Goals: To explore and collect recipes using real food ingredients that are acceptable for YOU. And then to create a one- or two-week meal plan using the recipes and foods that you have determined are the best choices for YOU.

Many times members will ask us for an approved food list or for a diabetic-friendly meal plan. We can’t do that for YOU, because you are a unique individual, with your own level of diabetic health, possibly complicated by other health/medical issues. You have a specific dietary lifestyle, which may be dietary vegan, lacto-ovo vegetarian, or Adventist non-vegetarian or pescatarian. You have YOUR diabetes dietary protocol, which may be LCHF (low-carb high-healthy-fat, moderate protein), WFPB (high-carb low- or no-fat whole-food dietary vegan), ADA-compliant (following American Diabetes Association recommendations), or something else in between or a combination of the above.

For many of us, abstemiousness includes eliminating foods with most chemical additives, high fructose corn syrup, GMO, most artificial sweeteners (especially aspartame, as it’s a trigger for migraines for me), and MSG (also a trigger for migraines). For the lactose-intolerant, it would be dairy products. For those with celiac disease, it would be gluten. For some diabetics with arthritis, it would include nightshades. Some people have other specific food allergies, such as to tree nuts, or have made choices to abstain from specific foods, such as soy.

Adventist Vegetarian Diabetics recommends eating whole foods in as close to their natural state as possible. You can eat whole-foods plant-based, whole-foods animal*-based, or whole-foods plant- and animal*-based. You can eat whole foods no matter what your diabetes dietary protocol.

This is a good place to remind you to completely avoid trans fats, such as margarine, shortening, and vegetable/seed oils manufactured with high heat and chemicals. Also, continue to eliminate most processed foods, especially highly refined carbohydrates, such as any foods made with white flour and white sugar.

Avoid juices as well as juice drinks, both fruit and vegetable, and dried fruit, as they are concentrated sugar. Juices are lacking the fiber content of whole foods. Even smoothies, made by liquefying fruits and vegetables, are not really healthy for diabetics. And skip protein shakes and protein powders; they are processed foods!

Finding a Food List

All that being said, I will share with you a low-carb food list that is adaptable to Adventist non-vegetarians/pescatarians, lacto-ovo vegetarians, and dietary vegans. It is found at https://adventistvegetariandiabetics.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/food-lists-for-low-carb-high-fat1.pdf. Please feel free to download and print out. If you are a dietary vegan, this Vegan Keto Food List may be helpful, at https://herbivorepost.com/vegan-keto-food-list/.

If you are a dietary vegan following a high-carb low- or no-fat whole-foods dietary protocol, such as the one from Weimar Institute or Dr. Neal Barnard, all you need to know is that you can’t have oils (fats) of any kind except for what occurs naturally in whole foods, like avocados, olives, fresh coconut, nuts, and seeds. Not even extra virgin olive oil or organic unrefined expeller-pressed coconut oil. You cannot have most processed foods but must choose whole foods.

If you are following an ADA-compliant dietary protocol, you’ll have to depend on your ADA-trained diabetes educators and diabetes nutritionists to provide you with the information on what foods you can eat. There seems to be changes going on in the ADA recommendations and their website is not secure. So this is the only online resource I’m able to give you: https://www.diabetesfoodhub.org/articles/tips-for-using-the-diabetes-food-hub-meal-planner-and-grocery-list.html.

Recipes and Meal Plans

So start with the list of “safe” foods that you created from eating to your meter (https://adventistvegetariandiabetics.wordpress.com/diabetes-basics/eating-to-your-meter/) and build your recipes and customized menus and meal plans. Have fun!

*clean animals, per Leviticus and Deuteronomy