Vegetarian and a low carb diet?

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A friend of mine just found out Friday evening that her son (age 6) has Type 1 diabetes. Their family is vegetarian due to religious beliefs (7th Day Adventist). She needs to weigh out his food, figure out how many grams of carbs he is eating, and needs to take insulin 4x/day and have his blood sugar levels checked 5x/day. Anyway, my question is since their diet is heavy in carbs due to being vegetarian, what kinds of things can he eat that is still vegetarian, but low carb?

Thanks for any help one can give.

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  • TAMMY7173
    TAMMY7173 Posts: 32 Member
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    I am a vegetarian and I stay within my carb levels a day since i've joind mfp. I eat soy bacon, burgers ect. I also only use one bread and bun and it's wheat and is low in carbs it is healthy life brand and I get it at krogers. I also eat the thin bagels stuff like that. I only eat bread usually once sometimes twice a day.
  • Four_Leaf_Clover
    Four_Leaf_Clover Posts: 332 Member
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    I am no medical expert, but diabetic diets are often more about combining foods properly (like always eating protein with carbs) than eating low carb - he is a growing child and needs carbs - he will just have to time how he eats them and what he eats them with and how many he has at one time.

    Tofu, cheese, nuts and nut butter - some TVP and soy products - would all be good lower carb protein options.

    They'll probably have to focus on more veggies and less fruit (or just lower carb fruits like berries).

    What a tough thing for a kid - I wish him all the best!
  • jeepwidow01
    jeepwidow01 Posts: 173
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    Thanks for these suggestions. I'll definitely pass them along to her!
  • redraidergirl2009
    redraidergirl2009 Posts: 2,560 Member
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    Reduce their bread pasta intake or get lo-carb bread when they do it. I am vegetarian but I cut back on my bread and pasta intake so half or less of mycals are from carbs and I still get plenty of veggies.