hypoglycemia and veganism

[beanpole]

hi, I am new to the whole idea of veganism, and have been playing with the idea for a few weeks now and so i've been checking out a bunch of different recourses to learn if it's something I could really live with.

 

recently i developed hypoglycemia and i've been able to keep a handle on it for the most part, but it does require a good amount of protein throughout the day to keep my blood sugar in check. currently my family and i eat super clean other than the lean animal products (which really helps my hypoglycemia... but we all know that's ONLY the protein content talking).

 

however, after becoming exposed to the REAL truth about the animal consumption industry, i almost can't even stomach it if i wanted to. i am at a loss as to what to eat now. i have been trying different vegan recipes that claim to be high in protein, low in carbs + sugars (excess carbs and sugars really do not like me), but every one of them has quickly spiked my blood sugar and then sent it plummeting back down just as fast... then i feel awful. animal products have always been very good because i can pair them with whole grains, fruits, and veggies and it helps to counter the carbs/sugars and worked perfectly for me as it helped everything digest slower.

 

i really don't want to have to live the rest of my life on protein powder just to be vegan, and at the same time i am so grossed out, i can never eat animal products again. what do i do now? where do i start? what are some vegan protein foods that will keep me in check? how to i pass this crossroads?

 

HELP!

[lobsteriffic]

I'll preface this by saying I don't know much about hypoglycemia.

 

What about soy products? They are high in protein and lower in carbs...things like edamame, tofu, etc.

 

Do the carbs in legumes bother you?

[Cold Fission]

 

says something about it in this video.Around 5 min mark.

[strawberryriddick]

says something about it in this video.Around 5 min mark.

It started at 5:35 for anyone wanting to hear it, and what he said is the same thing that I understood of hypoglycemia: it means "low blood sugar." I don't have it, but a manager of mine did. Like me, he was also a personal trainer and into heavy lifting, but unlike me he is an omnivore. This part is important for your issue, beanpole. Despite being an omnivore, whenever my manager was "getting low blood sugar" (as he called it), he would grab something like fruit or rice and beans to eat. I didn't understand his condition, so I asked. "You know I try to do low-carb," he said, "But the thing that I can't do is get rid of my hypoglycemia, so I have to eat carbs...lots of 'em. What happens is that my blood sugar goes low...hypo meaning "low" and glycemia meaning "sugar"...and I have to eat something high in carbs to rectify that."

 

If eating meat seems to fix your issue, beanpole, then I would get checked out again to see if you really are hypoglycemic or if there's another condition that was misdiagnosed. By the very definition of the term, you wouldn't feel better eating meat.

[beanpole]

In simple layman's language, hypoglycemia is the body's inability to properly handle the large amounts of sugar that the average person consumes today. It's an overload of sugars and or carbs (which convert into sugars if more is taken in than the body needs). I have functional hypoglycemia, which is the oversecretion of insulin by the pancreas in response to a rapid rise in blood sugar or "glucose".

 

All carbohydrates (vegetables, fruits and grains, as well as simple table sugar), are broken down into simple sugars by the process of digestion. This sugar enters the blood stream as glucose and our level of blood sugar rises. The pancreas then secretes a hormone known as insulin into the blood in order to bring the glucose down to normal levels.

 

In hypoglycemia, the pancreas sends out too much insulin and the blood sugar plummets below the level necessary to maintain well-being.

 

Foods high in protein, and/or grainy foods like oatmeal take longer to digest and therefore the keep the blood sugars in check. high carb foods are really bad. you can have carbs, but in a healthy quantity and you want to balance it with a source of protein. straight carbs alone will wack your blood sugar out like no other. and anything refined is bad news.

 

that is why i want to go vegan. i am almost 75% there (aside from the protein issue). i am a big environment-friendly person, and i'd really love to top it off and go all the way by eliminating meat.

 

however because i work out so heavily, and i have hypoglycemia, and i am breast feeding still, it's like double wammy on my body as far as protein. just the breast feeding alone is made up of 65% whey protein. to replenish that alone not including what my body takes to repair itself after working out, and then to balance my blood sugar, am lost as to how i can do it. i really want to. i guess where there is a will there is a way... hopefully i can figure something out. my hubby and daughter don't eat meat and some of my close relatives are vegan, and i can barely stomach meat at this point, so i'm ready, just got to be really careful.

[Vegan Joe]

I didn't read your intro?

Many people take protein powders on this site because of their goals. If your using your muscle to a greater degree than normal you will need amino acids, but not just for you muscles, as amino acids are the building blocks of all of your cells. So to maintain high energy and strength your need to ensure you have enough.

In you case (not a doctor, just my opinion base on what I think I know ) if you want to workout and maintain a good body composition it doesn't require the use of animal products.

Studying up on glycemic load and index will help you with your diet. Mixing foods with high and low glycemic will bring it somewhere in the middle through digestion.

Also eating small and frequent meals should help with keeping your blood sugar normal, and allow your insulin production to steady out more instead of spiking all at once.

[Barb123]

I'm not sure if you're familiar with PCRM (physicians committee for responsible medicine) or not but they have many resources on their site about health issues, hypoglycemia among them. Their address is www.pcrm.org

Hopefully this could provide some guidance.

[lobsteriffic]

Foods high in protein, and/or grainy foods like oatmeal take longer to digest and therefore the keep the blood sugars in check.

 

What about beans/legumes? They have protein. They also have carbs but not simple refined carbs.

 

that is why i want to go vegan. i am almost 75% there (aside from the protein issue). i am a big environment-friendly person, and i'd really love to top it off and go all the way by eliminating meat.

 

Have you tried soy products like tofu, tempeh, etc.?

 

 

Barb's recommendation about the PCRM is a good one.

[beanpole]

thanks for all the help. i just discovered tvp. that is working awesome. at least it will give me a start until i can find some more protein rich goodies

[norgbirdie]

I was borderline hypoglycemic before I became a vegan. I never really understood what my problem was. I thought it was "normal" until I went all natural vegan and it all went away. I'm guessing you are not overweight, which was part of my problem. Are you still eating high fructose corn syrup, bleached enriched flour or refined sugar? apart from becoming a vegan I also cut out all "unnatural chemically modified" foods. I dont have the problem with my blood sugar anymore AT ALL and I dont worry too much about what I eat as long as it's within "the rules"