Vegan Diet Tops Traditional Diabetic Diet

Researchers noted that the vegan diet seemed to be easier for participants to follow, as there were no calories to count, portion sizes to measure, or carbohydrates to limit. Unlike the ADA diet, the vegan diet did not need to be customized to the individual based upon weight, lifestyle, or other health factors. As an added bonus, the only reported side effects of the vegan diet seemed to be positive ones, including weight loss and lowered cholesterol.

In the study, researchers at George Washington University and the University of Toronto compared the diet recommended by the American Diabetes Association to a traditional vegan diet, free of animal products. The goal was to examine how the diets may reduce the need for drugs in diabetes management, kidney function, cholesterol levels, and weight loss.

Of the 99 diabetic participants, half were randomly put on a vegan diet and the other half on the ADA diet. Vegan dieters followed a simple plant-based diet, avoiding meat and dairy foods. They received roughly 10 percent of daily calories from fat, 15 percent from protein, and 75 percent from carbohydrates; yet their portion sizes were unlimited. The vegan group was also advised to take a daily vitamin B12 supplement. The ADA dieters had a few more rules. They consumed 15 to 20 percent of calories from protein, 60 to 70 percent from carbohydrates and monounsaturated fats, less than 7 percent from saturated fats, and no more than 200mg of cholesterol per day. Overweight participants within the ADA group were also advised to reduce daily calorie intake by 500 to 1,000 calories per day.

After just 22 weeks, positive improvements in both groups were observed, though the vegan diet outscored the ADA diet in every reported category. Among all medication-stable participants, the vegan dieters enjoyed an average weight loss of 14.3 pounds (6.5kg), compared to 6.8 pounds (3.1kg) for the ADA dieters. In addition, LDL (“bad”) cholesterol dropped by 21% in the vegan group, compared to just 9% in the ADA group.

For a more specific measure of diabetes, the researchers also tracked hemoglobin A1c, a commonly used index of long-term blood glucose. According to the ADA, A1c levels should be should be less than 7 percentage points. The average participant began the study with an A1c of 8 percentage points. Among those whose diabetes medications remained stable, A1c levels dropped 1.2 points in the vegan group, compared to a drop of only 0.4 points in the ADA group.

Overall, a clinically significant improvement, defined as either an A1c reduction of greater than 1 percentage point or any reduction in the use of diabetes medication, occurred in 69% of the vegan group and 46% of the ADA group. The lead researcher, Dr. Neal D. Barnard, expressed his hopes that these finding would help to promote dietary changes as the first line of defense against diabetes, rather than prescription drugs.

According to the American Diabetes Association 20.8 million adults and children in the United States alone are living with diabetes. This is roughly 7 percent of the country’s entire population. Complications from the disease include increased risk for heart disease, stoke, high blood pressure, blindness, amputation, and kidney disease.