firstly. please try to be a bit less aggressive. you have a valid point imo but we try and keep a less conforntational tone in here. @Neuroborean ditto just seen your response this is not the place for arguing over who'se dietary limitations are most limiting or calling each other ignorant.
secondly, completely get you. i've been vegetarian since i was 9 (so like over 25 years). i'm now going to have to try cutting out all of the lean, cheap protein sources i eat because i've been having debilitating pain, had to take time off work and shit. its really not the same. i'm really scared tbh, i have a very long, ongoing, history of eating disorders and cutting out large numbers of safe food is the last thing i need. hopefully the elimination diet will reveal some other culprits. i'd still be able to eat them but would need to be very watchful, its stll a huge change to my diet.
diabetes doesn't mean you have to completely cut things out. you need to be mindful of your blood sugar. i mentioned earlier in the thread i have two close family members with diabetes. might as well not beat around the bush one is my mum and she's had it forever (to me, not her whole life). she still eats what she likes and now she has her insulin pump and libre (the patch thing @AbbeyLee mentioned) she has quite a high degree of control. she's never been unable to eat something, but she might need a brisk walk afterwards if she gets the insulin a bit wrong. or, she might unexpectedly need to up her blood glucose while walking, so she keeps dextrose tablets on her.
my other family member's diabetes is less well controlled. she's still able to eat what she likes within moderation, but has many more complications when she gets health problems that would be trivial for other people, and ends up in the hospital much more often.
both of these are type 1 diabetes, i'm not sure how different it is for type 2 diabetes though with that at least its possible to reverse it with dietary modifications. again, not cutting things out completely, but changing the balance.
I appreciate it, I just find it difficult as I've dealt with people like this for so long now. People comparing their vegetarian diet they chose to be on like yeah good for you you get to choose what you eat it must be nice to have control over your diet and life. Let me know when you have something relevant to say, sort of thing. Because to me it's just offensive, comparing a choice you make for yourself to someone's shitty medical condition that haunts their life and they have no control over.
Even if it's for the purposes of controlling diabetes @Neuroborean, it's really not the same. You are still choosing to use vegetarian diet over others. You can still go and eat normal food if you want by the sounds of it, maybe not in quantities others can but you can still eat stuff.
Thanks for sharing your experience with your family. It makes me feel a lot less scared to get it sorted. I just.. Like you, my diet/eating habits are so difficult already. Having to be watchful of yet another aspect, even if it's not necessarily cutting something out completely.. Its overwhelming to think about.
Vegetarians I find the worst regarding this, I don't know why. They are pretty much the only people I've come to deal with that think their life/dietary needs are comparable to medical allergies like gluten intolerance/celiacs.
Id trade almost anything to swap my gluten free life for vegetarian. What a blessing that would be. Truly.