Diabetes

Diabetes, a common disease which affect  more than 20 million people in the United States—7.0 percent of the population. For diabetics the choice of food really can be a matter of life and death. Diet is one of the most important ways of controlling diabetes beside medications and exercises. This article is going to discuss in depth the relationship of vegetarian diet and diabetes.

Introduction to Vegetarian Diet
A vegetarian is a person who avoid meat and/or animal products. Vegetarian diet includes only foods from plants: like fruits, vegetables, plenty of leafy greens, whole grain products, nuts, seeds, and legumes (dried beans and peas). There are several categories of vegetarians:

Part-Vegetarian or Semi-Vegetarian
Semi-vegetarians do not eat red or white meat (beef, pork, venison, etc) but include chicken and fish with plant foods, dairy products, and eggs. The only animals that semi-vegetarians eat are fowl and fish, although they usually eat by-products of red meat, like fats, oils, gelatin etc. and wear clothes from animals.

Ovo-Lacto Vegetarians
Do not eat meat or flesh of any kind, but do eat eggs and dairy products. Sometimes ovo-lacto vegetarians eat meat by-products (e.g. fats, bonemeal, gelatin) and use animal-derived products (leather etc.).

- The Ovo vegetarians eat eggs but not dairy products.

- The lacto vegetarian diet includes plant foods plus cheese and other dairy products but not eggs.

Vegans
Vegan or total vegetarian are strictly vegetarians. They eat only plant foods: includes fruits, vegetables, plenty of leafy greens, whole grain products, nuts, seeds, and legumes (dried beans and peas). Vegans, in addition to being vegetarian, do not use other animal products and by-products such as eggs, dairy products, honey, leather, fur, silk, wool, cosmetics, and soaps derived from animal products.

Despite such dietary restrictions, a balanced vegan diet is perfectly healthy, although too inconvenient for many vegetarians.