Nedley Health Report

“What is the best diet for adult-onset diabetes?” This question has long been the subject of lively debate. While multiple studies have suggested a low-fat vegan diet as optimal for Type 2 diabetics, many have argued that a totally plant-based, no-sugar and low-fat diet would be difficult, if not impractical, for the average person to understand and adopt.  In a search for answers, Dr. Neal Barnard (of Washington D.C.) and colleagues studied a group of more than 100 adult-onset diabetics. The majority of study participants were on multiple medications who did not have their blood sugar under control. Dr. Barnard randomly divided the diabetics into two groups.

The first group ate the diet prescribed by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) during the study, while the second group stuck to a low-fat, vegan diet. Dieticians who fully believed in each approach explained the assigned diet to each patient to ensure that they fully understood.  The ADA diet, which allows consumption of pretty much any food in small amounts, was thought to be much easier to maintain.

The higher compliance rate for the low-fat vegan diet in Dr. Barnard’s study showed this assumption to be false. The continuous need to count grams of carbohydrates, milligrams of cholesterol, and calories discouraged many of the patients on the ADA diet, who eventually gave up and ate whatever they wanted. In contrast, the low-fat vegan diet, with its lack of carbohydrate restrictions, was actually easier to understand and comply with than the ADA diet.

Health professionals who believe in the benefits of a vegan diet and can teach adult-onset diabetics how to incorporate it may reap the following results benefit from increased blood sugar control, substantial reduction in risk of complications, a greater probability of compliance with the prescribed diet, and even long-term better weight control.  Although Dr. Barnard’s research involved a one-year study, he has now released data showing that patients can maintain the diet for a longer term (greater than 18 months) with a high degree of satisfaction. Dr. Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes also provides some excellent advice on dealing with this deadly disease.

Bottom line: In addition to being the most effective diet for adult-onset diabetes, the low-fat vegan diet is the one patients find easiest to comply with, long-term, as well.