I Tried a Plant-Based Diabetic Diet for a Day: Here’s What I Learned

Starting off my day in the life of a vegetarian with diabetes, I was panicked that I would not be able to eat the foods I enjoy, like bagels. However, I felt less worried after I calculated how many carbohydrate servings I had for the day. As someone who should be consuming between 1800 – 2000 calories, I determined I had between 13 – 16 carbohydrate servings. (Normally, a dietitian would help someone with diabetes calculate these numbers.) I felt encouraged that I had a lot more servings than expected. But, I was still nervous because I wanted to make sure I could eat enough protein, plus I love sweets and snacking. 

            Overall, by the end of the day I was surprised at how simple following a vegetarian diabetic diet was. I used “Choose Your Foods: Exchange Lists for Diabetes” from the American Diabetes Association (4) for tracking my carbs and I got to eat what I wanted. For breakfast, I had toast, eggs, and a mandarin orange (2 carb servings). My morning snack was a banana with peanut butter (2 carb servings). Next, my lunch consisted of frozen vegetable dumplings and a couple pieces of dark chocolate (4 carb servings). Afterwards, I had cheese and crackers for an afternoon snack (2 carb servings). Finally, for dinner I made a delicious tofu broccoli rice dish! My housemate also made cupcakes which I was delighted to try because I was still within my carb servings range for my evening meal! (5 carb servings). All together I was able to spread my 14 servings throughout the day while still following my vegetarian diet.

I felt like this diet was flexible because I could have added more “free foods,” meaning they have little to no carbs. Adding a salad or hard-boiled egg to my lunch would’ve been great options. In addition, I could have eaten less chocolate and added a serving of more carbs, like potato or a dinner roll. As you can see, the diabetic diet is not as restrictive and there is a lot more freedom than one might think. 

            Even though my experience was a success, there were still some challenges I faced throughout the day. Reading food labels to check for carbs, using “Choose your Foods”, and pulling out my calculator to count servings throughout the day was sometimes irritating. But, I know that for people with diabetes, this all becomes second nature. None of these problems or setbacks are truly unsolvable, as it all takes practice. 

Additionally, being aware of what I was eating helped me think about the protein in my diet. When people start a plant based diet, they worry they won’t be getting enough protein. I learned that it can easily be a part of a plant based diabetic diet, and I would like to share some tips from my experience. First, don’t be afraid when making this change in your diet, stay confident in yourself that you can succeed! The American Diabetes Association has a lot of information on plant based choices in diabetic diets. Talking to your dietitian when deciding to go plant based is also recommended, and they can provide resources as well. The next step is to use these resources to become familiar with plant sources of protein. Just like looking at nutrition labels for carbohydrates, you can look at the protein content as well. Practicing thinking about the protein in your meals can become an easy habit! Be aware that some plant based protein sources count towards carbohydrate servings, so you’ll have to plan accordingly. These include beans, peas, lentils, soy based meat alternatives, and hummus. Finally, try to incorporate a protein source in every meal. This can be eggs, cheese, beans, nuts, tofu, etc. 

            Although I had my initial concerns that following a vegetarian diabetic diet would be difficult, my experience shows that it can actually be simple and successful. This is why I recommend that if you are someone managing diabetes and are interested in trying a plant based diet, then you should go for it! Don’t forget to talk to your dietitian for the advice and support for making this exciting change!