Two years ago I decided to adopt a plant-based, whole foods, vegan diet and it has been one of the best life decisions I have ever made, both in terms of my diabetic life and my health overall.

As I have posted previously I decided to try a vegan diet after watching the documentary Forks Over Knives. Highlighting the health benefits of a diet without animal proteins, I was unsure if I could actually maintain this style of eating. Whilst I have never really eaten a lot of meat, as a diabetic I used to rely on dairy products such as milk, yoghurt and cheese to give me the carbohydrates I had always been told I really needed to keep my sugar levels up, avoiding hypos. I was very unsure if I would be able to cut out all these products and still maintain a stable sugar level.

My concerns were at first valid. The first two months of the conversion to a vegan diet were very rough. As I immediately cut out all dairy other than some occasional cheese, I hadn’t factored how much I needed to also reduce the levels of insulin I was taking. The result of reducing the amount of sugar laden milk and yoghurt I ate for breakfast without reducing my insulin intake adequately meant that I had many low sugar hypos and caused both myself and my husband a lot of stress, as he was the one who needed to continually bring me out of my often diabetic coma state.

However once I had stabilised my insulin dose and adapted to a plant based diet, my sugar levels started to even themselves out. Now two years later I have gone from having 5 injections a day (36 Lantus, 6 Humalog in the morning, 6 Humalog at lunch, 6 Humalog at dinner, 2 Lantus before bed) to now only having 2 injections in the morning , 15 Lantus and 2 Humalog. That’s it. The reduction in my insulin intake is dramatic. I am now on less than half of what I used to be on and I am still lowering my dosage as my sugar levels continue to trend lower than higher.

Additionally in the first three or so months after switching to a vegan diet I lost approximately 10kgs. I was travelling as I had done for the previous few years, had not increased my exercise and had done nothing else other than stopped eating animal products. I couldn’t stop the weight from coming off. My clothes were huge and falling off of me and upon my return to Australia 6 months into this new diet, my friends and family were shocked at how good I looked.

Two years on, having not stepped on a scale at all in the past eighteen months, I think I have lost 12 – 14 kgs. My body has reached a stable weight I am really happy with. I have also found that my weight does not fluctuate anywhere near as much as it did before I changed to vegan eating. I am not a bird and enjoy eating a good healthy diet, but as most of my food is non-processed and all is plant-based, I am not consuming the sugar, additives, fat or salt that I had been previously. I believe cutting out dairy and processed food is the biggest reason for my weight loss. It is absolutely possible to be vegetarian or vegan and still be eating an unhealthy diet if that diet consists of packaged food. I used to live on packaged musli/granola bars, soft drink or jelly beans and candy to raise my sugar levels when they were low. No longer. If I eat any of these products I feel incredibly ill and it seems my tastebuds have adjusted to eating less sugar, and if I do take a bite of a packaged granola bar I am overwhelmed with the sweet taste.

So what do I take in a sugar emergency now? Usually I have a bottle of honey on hand. Now I know many vegans will freak out that I am eating something that can be classed as an animal product, but as a type 1 diabetic who switched to the plant-based diet for the benefit of my health, honey is something that I simply can’t cut out.

I also have a couple of packaged products that I keep on hand for low sugar situations such as crackers. Whilst I try not to consume packaged goods, in my life sometimes this is unavoidable. However I will always read the package to make sure the product does not contain any form of milk or egg. It is shocking how many packaged products contain milk or egg derivatives, powered milk and preservatives.

Finally switching to a vegan diet has also meant I have stopped taking cholesterol tablets. My endocrinologist recommended I begin taking Lipitor tablets approximately four years ago as my cholesterol level was 4.8. Whilst this is not overly high compared to others with high cholesterol, my doctor suggested that I begin taking Lipitor to ensure we had my levels under control as soon as possible. When I first went on the tablets, I was disappointed. I didn’t want to be taking tablets everyday for the rest of my life! I was already on insulin and now I need to be on Lipitor as well? That’s not good.

So for four years I took 20mg of Lipitor everyday. Then six months after switching to the plant-based diet I read that the only way people can consume cholesterol is by eating animal products. This is not the only reason that people can have high cholesterol, but eating animal products greatly contributes to the level of bad cholesterol in your blood. So without doctors advice I decided to stop taking the Lipitor tablets. I had seen such good results from my weight loss, diabetes control and reduced insulin levels, I felt that as I was returning to Australia in six months time, I would stop taking the Lipitor and get tested when I returned to see what my levels were.

Upon my return my doctor did test my levels and also reviewed the history. Whilst taking 20mg of Lipitor on my former diet my previous level had been 3.1. After being on a vegan diet for twelve months and not taking Lipitor for six of those months, my cholesterol level was 3.6.

The doctor was pleasantly surprised. I explained that I had changed to a vegan diet, that I really did not want to be taking these tablets at all and she said that as the result was only 3.6 that was not a problem.

So as a result of switching to a vegan diet I have lost 12 – 14kgs, reduced my daily injections from five a day to two, more than halved the amount of insulin I’m taking and corrected my cholesterol levels so I could stop taking Lipitor entirely.

As I said, changing to a vegan diet has been one of the best life decisions I have ever made.