Are Plant-Based Diets Good for Diabetes?
Are plant-based diets good for diabetes? Sharon Palmer shares research on how minimally processed plant-based diets might be good for diabetes.
Are Plant-Based Diets Good for Diabetes?
Question: Can a plant-based diet help prevent or treat type 2 diabetes?
Sharon’s Answer: Many people think the best diet for diabetes prevention is low in carbohydrates. Yet many indigenous populations that eat a very minimally processed plant-based diet—pretty high in carbohydrate levels—have very low rates of type 2 diabetes. Of course, these populations have lower rates of obesity, which is strongly related to the development of this debilitating condition, which impacts more than 9% of the total population in this country, and contributes to a landslide of health issues, including cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease, and kidney disease. So eating a diet that promotes a healthy weight is high on the priority list for preventing, as well as controlling type 2 diabetes.
More and more research has associated eating minimally processed plant-based diet patterns, including Mediterranean, DASH, vegetarian, and vegan diets, with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, as well as better management of this disease and reduced risk of obesity. In fact, a brand new exciting study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that consuming a plant-based diet—especially one rich in high-quality plant foods, such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes—was linked with a much lower risk of getting type 2 diabetes. The researchers followed more than 200,000 health professionals in the U.S. for more than 20 years, evaluating their diet, lifestyle and medical history in three large, long-term studies. They found that adherence to a plant-based diet that was low in animal foods was linked with a 20% reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes, compared with low adherence to this diet. A healthy version of a plant-based diet was linked with a 34% lower diabetes risk, while a less healthy version, which included refined foods and sugary beverages, was linked with a 16% lower risk. Even cutting animal foods modestly—from 5-6 servings to 4 servings per day—lowered risk.
The study leader, Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard Chan School and senior author of the study was quoted as saying, “A shift to a dietary pattern higher in healthful plant-based foods, such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, and lower in animal-based foods, especially red and processed meats, can confer substantial health benefits in reducing risk of type 2 diabetes.” You can read more about the study here.
It makes sense that a minimally processed plant-based diet might be good for diabetes, because it’s packed with slow-digesting carbs, phytochemicals, healthy fats, plant proteins, and antioxidant compounds—all of which promote steady blood glucose levels, and reduce inflammation and oxidative stress in the body. If you’d like to learn more about starting a healthy plant-based diet, check out my book The Plant-Powered Diet, which provides all of the information you need to kick off this healthy eating style.
Sharon
Image: Fava Bean Asparagus Sauté, Sharon Palmer, MSFS, RDN
Check out the other nutrition questions I’m answering at The Plant-Powered Dietitian:
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