The data are in: Eat right, reduce your risk of diabetes

Follow me on Twitter @RobShmerling Here’s a new medical study with a conclusion that might just change your life: eat healthy. Sure, you’ve heard it before, but this time the benefit is the prevention of diabetes. That’s a big deal, especially if, like so many other people, you are at risk for the disease. More on that in a moment. First, let’s review the study. Researchers publishing in PLoS Medicine describe a study of more than 200,000 people in the U.S. who participated in health surveys over a 20-year period. They found that: People who chose diets that were predominately of plant-based foods developed type 2 diabetes 20% less often than the rest of the study subjects. For those with the very healthiest plant-based diets (including fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, and whole grains), the reduction in type 2 diabetes was 34%. On the other hand, those who made less healthy choices (such as sugar-sweetened beverages and refined grains) developed type 2 diabetes 16% more often than the rest. It’s worth emphasizing that this was not a study of the effect of being a vegan or of following an expensive, pre-packaged diet plan that might be hard to maintain over time. This was a study of “normal” dietary choices across a spectrum, from largely animal-based to largely plant-based with all variations in between. That makes it more applicable to the average person. While this type of study cannot prove that the reduction in diabetes was strictly due to the difference ...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Diabetes Health Healthy Eating Prevention Source Type: blogs