Turning over a new leaf

According to researchers from Japan and the US, eating plant-based foods exclusively – in other words, going vegan – could be the key to reversing the onset of type 2 diabetes, a chronic condition that vastly increases the risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke.

The researchers’ meta-analysis of six prior studies revealed that a plant-based diet could be the key to accelerating type 2 diabetes treatment, in addition to improving blood sugar and lowering weight, blood pressure and cholesterol. One of the studies analysed was a 2006 trial that revealed that plant-based diets could improve haemoglobin A1C, a key indicator of blood sugar control, by as much as 1.2 points in the span of 22 weeks. No drug has been able to replicate these results.

“We now know that type 2 diabetes is caused by insulin resistance. Getting the animal fat - and fats in general - out of the diet helps repair insulin’s ability to function,” Dr Neal Barnard, co-author of the study and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, said in a press release.

When the team analysed dietary patterns of type 2 diabetes sufferers in the United States, Brazil, and the Czech Republic, they found that low-fat vegan or lacto-ovo vegetarian diets lower haemoglobin A1C by an average of 0.4 percentage points and up to 0.7 points. These results are comparable to the effects of an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, a common anti-diabetic drug.

“These numbers may seem small to those unfamiliar with the disease, but anyone with diabetes knows that such an improvement is truly profound,” Dr Barnard wrote in an article for the Huffington Post.

For type 2 diabetes patients, the switch to a plant-based diet makes lots of sense. Unlike most diabetes diets, vegan diets do not require them to count calories, limit carbohydrates, control portions or exercise, as long as they avoid animal products or too many added oils. The “side effects” are all beneficial - weight loss being just one of them. Best of all, when on a vegan diet, patients do not need medication or insulin injections, Dr Barnard wrote.

Doctors at US-based managed care organisation Kaiser Permanente are advocating that every patient receives information on plant-based diets. “A diet change beats a pill,” says study co-author and registered dietician Susan Levin in a press release. “A plant-based diet improves blood sugar, body weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol all at the same time, something no drug can do.”

What does this mean for those of us who do not have diabetes? It is worth noting that a similar review, published in the journal Nutrition Reviews, analysed the results of 304 studies from 1950 to 2013 that examined the relationship of food and beverage groups and diet-related chronic diseases. The results confirmed that plant food groups are more protective than animal food groups against lifestyle diseases, like obesity and various types of cardiovascular disease. Interestingly, within the plant food groups, grains were found to be more protective than fruits and vegetables.

So, while a drastic change in diet may not be the most realistic way of going about things, having brown rice and salad for a few dinners a week could be an encouraging first step towards preventing chronic disease in the long run.

Further links:
Huffingtonpost.com
Prweb.com
Thecdt.org
Wiley.com