Lee Ann Thill was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 5, back in 1978.\u00a0 \u201cI had just started kindergarten, and had all the classic symptoms \u2013 peeing a lot, drinking a lot, weight loss. My mom took me to the pediatrician after she realized there was something wrong, and I was diagnosed. We went straight to the hospital, where I stayed for two weeks. \u201c<\/p>\n
Like many of us who were diagnosed decades ago, the narratives around food were confusing.\u00a0 From sweets restrictions to the exchange diet, there wasn\u2019t a set \u201cdiabetes diet\u201d that people followed.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t remember following a diet, aside from avoiding sweets. My mom had an interest in \u2018healthful\u2019 eating and fitness, so the way we ate at home reflected the dieting trends of the times, which amounted to less refined grains, and lower fat foods. I was still allowed to have \u2018sweets\u2019 on special occasions, but we typically didn\u2019t have foods like that in the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, 40 years later, Lee Ann has moved to a vegan diet and lifestyle to manage both her diabetes and her desire to affect positive social change.\u00a0 \u201cAt age 14, I developed an eating disorder, and didn\u2019t recover until age 32,\u201d she said. \u00a0\u201cBecoming vegan has reinforced my healing process. For some people, it might appear that I\u2019ve traded one category of forbidden foods for another, but as a vegan, I don\u2019t think of, let\u2019s say, a cheeseburger, as food. \u00a0Plus, I eat vegan cheeseburgers, so it\u2019s not like I\u2019m missing out.\u00a0 An important idea that has emerged for me from my eating disorder recovery is that everyone \u2013 including animals \u2013 deserves to be respected for exactly who they are, nourished, and free from harm.\u201d<\/p>\n
The path to veganism was a slow process for Lee Ann, who followed what she called a \u201chalf hearted reducitarian<\/a> [a commitment to eating less meat] lifestyle for several years, partly motivated by health concerns, and partly motivated by an emerging awareness that there was something questionable about meat.\u00a0 Inspired in 2013 by the documentary VEGUCATED<\/a>, Lee Ann set her sights on transitioning to a vegan diet.\u00a0 \u201cAt first, I set a goal to eat at least one vegan meal a day. It was a fun challenge for me to experiment with new recipes and foods. Once I started to change the types of food I was buying, and had some \u201cgo-to\u201d recipes, it became easier to increase the frequency of vegan meals. I really enjoyed that process, felt accomplished, and felt physically and emotionally better. By January 2014, I was eating all vegan at home, and maybe having one or two vegetarian meals or snacks away from home, so deciding to be vegan at that point, wasn\u2019t a big change.\u201d<\/p>\n Some people with diabetes are frustrated by the higher carbs found in vegan\/vegetarian recipes, and are often deterred from experimenting with vegan foods due to the carb load.\u00a0 But Lee Ann has found that portion sizes and substitutions make a huge difference in managing those concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI add lower carb foods to \u201cthin out\u201d the carbs,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cI make a chickpea-potato curry, but I load it with greens, zucchini, peppers, celery, carrots, and pressed\/crumbled extra firm tofu.\u00a0 I eat it like a stew, no rice, topped with avocado and pumpkin seeds. Another strategy is to play with portion sizes if you have a higher carb main dish. I recently made lasagna with cashew-based ricotta, and had a \u201cside dish\u201d portion, with a big salad loaded with veggies that was lower carb.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n She also employs some \u201cfood math\u201d in order to build her meals.\u00a0 \u201cI rely on a veggie bowl formula. I keep a rotating selection of cooked veggies and prepared grains in the fridge.\u00a0 The formula is flexible to meet specific needs, and you can play with proportions to keep it lower carb.\u00a0 For example, I\u2019ll add greens and beans, some grains and veggies, plus nuts, seeds, and some kind of seasoning to build a meal.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI had concerns about how my BG would respond when I first started transitioning to a vegan diet, which seems to be a common concern for PWD,\u201d said Lee Ann.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve found that my BGs have improved, with fewer spikes, and less frequent persistent highs. My A1c decreased slightly. I have also been able to discontinue several oral medications, including ones I was taking for cholesterol and blood pressure. Physically, I feel strong, and since going vegan, I\u2019ve found a new, more sustained interest in athletics, especially running. I had a hard time following a fitness program in the past, but I\u2019ve found that becoming vegan improved my sense of empowerment by showing me I can change my behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n But veganism isn\u2019t entirely about diet, for Lee Ann.\u00a0 There\u2019s a bigger picture in play, and one that directly touches her experiences with diabetes. \u00a0\u201cBeing vegan has made me more curious about power – who has it, who doesn\u2019t, forces maintaining those dynamics – ways to alter power dynamics, and more critical of how my actions can better reflect my personal values, notably, fairness, empathy, knowledge, and creativity.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not active in the diabetes advocacy movement like I once was, but that experience was foundational for thinking about how power operates, both within the diabetes world (i.e. patient interests vs. pharma\/tech interests, who gets invited to events), and in broader contexts (i.e. competition for health research funding, media representation). As a diabetes advocate, I became uncomfortable with what I perceived as power struggles, competition, and demand that diabetes be a priority. Of course, it\u2019s a priority for me, but I sometimes perceived an implicit demand that people understand the \u201cdiabetes experience,\u201d without fair reciprocity. I felt like a hypocrite, telling people they need to know about diabetes, and donate money to diabetes charities, but not learning about the infinite ways others are struggling and need support.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor a long time, I had been frustrated that there wasn\u2019t a way to convey the physical and mental experience of living with diabetes \u2013 what it\u2019s like to have a low or high BG, the emotional drain – but I hadn\u2019t been willing to fully and thoughtfully consider the bodily experience of others.\u00a0 I hope people will trust me and give me the support I need, even if they can\u2019t personally know the diabetes experience, and I need to reciprocate, not just towards humans, such as my support for racial justice or immigrant rights, but towards farmed animals. Can I know the experience of a chicken who is used for meat or eggs? No, but I can empathize with someone who feels threatened or objectified, and I can educate myself about their experience. I can trust that they want to be safe and unharmed, just like my dogs, just like me, and I can make choices that reflect that trust.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lee Ann Thill<\/strong> is an art therapist, licensed counselor, and artist, in Philadelphia. She\u2019s a doctoral candidate whose dissertation research is exploring how veganism empowers women with a history of disturbed eating behaviors.\u00a0 To follow more of Lee Ann\u2019s vegan journey with diabetes, you can find her on Twitter at @T1Vegan, and be on the lookout for her new website (to be launched soon).\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":47891,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1453],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n