Welcome!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/adventistvegetariandiabetics

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You can also add Adventist Vegetarian Diabetics™ to your device’s home screen for your added convenience!

About Us

We are a very eclectic group of people who have diabetes (including pre-diabetes), who are at risk for diabetes, or who have a family member or friend with diabetes. We are current and former Seventh-day Adventists or not Adventists at all, but we understand that Adventists do not eat “unclean” meat/fish (as defined in Leviticus and Deuteronomy).

We are dietary vegans, lacto-ovo vegetarians, “Adventist non-vegetarians,” or some combination thereof.

Our individual dietary approaches to managing diabetes range from low-carb high-fat moderate-protein (LCHF), low-carb high-protein moderate-fat (LCHP), to moderate carb (ADA guidelines), and many variations in between. We do NOT recommend a high-carb low/no-fat dietary vegan (WFPB, aka “whole food plant-based”). We do support keto/low-carb dietary vegan.

If you are wondering why we post recipes with “clean” meat/fish in a “Vegetarian” group, read the “backstory” of how and why our Facebook support group came to be. It’s found at
https://adventistvegetariandiabetics.com/about/introduction/.

You may see occasional posts of links to music. This music represents that which a diabetic member has found lowers their stress levels and thus lowers their blood glucose. It follows that only diabetic members can post links to music because they are the ones who are checking their blood glucose on a daily basis.

We encourage you to subscribe to our blog at
https://adventistvegetariandiabetics.com/blog-posts/
which will be delivered directly to your email. Please be assured we will never share your email address with anyone else.

Finally, if you are looking for recipes (and would like to share diabetic-friendly recipes with your friends and family members), we strongly encourage you to peruse our collection of recipes in our supplementary blog and website. You can start at
https://adventistvegetariandiabetics.com/other-resources/recipes/.

Where Do I Start?

Whether you are newly diagnosed and don’t know where to start or if you’ve been living with diabetes for a while and are still struggling, you can take definite steps to improve your diabetic health. We strongly recommend that you:

Dietary Approaches to Diabetes Management

In our Facebook group, the most popular dietary lifestyles are lacto-ovo vegetarian and Adventist non-vegetarian. The most often used diabetes dietary approaches are low-carb high-healthy-fat (LCHF) and low-carb high-protein moderate-fat (LCHP). At the time of this writing, we have not been able to elicit success stories from high-carb low-fat whole-food dietary vegans (WFPB).

The major problem with dietary vegans is that they claim their method will “reverse diabetes” by eating freely of all vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes, without counting calories or carbohydrates. They do not recommend using a glucose meter to check blood sugar daily. They seem to depend only on annual or semi-annual A1C tests and “how I feel.” This approach is in total opposition to our tagline of “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

What We Recommend

We recommend Low-carb/Keto, and it can be used by vegans/vegetarians and non-vegetarians.

The USDA and ADA guidelines may be useful as transitions from the Standard American Diet (SAD).

We do NOT recommend the Standard American Diet (SAD) or the High-carb Low-fat Dietary Vegan (WFPB) approach for managing, controlling, reversing, or preventing diabetes. But we do support a dietary vegan lifestyle for those who choose it. However, we strongly recommend a low-carb/keto vegan dietary approach.

Learn About Diabetes

Learn as much as you can about diabetes in general and your diagnosis in particular. And, while you are learning, you can change your diabetes lifestyle (starting with the five essential habits detailed below). This page gives a list of the most important books we have found.

If you were raised Seventh-day Adventist, or even if you came into the church later in life, you have undoubtedly heard or read many times this classic quotation which has become the Core Values of Adventist Vegetarian DiabeticsTM: “Pure air, sunlight, abstemiousness, rest, exercise, proper diet, the use of water, trust in divine power—these are the true remedies” (Ellen G. White, Ministry of Healing, (Nampa: Pacific Press, 1905), page 127). It is from this statement that Weimar Institute popularized and copyrighted the acronym, NEWSTART®, representing Nutrition, Exercise, Water, Sunlight, Temperance, Air, Rest, and Trust, that has come to be known as “The 8 Laws of Health.”

Review The 8 Laws of Health and how each one relates to your diabetic health!

Nutrition – The best nutritional approach for any diabetic is one that they will stick to, one that is sustainable over the long term, a way of eating that is not just a diet but a lifestyle. And no one can tell you what that is for you. You have to “prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

Exercise – Walking is the best exercise for a diabetic. However, any exercise you enjoy enough to do every single day is the best for you. I once asked my doctor if I needed to exercise every day. Her response: “Are you a diabetic every day?”

Water – Includes drinking water (6-10 glasses/day), bathing, and handwashing before every blood glucose test.

Sunlight – Many studies provide evidence that sunshine may help prevent diabetes. Ten or 15 minutes in noontime summer sun leads to the production of 10,000 IU (International Units) of Vitamin D. The great thing is that, if you walk outdoors, you can get exercise, fresh air, and sunshine all at the same time!

Temperance – “Temperance” for a diabetic is abstaining from any foods, beverages, or practices that will harm your body and make your diabetes worse. For diabetics, the most important thing to abstain from is sugar. Other important practices are “portion control” and “intermittent fasting.”

Air – Getting sufficient fresh air will positively affect your overall diabetic health. So will mindful breathing.

Rest – There is a definite connection between sleep and diabetes. Sleep deprivation’s effect on diabetes is like insulin resistance, which prevents your body from using the insulin it makes. There is nighttime sleep (7-9 hours/night) and Sabbath rest (24 hours).

Trust in Divine Power – Members of any faith community need a support system they can trust, whether it is a deity or a belief. So do people who don’t believe in a god of any kind. Trust is essential for relief from stress, the No. 1 non-food cause for high blood sugar.

Five Essential Habits

Once you start to learn about diabetes (and this should continue indefinitely), it’s time to establish five essential habits that will provide the foundation for your success. Regardless of your dietary lifestyle (vegan, vegetarian, or “Adventist non-vegetarian”) or diabetes dietary protocol (ADA, LCHF, WFPB, etc.), it is vital that you establish these daily habits:

Definitions

ADA – The American Diabetes Association. Recommends 130 grams net carbs per day.

USDA – The U.S. Department of Agriculture developed MyPlate in 2011, which it calls “the official symbol of the five food groups” (Fruits, Vegetables, Grains, Protein, and Dairy).

Keto – Short for ketosis or ketogenic. Ketosis is a natural metabolic state in which your body runs primarily on fats and ketone bodies, instead of carbohydrates (i.e., glucose). Keto “diets” are low-carb, but not all low-carb “diets” are ketogenic.

SAD – Standard American Diet. High carb, high fat, no limit on carbs or calories.

WFPB – “Whole foods plant based” high-carb, low-fat, buzzword for dietary vegan. No limit on carbs or calories.

WOE – Way of eating.

Type 1 diabetes – Auto-immune disease, due to inability to produce insulin, injections of insulin must be administered daily.

Type 2 diabetes – Lifestyle disease, the body often makes adequate insulin but the insulin is not able to be used properly (due to insulin resistance)

Type 1.5 (LADA) – Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults. A slow-developing form of type 1.

Dietary Lifestyle – Typical dietary lifestyles include:

  • Dietary vegan – no meat, eggs, or dairy
  • Lacto-ovo vegetarian – no meat, but includes eggs and/or dairy
  • Adventist pescatarian – eats “clean” fish but no meat
  • Adventist non-vegetarian – eats “clean” meat/fish
  • Adventist flexitarian – mostly vegetarian, occasional “clean” meat/fish

Dietary Protocol – A detailed diet plan that states what, how, and when a person will eat and drink. For diabetics, this ranges from low carb/keto to high carb (or untracked). There does not seem to be a consensus of opinion about the definition of “low-carb.” But for purposes of discussion in Adventist Vegetarian Diabetics™, we have chosen these definitions:

  • “Prescription Strength” Keto(Dr. Eric Westman) (< 20 grams TOTAL carbs/day)
  • Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution(< 30 grams total carbs/day)
  • Very Low Carb(< 50 grams total carbs/day);
  • Low Carb(< 100 total grams carbs/day);
  • Moderate Carb(100-200 grams NET carbs/day);
  • High Carb(> 200 grams carbs per day, or untracked).

Adventist Vegetarian Diabetics Food Pyramid

The problem with the government’s original Food Guide Pyramid, released in 1992, was that it conveyed the wrong dietary advice. But then the Plate Method replaced the USDA’s MyPyramid guide on June 2, 2011, ending 19 years of USDA food pyramid diagrams. Nonetheless, on whimsy, I created this Food Pyramid based on the suggested low-carb high-fat (LCHF) way of eating for Adventist Vegetarian Diabetics™. Pescatarians would omit the meat. Lacto-ovo vegetarians would omit the meat/fish. Dietary vegans would also omit butter, cream, eggs, and cheeses.

What Can I Eat?

Low-carb Food List for Diabetics

Adventist Vegetarian Diabetics™ recommends eating whole foods that are unprocessed (or minimally processed) and in as close as possible to their natural state.

If it comes in a can, box, bottle, jar, or bag, it is probably processed. If it has a label, it should show ingredients and nutrition information. Learn to read these labels carefully and meaningfully! Note particularly the serving size and determine how many servings you are going to have.

This list shows a typical serving size and grams of total carbs in that size serving. Any serving more than 5 grams total carbs is not “keto-friendly” but may be suitable for low-carb or moderate-carb dietary protocols.

Search the USDA FoodData Central (https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/) to find information about other macronutrients and micronutrients of the foods shown in this list.

Or use a mainstream database like CalorieKing.com or MyFitnessPal.

Vegetables

Low-carb, non-starchy vegetables should be the foundation of any diabetic’s dietary protocol!

  • Alfalfa sprouts – 1 cup, 1.2g total carbs
  • Arugula (rocket) – 1 cup, 0.7g total carbs
  • Artichokes – ½ medium, 6.5g total carbs
  • Asparagus – ½ cup, 3.7g total carbs
  • Baby corn, canned (NOT mature corn!) – 13 pieces, 7.0g total carbs
  • Bamboo shoots – 1 cup, 4.3g total carbs
  • Bean sprouts – 1 cup, 6.3g total carbs
  • Beets – ½ cup, 6.0g total carbs
  • Bok choy – 1 cup, 3.1g total carbs
  • Broccoli – ½ cup, 5.6g total carbs
  • Broccoli sprouts – 1 cup, 0.7g total carbs
  • Brussels sprouts – ½ cup, 5.5g total carbs
  • Cabbage (all varieties) – ½ cup, 3.6g total carbs
  • Carrots – ½ cup, 6.0g total carbs
  • Cauliflower – ½ cup, 2.5g total carbs
  • Celery – ½ cup, 3.0g total carbs
  • Celeriac (celery root) – ½ cup, 4.6g total carbs
  • Chayote (Choko) – ½ cup, 4.1g total carbs
  • Chicory greens – 1 cup, 1.4g total carbs
  • Cucumber (without peel) – 1 cup, 2.6g total carbs
  • Eggplant (aubergine) – ½ cup, 4.3g total carbs
  • Endive – 1 cup, 0.8g total carbs
  • Fennel, raw – 1 cup, 6.3g total carbs
  • Garlic, raw – 1 clove, 1.0g total carbs
  • Green beans (string beans) – ½ cup, 4.9g total carbs
  • Greens (all varieties, including beet, chard, collards, kale, mustard, radish, spinach, and turnip) – average ½ cup, 3.7g total carbs
  • Jicama – ½ cup, 4.4g total carbs
  • Leeks – ½ cup, 1.0g total carbs
  • Lettuce (all varieties) – average 1 cup, 1.2g total carbs
  • Mushrooms – ½ cup, 4.1g total carbs
  • Okra – ½ cup, 3.9g total carbs
  • Onions – ¼ cup, 4.0g total carbs
  • Parsley – 1 sprig, < 0.1g total carbs
  • Peppers, green sweet – ½ cup, 3.5g total carbs
  • Peppers, red sweet – ½ cup, 4.7g total carbs
  • Pumpkin (puree) – ¼ cup, 5.0g total carbs
  • Radicchio – 1 cup, 1.8g total carbs
  • Radishes – 1 cup, 4.3g total carbs
  • Rutabaga (swede) – ½ cup, 7.4g total carbs
  • Scallions (spring onions) – ½ cup, 3.7g total carbs
  • Shallots – 1 T. chopped, 1.7g total carbs
  • Snow peas – 1 cup, 4.8g total carbs
  • Spaghetti squash – ½ cup, 5.0g total carbs
  • Spinach – 1 cup, 6.8g total carbs
  • Sugar snap peas – 1 cup, 6.0g total carbs
  • Summer squash – ⅓ cup, 3.0g total carbs
  • Tomatoes – ½ cup (chopped or sliced), 3.5g total carbs
  • Turnips – ½ cup, 3.9g total carbs
  • Watercress – 1 cup, 0.4g total carbs
  • Wax beans – ½ cup, 5.0g total carbs
  • Zucchini (courgette) – ½ cup, 3.5g total carbs

Avoid starchy vegetables, such as potatoes (all varieties), winter squash, parsnips, etc. Use carrots and beets as garnishes rather than a whole side dish. Some may find that tomatoes and onions spike their blood sugar if used in too great a quantity.

Fruit

The best fruits for diabetics are avocados and olives! Next would be most berries, with their anti-oxidant properties and low-carb, to boot! With these and the other fruits listed here, portion size is critical.

  • Avocado – ½ cup (cubed), 6.4g total carbs
  • Black raspberries – ¼ cup, 4.0g total carbs
  • Blackberries – ¼ cup, 3.7g total carbs
  • Blueberries – ¼ cup, 5.4g total carbs
  • Cranberries, unsweetened – ¼ cup, 3.0g total carbs
  • Grapefruit (half) – ½ medium, 10.3g total carbs
  • Lemon – 1 wedge, 0.7g total carbs
  • Lime – 1 wedge, 0.9g total carbs
  • Olives, ripe – 4 olives, 1.0g total carbs
  • Raspberries – ¼ cup, 3.7g total carbs
  • Rhubarb, unsweetened – ½ cup, 5.5g total carbs
  • Strawberries – ¼ cup sliced, 3.7g total carbs

“Clean” Meat/Poultry/Fish

[Omit this section if you are vegetarian/vegan]

We suggest organic, grass-fed meats and cage-free, pasture-raised poultry. If you eat processed meat, such as beef, chicken, or turkey bacon, beef salami, beef pepperoni, beef, chicken, or turkey hot dogs, etc., try to get a brand/variety that is uncured (does not contain nitrites/nitrates). All meat/poultry/fish is 0 grams total carbs.

  • Beef
  • Bison
  • Chicken
  • Deer
  • Duck*
  • Goat
  • Goose*
  • Lamb
  • Quail
  • Turkey
  • Veal

*Duck and goose are traditionally not eaten by Seventh-day Adventists, although they are permitted in Judaism.

We suggest wild-caught fish (not farmed).

  • Anchovies
  • Bass
  • Cod
  • Flounder
  • Haddock
  • Halibut
  • Perch
  • Pollock
  • Salmon
  • Sardines
  • Snapper
  • Trout
  • Tuna
  • Whitefish

If you buy canned fish or meat, be sure to read the label for ingredients. Choose a brand/variety that contains just the meat/fish and water or olive oil.

Dairy

[Omit this section if you are vegan, ovo-vegetarian, or lactose-intolerant]

Dairy milk is too high in sugar (lactose) for diabetics. However, we can eat full-fat dairy products, such as:

  • Butter* – 0g total carbs
  • Cheeses, natural** – read the label to find total carbs
  • Cottage cheese (full-fat) – ½ cup, 5.0g total carbs
  • Cream (heavy whipping cream) – 1 T., 1.0g total carbs
  • Cream cheese – 2 T. (1 oz.), 2.0g total carbs
  • Kefir (plain, unsweetened, homemade is best) – ½ cup, 6.0g total carbs
  • Sour cream (Daisy® full-fat) – 2 T., 1.0g total carbs
  • Yogurt, plain (especially whole milk Greek yogurt. Our favorite brands are unsweetened Siggi® and Total FAGE® 5%.)

*Vegans can buy vegan butter, usually made with coconut oil.

**Note that not all cheeses are vegetarian. For example, Parmesan cheese is usually made with animal rennet, though many brands in the United States use vegetable rennet.

We avoid dairy products labeled low-fat or fat-free, because typically when the producer takes out the fat, they add sugar to make it taste better! And totally avoid processed cheese-like products, such as Velveeta®, Kraft Singles®, Cheez Whiz®, etc.

If you would like to drink/use non-dairy milk, such as almond milk, coconut milk, hemp milk, etc., be sure to get the unsweetened variety. Check the label for the amount of total carbs/serving. Do not use oat milk or rice milk.

Eggs

[Omit this section if you are vegan or lacto-vegetarian.]

We recommend eggs from organic cage-free pasture-raised poultry. Eat the whole egg, not just the whites!

  • Egg – 1 large, 0.6g total carbs

Healthy Fats

All healthy fats contain 0g total carbs and do not raise blood glucose.

  • Avocado oil
  • Butter*
  • Coconut oil
  • Extra virgin olive oil (in amber glass bottles)
  • Ghee (clarified butter)

*Vegans can buy vegan butter, usually made with coconut oil.

Avoid margarine, shortening, and vegetable oils (including canola, corn, cottonseed, grapeseed, safflower, soybean, sunflower).

Grains (and grain-based foods)

Most grains (including whole grains) and cereals are too high in carbohydrates for diabetics. This includes breads, rice, oatmeal, Cream of Wheat®, pasta (all varieties), cakes, bagels, doughnuts, etc. You can:

  • Make chaffles with just eggs and cheese (1 egg + ½ cup mozzarella = 1 serving)
  • Make baked goods with almond flour and coconut flour
  • Make or buy cauliflower rice
  • Make zucchini noodles (spiralizing)
  • Buy shirataki noodles or hearts of palm noodles (check labels for carb content)
  • Make hot and cold cereals with nuts, seeds, and coconut

Legumes

Most legumes are too high in carbohydrates for diabetics. The lowest carb legumes are:

  • Soybeans (including black soy beans, but NOT black beans!) – ½ cup, 7.0g total carbs
  • Lupini beans – ¼ cup, 3.0g total carbs
  • Edamame (green soybeans) – ½ cup, 9.0g total carbs
  • Green peas – ¼ cup, 5.0g total carbs
  • Peanuts – 1 oz., 5.0g total carbs
  • Garbanzos (chickpeas) – 1 oz (2 T.), 5.0g total carbs
  • Lentils – ⅛ cup (2 T.), 5.0g total carbs

Nuts & Seeds

Nuts

  • Almond flour – 1 c., 6.0g total carbs
  • Almonds, raw – 1 oz. (24 whole kernels), 6.0g total carbs
  • Brazil nuts – ¼ c. (6 kernels), 3.0g total carbs
  • Cashews, raw – 1 oz. (18 kernels), 8.6g total carbs*
  • Coconut flour (technically, coconut is a fruit) – 2 T., 6.0g total carbs
  • Hazelnuts – ⅛ c., 6.0g total carbs
  • Macadamia nuts – ¼ c., 5.0g total carbs
  • Pecans – ¼ c., 4.0g total carbs
  • Pili nuts – ¼ c., 4.0g total carbs
  • Pine nuts – ¼ c., 4.0g total carbs
  • Pistachios, raw, shelled – 1 oz. (49 kernels), 7.9g total carbs*
  • Walnuts – ¼ c., 3.0g total carbs

*Cashews and pistachios are not low carb

Note: Peanuts are a legume, not a nut

Seeds

  • Chia seeds – 1 tsp., 1.0g total carbs
  • Flaxseeds, whole or ground – 2 T., 5.0g total carbs
  • Hemp hearts – 3 T., 2.0g total carbs
  • Poppy seeds – 1 T., 2.0g total carbs
  • Pumpkin seeds – ¼ c., 2.0g total carbs
  • Sesame seeds – 2 T., 3.0g total carbs
  • Sunflower seeds – ¼ c., 6.0g total carbs

Beverages

The best beverage is plain water! However, you can:

  • Infuse water with lemons, limes, cucumbers, strawberries, etc.
  • Drink seltzer water or sparkling water (unsweetened)
  • Drink club soda
  • Chill your water (or add ice cubes) – Sip, rather than swig, cold water. Do not drink ice water with meals.

Here are our recommendations if you drink:

  • Soda – Most sodas, including most diet sodas, are not good choices. Both are linked with kidney failure. Put a squeeze of lemon or lime in seltzer water. Or look for Zevia® (brand) sodas, which are sweetened with stevia.
  • Smoothies – Most smoothies are fruit-based. These have far too many carbs for diabetics. Look for recipes that use avocado or unsweetened nut milks and a small amount of nut butter.
  • Juices – No fruit or vegetable juices or fruit drinks. NONE.
  • Coffee or tea – Black or with heavy cream or unsweetened coconut cream is ideal. Some people like “bulletproof” coffee or tea with coconut oil and/or butter. Others have had spikes from black coffee. Note: Coffee alternatives, like Pero™, are typically too high in carbs.
  • Alcohol – Adventists traditionally do not drink alcohol. Some Adventists who would not drink alcoholic beverages use alcohol in cooking on the premise that the alcohol “burns out” and leaves only the flavor.
    The longer you cook, the more alcohol cooks out, but you have to cook food for about 3 hours to fully erase all traces of alcohol. A study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Nutrient Data lab confirmed this and added that food baked or simmered in alcohol for 15 minutes still retains 40 percent of the alcohol.
    We suggest that you skip all alcohol for a month, while you learn to eat low carb. After that, if/when you drink alcohol, test low-carb options like champagne, red wine, or dry white wine. Spirits like whiskey, gin, tequila, rum, and vodka are free of carbs. Drink straight or add a low-carb mixer. Avoid beer, juices, or sweet drinks.
    Strict portion control of alcoholic drinks is required.

Sweeteners

Sugar

Eliminate sugar in all its forms! This includes agave, white sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, coconut sugar, date sugar, corn syrup/high fructose corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, molasses, dextrose, maltodextrin, etc.

Artificial Sweeteners

All artificial sweeteners are less than ideal. However, they do have a place in:

  • Cooking and baking for a special occasion, sweet foods that are not eaten frequently
  • The beginning of a low-carb no-sugar dietary protocol, as a transition food

CAVEAT: If/when you use artificial sweeteners, you must calculate the TOTAL carbs in the amount that you use. Some people do metabolize artificial sweeteners (and experience blood sugar spikes), so you cannot assume that you don’t!

These are the major artificial sweeteners that diabetics use:

Acesulfate potassium – Common in diet sodas. Contains methylene chloride. This chemical can harm kidneys. It can cause headaches, depression, nausea, and mental confusion.

Allulose – Found in wheat and some fruit. Not metabolized. Good for baking, but pricey.

Aspartame (Equal®, Nutrasweet®) – May cause obesity by killing good gut bacteria. Is a trigger for migraines in some people.

BochaSweet™ – Made from the kabocha squash (Japanese pumpkin), described as “natural” xylitol (see below).

Monkfruit – Comes from an Asian plant. May have antioxidant effects. Does spike some people’s blood sugar.

Stevia – Comes from a plant. As a powder, it can have a very bitter aftertaste. Liquid forms taste much better and they come in flavors. Stevia is heat stable and can be used in baking.

Sucralose (Splenda®) – Consumption has been linked to leukemia, weight gain, obesity, diabetes, liver inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, and other illnesses.

Sugar alcohols – Ending in “itol.” Some of these can cause bloating, GI upset, and a laxative effect. May have a “cooling” sensation that does not work in some recipes.

Erythritol seems to be well tolerated, unlikely to cause a stomach upset.

Maltitol increases blood sugar almost as much as regular table sugar and should be avoided.

Sorbitol can cause severe digestive side effects.

Xylitol can kill dogs, even in small amounts.

Be wary of artificial sweeteners offered in individual packets in restaurants and fast food places. Read the labels! Very often the first ingredient is a form of sugar, with only a small amount of the sweetener on the label.

What About Foods Not on This List?

Search the USDA FoodData Central (https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/) to find information about macronutrients and micronutrients of the foods shown in (or not shown in) this list. Or use a mainstream database like CalorieKing.com or MyFitnessPal.

Eat to Your Meter

Then “eat to your meter.” Make a list of all your “safe” foods.

Here’s how to “eat to your meter”:

  1. Baseline: Test pre-meal to get a fasting baseline. Ideally, a non-diabetic normal is 70–99 mg/dL (or 3.8–5.6 mmol/l). If it’s higher than that, it’s okay—for now. Just write it down.
  2. Blood sugar peak: Test one (1) hour after taking the first bite of your meal because that’s when blood sugar typically peaks. If you are clearly diabetic, it may not peak until 90 minutes after the start of your meal. If your blood sugar rises over 20–30 mg/dL (or over 1.4–2.0 mmol/l), that’s a red flag that the food being tested may not be a suitable one to include in your diet.
  3. Blood sugar normalization: Test two (2) to three (3) hours after taking the first bite of your meal, as that is when your blood sugar should come back down to close to your pre-meal number. If it does not, keep testing!
  4. Delayed blood sugar peak and normalization: If your meal is high in fiber (such as whole grains and legumes) or if it is high in protein of any kind, test again at four (4), five (5), or even six (6) hours after said meal, because high-fiber high-protein meals typically take longer to digest and may cause your blood sugar to remain high for several hours after the meal.
  5. Repeat this testing process for a specific food several times on different days. Make sure the rest of the content of the meal stays consistent. Keep accurate records with dates and test results.

Composite A1C/Blood Glucose Charts

Group Rules

1 Getting all posts and comments
When you join Adventist Vegetarian Diabetics, we hope you will turn on All Notifications, so you won’t miss something that might be important to you. Also, because we want you to be able to comment on your experience(s) and opinions, and participate in challenges and polls.

2 Recipes with unclean meat
This should be obvious, but please do not share recipes, photos, or meal plans with unclean meat (pork, shellfish, etc.) UNLESS you give a clean meat or vegetarian alternative for an ingredient. If in doubt, please private message an Admin.

3 Share what works for YOU
We are always interested in knowing what our members do to improve their diabetic health, and we want to hear YOUR success stories! Always with the understanding that what works for one may not work for everyone.

4 If you post something, please DO NOT DELETE YOUR POST!
The reason for this is that someone may respond to your post with valuable information, not only for you but for others as well. And if you delete *your* post you are also deleting that valuable information in the comments below your post!

5 Be kind and respectful
This group is for the purpose of support, affirmation, and information about diabetes. It is NOT a platform for political or religious debates. We want to make sure everyone feels safe. Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate. Becoming argumentative with an Admin (or anyone else) is grounds for removal from the group. Do NOT block an Admin as that action will get you banned permanently from the group.

6 “Adding” members
Please feel free to share this Facebook group with anyone you know who you think might be interested. Any member may “add” a new member, but potential members have to be approved by an Admin AND they have to answer the three (3) questions. If you “add” a member, please be sure to contact that member and tell them they are required to answer the three questions. We will not add someone without their explicit permission.

7 Sharing links to articles, videos, or other sites
If you share a link to an article, blog, site, or YouTube channel, please share only what has to do with diabetes, with other physical conditions related to or affected by diabetes, or with cultural Adventism related to health.

8 No spam or selling allowed
Any member who posts spam or attempts to sell products will have their post deleted and will be banned permanently from the group. If you see such a post, please do NOT “Like” it. Please “Report to Admin” immediately! (But do NOT report to Facebook as that could result in getting our group shut down.)

9 If you are unhappy with the group for any reason
If, for any reason, you decide that our group is not a good fit for you, please just leave quietly. You can figure out how to do this; you don’t have to publicly request an Admin to remove you! We are not an airport; there is no need to announce your departure.

Disclaimer

The contents of this website, such as text, graphics, images, and other material contained here (the “Content”) are for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The Content is not suitable for self-administration without regular monitoring by a qualified medical professional in a supervised program. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read in our Content.

For a printable (PDF) copy of this QUICKSTART GUIDE, download here:

QUICKSTART GUIDE