As part of our November Blogging for a Cure project, I want to keep a promise made recently. Don't worry, this will be informative, and tasty too.

I am exploring the world of vegetarianism again. Admittedly, I have doubts about it: Years ago, I went six months without meat, and it was great — until the cheeseburger craving came along and refused to be denied. That was a damned good burger...

So complete abstention from all things carnivorous is unlikely for me, but the notion of a vegetarian life does have appeal, especially as a diabetic. Quite simply, a great way to improve one's diet and to help lessen the severity of diabetes — or even, perhaps, reverse it — is to cut down on eating meat.

The Vegetarian Diet site offers some eyeopening information on the subject:

Vegetarians Have Much Lower Risk of Type II Diabetes

Studies show that vegetarians have a substantially lower risk of type II diabetes than non-vegetarians. The link between meat consumption and incidence of diabetes remains after contributory factors such as weight, physical activity and other dietary factors are accounted for.

Vegetarian Diet Reflects Diabetic Dietary Guidelines

An average vegetarian diet closely matches dietary guidelines for diabetic patients.

Vegetarian diets tend to be high in complex carbohydrates and dietary fibre, which has a beneficial effect on carbohydrate metabolism, lowering blood sugar levels.

Vegetarians: Less Obesity and Lower Cholesterol - Both Affect Diabetes

The leanness of vegetarians also contributes to reduced incidence of diabetes. Diabetes is often associated with raised blood cholesterol levels and a vegetarian diet confers protection against this.

Sources include:

Snowdon, D. (1985) Does a vegetarian diet reduce the occurrence of diabetes? Am Jnl Public Health v.75 p.507-12.

Snowdon, D. (1988) Animal product consumption and mortality because of all causes combined, coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer in Seventh Day Adventist. Am Jnl Clinical Nutrition v.48 p.739-48.

So why does the research show an unrefined vegan diet helps control diabetes in many individuals? Most individuals following a vegan diet are on the thin side, which is an important factor in preventing Type II diabetes. They tend to be a lower weight because the food choices are very high in fiber, and usually fairly low in fat. The base protein source is beans, such as kidney beans, lentils, navy beans, soybeans, or tofu mixed with some type of whole grain, such as brown rice. Now, while those dishes can be delicious, they are also very filling and it is rare to find someone overeating or binge eating on them. An unrefined vegan approach also emphasizes fresh cooked or raw vegetables, prepared without sauces, so they are naturally low in calories. Fresh fruit is used but on some forms of vegan diets the use of fruit juice concentrate as a sweetening agent is discouraged, as that is technically "refining" the fruit. Thus, you don't have many dessert choices and without desserts, again, people tend not to eat too many calories.

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