wow, that's tough! do you have to get rid of fruits and some carb veggies, too? then i'd think you'd be really limited! i'm interested in what your book has to say. i can only think of adding lots of beans, lentils, and nuts to your diet as well.

We can do fruits, but he said not too heavy on the bananas. No white potatoes.

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I had gestational diabetes. I learned a lot about the diabetic diet and they told me that of course sugar is something to avoid, but that carbs are what you need to restrict because they turn to sugars in your body and when you have too many, your body can't process the sugar as well. So, I learned a lot about carbs and what foods have carbs and what don't. I had to count how many carbs I was eating and limit them. I also had to eat 6 times a day to keep my blood sugar regulated.

You might want to check out some diabetic cookbooks or something like that. They may even have diabetic vegan cookbooks. You can always check anyway.

I'm curious though, I learned from counting carbs that all veggies have a bit of carbs in them so they counted as small amounts of carbs in my diet. Are you just supposed to reduce carbs or completely eliminate them? I think even beans, legumes and such have some carbs as well. The things I learned were zeros for carbs (and I didn't become an expert or anything I was only diabetic for a couple months) were cottage cheese and meat. Did the doctor explain how that would work? Or, of course, I could just be uninformed on different veggies or other protein sources that don't have any carbs!

Hope that helps somewhat!

Thanks. We can do veggies, but no corn or white potatoes. He said we should actually do lots of veggies coated in coconut, olive, flax and hemp oils. I don't know about things like oats or whole grains like quinoa. Our plan is to do a bit of those, and keep a list of everything we're eating to show the dr. We have another appt in a week, so he can tell us then whether or not we're on the right track.

We will cut out all flour and refined sugars. Though, I plan to ask him about vital wheat gluten, b/c it's a very low carb "flour."

I need to learn how to use the fatty oils he recommended. Of the list, I've only cooked w/olive oil.

Wow, it sounds like it would be really hard to ensure you're getting all of the nutrients you need on a carb-free vegan diet! Are you supplementing?

I have a cookbook that I think would be full of great recipes for you. It's called Whole Life Nutrition and is written with allergies in mind, so there are lots of ideas for substitutes for various grains and eggs and dairy. Most of the recipes are vegetarian and many are vegan or have ideas for making them vegan.

I'm worried about us getting all we need, so will try it for a week and then review our meals w/the dr. Hopefully we can cut out enough, w/out cutting everything. ds is nursing and we both take a daily multivitamin.

i'll look for that book - thanks!

You might want to check out the Body Ecology Diet by Donna Gates. It is geared toward people with digestive problems and yeast. Everything is no-carb or sugar free, and to help you restore your good intenstinal flora and yeast in your digestive tract. She has suggestions in there for vegetarians also. Also, The Fat Flush Cookbook, or The no-grain Diet. These are both diets that don't use grains or carbs. I've been trying to eat more veggies and less grains myself so I'm always on the look out for good advice and recipie ideas.

Good Luck

Mary