Hi Flora,

As a Type-1 diabetic, bananas are my daily staple. They are very low in fat and have a gentle blood-sugar rise rate. I use them for blood-sugar management. The key to diabetes management, both Type-1 and Type-2, is fat, which causes insulin resistance which causes Type-2 diabetes. Note: most Type-1 diabetics are also Type-2. Cutting the fat, cuts the diabetes.

Ken

Thank you so much Ken for replying to this question. It is the perfect answer. It is amazing how we have been led to believe that diabetes type II is caused by sugar instead of seeing the increased blood sugar levels as a symptom of a disease which is caused by excess dietary fat.

Thank you Ken, I was trying to figure out what was causing my heart burn /indigestion, I’ve been dealing with for about a week, it was almost like A gnawing feeling in my chest, almost Like I had something heavy stuck there. I finally had some relief last evening. Still burping though as well as not having a good BM , passing gas but I don’t have the urge either. I was having 2-3 since starting this vegan way of eating. As I said for the most the pain of indigestion is gone , no BM today so far.

Flora,  How much water are you drinking each day between meals?  Also what ratio of water to dry oats are you using when you cook the oats? I am just wondering if you might be a bit dehydrated and needing to eat more fresh vegetables and fruit.  

Sean, I’m doing the elimination dietFrom McDougall now so I’m eating a bowl of brown rice with cooked plums and baked sweet potatoes for breakfast. But I when I did the split pea soup for breakfast the day prior to that, I did have a couple of small BM’s? The problem was the horrible chest discomfort. It felt like I had something stuck in there.

Hi Flora,

I really don't know much about heartburn or indigestion. I have lots of experience with diabetes, but I am not a medical doctor by any means.

I am a bit surprised regarding your symptoms. If I understand correctly, heartburn is caused by excessive acid in the stomach coupled with a leaking esophageal sphincter. In my experience, plant-based foods are alkaline producing and animal sourced foods are acid forming. Seems like switching to plant based would relieve heartburn instead of cause it. Perhaps it's a gut flora issue. Experience with my wife revealed that gut flora is different between plant and animal sourced foods, thus switching from one to the other may cause a conflict until the gut flora changes. Although I'm unaware of anyone that suffered your symptoms, so don't take my musings too literal.

My personal experience is not with heartburn, but with irritable bowel syndrome that I suffered in the 1980's prior to changing my diet. Also, my wife suffered from bowel issues a few years ago. She became a patient of Dr. Carney for that reason, who put her on a vegan diet. She has been problem free ever since. Not sure if there is any connection between your heartburn and colon issues, but though I would just share just in case it could add any enlightenment.

Also for what it's worth, when I did my diabetic elimination diet during the 80's and 90's, I gave each food at least two weeks before making a determination, because I found the effects are often not immediate, taking at least two weeks to a month or more for the effect to stabilize for a reliable conclusion. Until the effects of one food has had time to clear, the change to another will be testing the combination of the two, clouding the results. Allowing time to for the previous effects to clear is the stabilizing period. In my experience, that is sometimes more than a month.

Ken I started the Dr McDougall elimination diet yesterday,is that the one you did ? I had some questions about it, I read it as if the list on the plan were to be included , not just the only foods to eat ?  I was able to sleep so well last night and Im feeling better today. Thanks for the information, I don’t know why I have the issues either, I threw out all that I had prepared for this WOE and cooking as I go to make sure I didn’t add anything extra that I shouldn’t have. wish me luck .

Hi Flora,

No, I didn't use Dr. McDougall's elimination diet. My elimination diet started out random. I did not know about Dr. McDougall, or any plant-based doctor for another 22 years. I hadn't even heard the word "vegan" during that time. I just picked a random food and started logging. First, I found that fats (any fat) and all animal sourced foods made control very difficult. I called it spastic blood-sugar. Then I found that potatoes and fruits made control very sharp, making it so much easier to control down to a fine tune level. From all the logging, I learned the effects of insulin resistance long before I even knew there was a term for it.

 Wishing You Success!

Ken

'I had some questions about it, I read it as if the list on the plan were to be included , not just the only foods to eat ?'

Flora if you are doing an elimination diet the foods on the list are the only foods you eat, and then you see how you do on them.  Then over time you add in another food and see how that affects you.  In that way you can hopefully see what foods are causing you problems.

Al

Thank you very much Alfred for your comment. That is certainly the way an elimination diet is supposed to work.