Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)
Academic Term
Summer 8-11-2021
Document Type
Project
Course Number
NURS 6810-OL1
Course Name
Advanced Pathophysiology for the Advanced Practice Nurse
Professor’s Name
Dr. Sue Butz, Dr. John Chovan
Keywords
Plant-Based, Whole Foods, Type 2 Diabetes, Diabetic, Diet
Subject Categories
Medicine and Health Sciences | Nursing
Abstract
I was diagnosed as a Type II diabetic a few years ago when I was living in South Korea working as an English teacher. I, like many of the diabetics that I now take care of, said many of the same excuses that they tell me:
Patient: I heard that I might be pre-diabetic.
Nurse: You are on metformin and your morning glucose is in the 180s.
Patient: I’m not diabetic.
Nurse: You have peripheral neuropathy.
Patient: I watch what I eat. I’m ok.
Nurse: You have hypertension high cholesterol and don’t exercise.
I've said all over those things. But do you know what really improved my diabetic health? For a period of 11 months in 2018, I was a strict vegan with the intent of dropping my blood pressure, fasting blood sugar and Hb1Ac. And guess what? I did. However, unfortunately, I fell off the wagon.
Going on a whole-food, plant-based (WFPB) diet is the best way to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes and/or get rid of type 2 diabetes.
A WFPB diet has been shown to decrease inflammation and insulin resistance, lower fasting blood sugar, Hb1Ac, weight and BMI.
As nurses, how can we use this information with patients with DM2? Doctors are not even taught nutrition while in medical school, so what can we do to educate ourselves and those who are uninformed?
Licensing Permission
Copyright, some rights reserved. Attribution – Noncommercial – No Derivative Works
Recommended Citation
Brown, Adrian, "Type 2 Diabetes and a Plant Based Diet" (2021). Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN). 458.
https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/stu_msn/458