind, or rolled. I have since just by happenstance to switch to steel cut, I really don't quite get the difference though. I will swap out the rice. I am eating to only eat 100% whole grains, like spaghetti, bread, etc. When eating potatoes, I eat the skin as well, but I have been eating a lot of instant mashed potatoes (are they refined?) It's just a shock to me, the A1C getting worse (going from 7.0 to 7.3) after so many positive changes. I guess a little bit of the bad stuff here and there has a powerful negative punch. Maybe loosing more weight will help - I am still about 20 lbs over what I should be.

 

[Marc2109]

I really don't know. I wonder if anyone knows. However, on Cronometer before I added "my stuff", your diet was almost 80% carbs. 77/14/9. I think the WFPB doctors recommend carbs to be in the 40 - 60% range. So maybe we need to give your doctor some credit. Maybe it is the carbs.

BTW once i added the soy milk and smoothies to your diet (without any other changes), it went to a 64/23/13. which is much better. Thirteen percent protein is maybe too low - but you still hit 60 g protein which is probably close to your goal.

Calories were 1678. That is a good weight loss goal and sustainable.

My best guess is that with proper nutrition and exercise you will continue to lose weight and everything else will follow.

Lou can you show me how you entered the food into the chronometer? I am a little lost- maybe a screen shot?

 

[Bob Who]

Marc,

The idea behind steel cut oats being "better" than quick oats is that during the processing the the more beneficial components are either eliminated or more broken down before you eat it. The example of flour: white flour has the bran and germ removed leaving essentially starch-- which your body processes faster and in many cases with a higher glucose spike than with a whole grain as the fiber in the bran and germ slow down the absorbtion process and help to moderate the spikes. The theory is that quick oats are more "broken" down than just a steel cut so the quicker absorption. I'd cut out the instant mashed pototoes just to see. When you mentioned a low carb diet not leaving you a lot to eat, what do you mean by low carb? and what do you like to eat?

This is why I had asked about your monitoring your glucose after meals. I'm assuming you're a type 2 diabetic? Are you on any medications for it? In my family's case the results weren't as quick as often presented, but we did have positive results. My wife, started out at A1c of 9.2 or so and upon her first check up, ( I don't remember the time frame --I can find out 4 -8 weeks ) her A1c was down to around 7, but she was on gliperide and metformin as well as lisinopril for blood pressure.

When she was first diagnosed she got a consultation with a dietician on what was the recommended diet for diabetics. Counting carbs was one approach, including a lot my vegetables , and less meat, less fat. We ( I ate the exact same food and amounts as she did) began the carb counting diet. It wasn't a vegan diet, but we greatly increased our vegetable consumption, which luckily for us wasn't too difficult as we both like a lot of different foods, but it was tough at the time tracking carbs. We started losing weight, probably because counting carbs and eating a majority of veg it was due to calorie restriction. Surprisingly it wasn't too difficult to do. I just assumed at some point I'd level off, but I kept losing 1-2 lbs/ week. Just counting "carbs" may work for you re: A1c, but not all carbs are bad--fiber is a carb, and it doesn't affect blood sugar AFAIK.

There can be a lot to it, and finding out how your body responds is extremely helpful. Sad truth is of all the information I've seen on the benefits of a WFPB diet and diabetes not one was 100% effective 100% of the time.

I hope I haven't muddied the waters,

Bob

 

[Lou]

Lou can you show me how you entered the food into the chronometer? I am a little lost- maybe a screen shot?

CronOmeter isn't really all that hard to use, but there is a marked lack of directions. There used to be a great short instructional video but after they made the last update they took it down. Let me see if anyone in the YouTube community has filled the void.