Sometimes whenever my blood sugars start creeping up, I have to go back to the basics of what I learned years ago that has kept me off of medication. There are so many food temptations every day that it’s tough not to cheat every now and then.
For the most part, I’m very disciplined, but it doesn’t take much deviation from my plant-based diet to increase my blood sugars to higher than desired levels.
Cruise Control
Whenever I was first diagnosed, I was extremely passionate about researching methods of keeping me off of medication. I’m still passionate, but now that I’ve settled into a successful routine, the stress has been greatly reduced with my disease management.
That said, I still have to be very careful with what I eat on daily basis. As I always preach, the more uncooked (raw) foods you eat, the lower your blood sugars will be. Uncooked foods retain many more nutrients relative to cooked foods, which helps heal your body.
Reducing the Inflammation
I’m a firm believer that T1D is as much a disease about excess inflammation than it is about getting your beta cells destroyed. I believe the more raw foods you eat, the more your body can heal which in turn reduces the inflammation.
This reduced inflammation allows my pancreas to function as efficiently as possible to produce the insulin necessary to manage my blood sugars to near non-diabetic levels. This explanation sounds plausible, but who really knows. Whatever I’m doing is working, so I’ll just keep at it.
The Benefits of Raw Food
My point with this blog is to focus on the great benefits of raw foods and the creative recipes that you can use to make delicious meals that help heal your body.
My breakfast and lunches are always raw vegan, but my dinners are mostly cooked vegan. I try and mix a raw meal in for dinner at least a couple times a week to try and help heal my body and keep my blood sugars down.
I’m typically fine with eating cooked dinners, but there is a difference that I notice the morning after when eating a cooked vs. uncooked meal. It’s not a massive difference, but very noticeable which = less stress.
Fasting Blood Sugars Cooked vs. Uncooked
I’d say my fasting blood sugars are usually around 100 in the mornings after I eat a raw dinner vs. around 110 if I eat a cooked dinner. Not a big difference, but noticeable.
Recently I wanted to do some research and try and find some more raw meals that are conducive to the plant-based low carb diet that I follow. Due to time constraints with work and dealing with two kids, I decided to outsource the project to a nutritionist that I was introduced to.
Outsourcing Raw Recipes
Her name is Deanna Mollicone, and she has a website at www.deesdailydish.com. She is currently working to become a registered dietitian and she creates meal plans for individuals. I worked with Deanna and explained my dietary restrictions. Our goal was to find 20 or so raw vegan / low-carb recipes that I could mix in with my diet.
Deanna ended up doing an excellent job and uncovered some great dietary options that I could choose from. I wanted to share some of those recipes for you T1Ds out there reading this blog.
Creative Raw Recipes for Everyone
As you’ll see below, you can get quite creative with uncooked plant-based meals. I can’t promise these will taste as good as a big mac with fries from McDonalds, but you will be astounded at the positive effect that these foods will have on your blood sugars. Not to mention your overall sense of well-being and health will be greatly enhanced by mixing these meals into your diet.
Raw Pad Thai with Spicy Almond Sauce
Smashed Avocado Kelp Noodle and Lemon Bowl
Broccoli Hoisini Sauce Parsnip Rice
Roasted Cauliflower and Kale Soup (Not Raw but Good)
Grilled Mediterranean Vegetables on White Bean Mash (Partially Raw but Good)
Bon Appetit…
Awesome – thanks! Great details!