Protein
Make use of pulses (beans, peas and lentils). Add them to stews and casseroles. Vegans should ensure eating low fat protein foods e.g. pulses (soya bean products such as tofu are a good choice). Nuts are nutritious but high in fat and therefore calories so if eating nuts as part of a main meal do not use them as snacks especially if you are overweight.Fats
If you need to use oil or fat, choose an unsaturated one e.g. olive, rapeseed, sunflower or corn oil. Use reduced fat spreads and non-hydrogenated reduced fat margarines. Granose produce a vegan low fat margarine and all their margarines are made with non-hydrogenated fats. Most saturated fats and hydrogenated fats tend to raise the blood cholesterol level. Saturated fats are usually found in animal foods such as butter, lard, dripping, fatty meat and full fat dairy products. Use less oil in recipes than suggested. Where possible do not use oil for cooking but cook by boiling, casseroling, baking, grilling, steaming or microwaving. The British Diabetic Association recommends making meat, fish and cheese the smaller part of meals (which is easy for vegans!) and filling up on starchy foods and vegetables instead.Added Sugar
Do not panic about the added sugar in savoury foods such as baked beans or tomato ketchup. It will not be enough to affect your blood glucose levels. Eating healthy regular meals will help to stop you getting too hungry and resorting to sweet foods. As long as your day to day eating patterns are healthy and your blood glucose levels are good, the occasional celebration meal or little bit of chocolate cake will do no harm. If you are going to eat something that is very sugary, then do so after a meal. However, if you are overweight, the fewer sweet cakes and biscuits you eat the better. Eat reduced sugar or no added sugar jams and pure fruit spreads. Use fresh fruit for snacks. Plamil sugar free rice pudding or sugar free soya milks are useful.Fluid (including alcohol)
Drinking lots of fruit juice, even if unsweetened may make your blood sugar level rise too high. If you like juice, take it with a meal rather than on its own. If drinking because you are very thirsty then dilute it with water or better still drink the water on its own. Drink at least 6-8 cups of fluid a day. Avoid sugary drinks and use the sugar-free ones where you can. Men should have no more than 3 units of alcohol a day, women should have no more than 2 units. Don't save up all your units and binge at the end of the week. Alcohol can cause hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar level). Drinking alcohol also makes it harder to recognise a hypo and recover from it.e.g. 1 unit =
- 1/2 pt beer, lager, cider or
- 1 pub measure of sherry or
- 1 standard glass wine or
- 1 pub measure spirit
- Don't drink on an empty stomach or miss a meal so you can have a drink
- If you drink beer or lager, choose ordinary ones preferably with an alcohol content of less than 5%. Low sugar 'diet' beers and lagers tend to be higher in alcohol and are best avoided.
- Use sugar-free or slimline mixers
- Choose medium/dry varieties of wines or sherry
(published with permission in writing from:http://www.vegansociety.com)
