Diabetes and Veganism

As a diabetic, and as a human being in general, eating a healthy diet and making sure your body had the necessary vitamins and nutrients that it need to function properly is so important. Almost any planned, well informed diet can do this, but today I'm going to talk about an option that is often overlooked and underestimated: veganism.
I know, I know, veganism doesn't seem, at first glance, like the most healthy, nutritious diet(most of you are probably thinking, "What do those people eat? Salads for every meal, every day?!) But despite the stigma surrounding veganism and those who choose to adopt this lifestyle, eating a healthy, well planned vegan diet can provide all the necessary nutrients and can offer many amazing heath benefits.
Veganism simply means that, like vegetarians, you don't eat meat, fish, or poultry, and you take it a step further: you don't consume any animal products either(aka eggs, milk, dairy products, honey, or gelatin.) While this post will mostly focus on the health benefits of the vegan diet, veganism also comes from a compassion towards animals and a desire to see animal cruelty minimized and spare the lives(or at least the brutal killing) of animals that we would normally eat without thinking twice about. Whether you're looking to adopt the vegan diet for health reasons, ethical reasons, or both, the vegan lifestyle can be adjusted to fit any person in any walk or stage of life.
As I said before, veganism offers many awesome health benefits, and vegans are some of the healthiest people around, granted that they're carefully planning out their diet and have done their research to learn what nutrients they need to get and how to get them without consuming meat or animal products.
HEART HEALTH.
Studies have shown that vegans following a healthy diet plan have an 26% percent lower chance of having a stroke or heart disease than those who eat a nonvegetarian diet and it has been found that the vegan diet provides much stronger protection against stroke than any other dietary pattern, and it has also been shown that vegans have the lowest total and LDL(bad) cholesterol, that vegans have the lowest intake levels of saturated fats, trans fatty acids, and cholesterol, have higher blood levels of antioxidant and lower levels of lipid peroxidation, have lower rates of hypertension and have leaner waist to hip ratios. Along with these benefits, there are a few risks, such as possible higher rates for blood clots due to low levels of omega-3 fatty acids and higher or similar homocysteine levels, which can increase the risk for heart disease, due to low levels of vitamin B12.
CANCER.
In addition to these heart health benefits, eating a vegan diet(plenty of fruits and vegetables) is associated with lower risk of cancer at almost every sight, and is proven beneficial because animal products and meat, which can have a detrimental effect of health, are not being consumed.
DIABETES.
Most of you reading this are questioning why I'm putting this section in here because, if you're like me, you're thinking, "I already have diabetes, there's nothing I can do now to prevent it. "
However, the vegan diet can help bring better control in diabetes and knowing the facts about how it can possibly help reduce the risk of diabetes is helpful information for the future and for protection our families from having to fight the same battle we are dealing with.
The vegan diet has been shown to help improve blood glucose control(along with exercise) and has been shown to possibly reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes(vegans tend to have the lowest number of cases of type 2 diabetes. However, it is still unclear if the low body weight is strictly the cause of this.) As type one diabetes only account for about 10% of all cases of diabetes, it's hard to tell what triggers the disease, but milk consumption has been possibly linked as one of the factors/triggers, which, if it's true that milk triggers type one diabetes, could make the vegan diet a way to help prevent type one diabetes by eliminating milk and dairy consumption. However, there is only limited research on this and further research is needed.

While these health benefits are great for any person in general, I think they are especially great for diabetics, who are two to four times more likely to have heart disease or a stroke than people without diabetes.
The vegan diet, as you've seen, has many great health benefits as well as ethical benefits brought by not consuming meat or animal products. But, as with any dietary change, it is important to do your research before making the switch. Find books at your local library or at Barnes and Nobles, ask someone you know who's a vegan or vegetarian, ask a nurse, nutritionist, or just ask your doctor. Just do your research to decide if eating a vegan diet is the right choice for you. The book that almost all the information in this post is coming from is Becoming Vegan by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina, and I've found it very informative in learning about the health benefits of veganism as well as the risks and how to properly plan a vegan diet so that you get all the vitamins and nutrients you need.
While I think veganism can be extremely beneficially to diabetics, I am in no way trying to say that it is the only healthy way to eat or trying to force it upon anyone. Veganism is not for everyone, and meat and animal products can still be part of a healthy diet and there is absolutely nothing wrong with eating them at all. I simply wanted to share what I've learned about veganism as I've looked into and researched it and I look forward to hopefully sharing more about veganism and diabetes as I make the transition.