Fit Fare

It’s difficult enough for the average person to figure out what foods are healthy and nutritious. When you have a food-related illness, the not-so-simple task of grocery shopping becomes a complete nightmare. And sometimes, there is no consensus by doctors and nutritionists as to which foods will best serve an individual’s needs.

Such is the case for diabetics. On the same day that the Globe and Mail newspaper ran an article about a diabetic endocrinologist who put himself on an uber-Atkins style no-carb, high-fat diet, a peer-reviewed study was released indicating that a vegan diet is the best bet for diabetics, even better in fact than what is known as the Standard Diabetic Diet which includes counting carbs.

Dr. Richard Bernstein, an endocrinologist afflicted with Type 1 diabetes created a diet that has significantly helped his own diabetes.

Flying in the face of guidelines set by the American Diabetes Association (and, by extension, the Canadian Diabetes Association), the 72-year-old advocates a radical decrease in blood-sugar levels through major carb-cutting. So major in fact, that one could say Dr. Bernstein “out-Atkins” Atkins, recommending a sustained ultralow-carb diet, rather than easing diabetics off and back onto their bread baskets.

Dr. Bernstein’s diet calls for little to no carbs and large portions of meat and other proteins. Reporter Lorne Rubenstein states that Bernstein’s diet had him eating more eggs in a week than he had previously eaten in six months.

While Bernstein’s diet seems to work for him and his patients, a link between diabetes and high cholesterol levels is well-known. In What to Eat, nutritionist Marion Nestle states, “…if you have diabetes or other such conditions, you are likely to be even more susceptible to the cholesterol-raising effects of eggs.” Since many diabetics also have high cholesterol, Dr. Bernstein’s diet seems to fly in the face of logic.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is the recently-released study which shows that a vegan diet offers the most opportunity for improvement of symptoms for diabetics.

The researchers found that after 22 weeks on the diet, 43 percent of those on the vegan diet and 26 percent of those on the standard diet were either able to stop taking some of their drugs such as insulin or glucose-control medications, or were able to control their condition with lower doses.

The vegan dieters lost 14 pounds (6.5 kg) on average while the diabetes association dieters lost 6.8 pounds (3.1 kg).

An important level of glucose control called a1c which gives a measure of how well-controlled blood sugar has been over the preceding three months, fell by 1.23 points in the vegan group and by 0.38 in the group on the standard diet. It was also found that LDL or “bad” cholesterol also fell by 21 percent in the vegan group and 10 percent in the standard diet group.

The vegan diet places no limits on calories, carbohydrates or portion sizes, all issues that diabetics had to regulate quite carefully.

From a health perspective, the vegan diet definitely comes out on top over an Atkins-type regime full of fat and cholesterol. Dr. Bernstein’s diet may also be difficult for most diabetics to adhere to once they get carb cravings they are not allowed to satisfy.

As a pseudo-vegan with a recently diagnosed diabetic friend, the vegan-positive study is great news to me. I don’t have to worry too much about having that friend over for dinner now, and hopefully I’ll be able to lend a hand as he transitions to a healthier style of eating.