Diabetes

Diabetes, a group of diseases that are a result of the body's lack or misuse of insulin, is an enormous health problem. More than 20 million Americans suffer from diabetes, and it often has devastating consequences, including blindness, birth defects, and increased risk of death from heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease. Diabetes is one of the most common causes of death in the U.S., and experts estimate that the disease costs the American economy $132 billion a year.¹

While the impacts of diabetes are staggering, the great news is that diabetes can largely be prevented or controlled by lifestyle changes, namely a healthy plant-based diet and exercise. The National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agree that one of the most effective ways to prevent or treat diabetes is to consume more vegetables, beans, and whole grains while eating less animal flesh.^2,3 Numerous studies have found that adopting a vegetarian diet improves the health of diabetics and reduces the chances of getting the disease in the first place!

The causes of diabetes are complex, and there are many reasons why going vegetarian helps to prevent and treat the disease. A few of the most prominent reasons include the high amount of fiber in plant foods, the lack of artery-clogging cholesterol and saturated animal fats in vegetarian diets, differences between the types of iron found in animal flesh and plant foods, and the fact that vegetarians tend to weigh less and have less excess body fat than meat-eaters do (maintaining a healthy weight is an extremely important factor in preventing and treating diabetes).

According to a study conducted by the University of California and published by Diabetes in Control, patients with type 2 diabetes who followed a low-fat vegetarian diet lost significantly more weight compared to those who followed the American Diabetes Association's guidelines. Although the patients on the vegetarian diet saw their cholesterol levels drop significantly, the patients who followed the other guidelines actually saw their cholesterol levels increase!⁴ Several studies have found a link between the consumption of dairy products in childhood and the development of type 1 diabetes. A report by researchers at the Clinical Nutrition & Risk Factor Modification Center at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto stated that diets rich in healthy plant foods cause improved glycemic control, reduced lipid levels, and reduced rates of renal disease. The researchers urged diabetics to substitute "soy or other vegetable proteins for animal protein" and predicted that vegetarianism "will produce very significant metabolic advantages for the prevention and treatment of diabetes and its complications." ⁵ And a ground-breaking 2006 study published in the journal Diabetes Care found that 43 percent of people with type 2 diabetes who adhered to a low-fat vegan diet for 22 weeks reduced their need to take medications to manage their disease, compared to only 26 percent of those who followed the diet recommended by the American Diabetes Association.⁶ One of the study’s researchers stated, “The [low-fat vegan] diet appears remarkably effective, and all the side effects are good ones—especially weight loss and lower cholesterol.”⁷

If you're diabetic or if you are concerned that you or your child may develop diabetes, you and your family can start living healthier today by requesting a free vegetarian starter kit and trying our delicious vegetarian recipes.

Read more about how diet affects diabetes.

Click here to purchase Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes, which shows how a healthy vegan diet helps prevent and reverse diabetes.

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¹Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Prevent and Control Diabetes."
²Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
³National Diabetes Education Program, "More Than 50 Ways to Prevent Diabetes," Apr. 2004.
⁴DiabetesInControl.com, "Vegetarian Diet Helps Manage Lipids in Diabetics."
⁵D.J. Jenkins et al., "Type 2 Diabetes and the Vegetarian Diet," American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 78 (2003): 610S-616S.
⁶Jennifer Warner, “Low-Fat Vegan Diet May Treat Diabetes,” WebMD Medical News, 26 Jul. 2006.
⁷Warner.