Making A Vegetarian Diet Healthier
Some people who are dealing with diabetes come to believe that if they choose to follow a vegetarian diet plan, they will be healthier because of it. We know very well by now that body weight is closely connected to the ability to manage diabetes and that eating a diet full of animal products can lead to weight gain.
And besides the weight factor, the saturated fat and cholesterol found in many animal products can affect our total health and well-being.
But when it comes down to a strict vegetarian diet, you may just find out that this diet is lacking in many places.
Just because someone eats a vegetarian diet doesn’t necessarily mean they are healthy. In fact, it can actually mean the opposite. Many vegetarian diets actually lead to weight gain, and if you’re not careful, can send your blood glucose levels soaring.
The good news is that this is typically quite fixable. You just need to know how to make a few adjustments to your own menu planning and then you’ll be off to feeling great, looking great, and nourishing your body well.
Here’s what you need to know.
Protein, Protein, Protein
When most people hear anything about a vegetarian diet, they tend to imagine someone eating not much more than salads.
While salads are definitely vegetarian, you need far more than veggies in your diet to have optimal health.
Just because you are going vegan or vegetarian does not mean you don’t need protein. You do – and possibly even more of it. Because vegan and vegetarian sources of protein are not typically complete protein sources, it becomes more important than ever that you consume these in the right amounts and in the right combinations.
Turn to foods like beans, nuts, seeds, tempeh, tofu, and other soy-based products to help get your protein in. And don’t forget about protein powder!
You can find a quality hemp protein powder that contains nearly as much protein per serving as its whey counterpart, and this can be a great way to get your needs met.
You still will want to consume around 0.8-1 gram of protein per pound of body weight on a vegetarian diet to ensure muscle mass maintenance and to keep blood glucose levels stabilized. Also, be sure that you are eating protein for every meal or snack, not just for one or two meals a day.
You want to avoid a situation where you take in carb-only meals as these will definitely not do your blood glucose situation any favors.
Balance The Fats
Which brings us to the next macro to think about – dietary fat. Dietary fat is something that’s easy to neglect because it’s so high in calories and could lead to weight gain, but it’s a must for any diet, especially a vegetarian diet.
You don’t want to overdo fats, but you do want 30-40% of your total calorie intake to come from good fat sources.
Note that this does not mean deep-fried foods that are ‘vegan friendly’. Stick to foods like nuts, seeds, nut butter, avocados, and healthy oils.
Stick To Unprocessed Foods
It’s also very important that you keep your intake of processed foods in check. This is perhaps one of the biggest mistakes that many people make on their diet plan because processed foods will lead to rapid weight gain and rises in blood glucose levels.
Healthy sources of dietary fiber are going to supply a rich amount of nutrients to the diet – nutrients that you otherwise may fall short in since you aren’t eating any meat in your plan.
Many ‘vegan friendly’ foods, however, are processed, so people may consider them safe for their plan.
Don’t let common sense go out the window as soon as you start a vegetarian diet. If it wasn’t healthy before you went vegetarian, it’s still not healthy. The same results apply. You’ll want to stick to as many unprocessed foods as possible to help ensure you give your body the wealth of nutrition it needs.
Keep Your Calorie Intake In Check
Finally, make sure that you do keep your calorie intake in check. It can be easy to eat too many calories as well as too few while on a vegetarian diet. People go one of two ways:
They eat way more calories than they should because they’re consuming processed foods, which are going to take their total calorie count up far too high.
They eat too few calories because they’re eating primarily vegetables, which doesn’t bring their daily totals up to where they need to be.
Start tracking your calories so you can ensure they are where you need them to be. Otherwise, you’ll be fighting a losing battle to see any good results at all.
The vegetarian diet can work for someone with diabetes, but you definitely need to be aware that some changes will have to be made. Fail to make these changes and you’re going to be in for trouble ahead.