Vegan Diet Reverse Diabetes

Should You Go Vegetarian? The Benefits Of A Plant-based Diet For People With Diabetes

What if you were told you could lose weight, lower your blood glucose and blood pressure, prevent heart disease, and slow the progression of type 2 diabetes—or prevent it if you don’t yet have it? It sounds too good to be true, but more and more research indicates that a plant-based eating plan may help people with diabetes. What the Studies Show In a 72-week study published by Neal Barnard, M.D., president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, people with type 2 diabetes followed either a low-fat vegan diet or a moderate-carbohydrate plan. Both groups lost weight and improved their cholesterol. When people who didn’t complete the study or had medication changes were omitted from the study analysis, there was a significantly greater decrease in A1C and LDL (bad) cholesterol in the vegans. A study of nearly 100,000 members of the Seventh-day Adventist church, which promotes a vegetarian diet, showed that the vegetarians had a lower rate of type 2 than nonvegetarians. “The closer people follow a vegan diet, the more they stay at a healthy weight and prevent type 2,” says Michael J. Orlich, M.D., assistant professor of preventive medicine at Loma Linda University in California. Orlich was involved with the study. Not eating red and processed meats may help prevent type 2 even without factoring in body weight. Two long-term, ongoing studies by the Harvard School of Public Health tracking nearly 150,000 health care providers showed that people who ate an additional half serving of red meat daily for four years had a 50 percent higher risk of developing type 2. Cutting back on red-meat intake by more than a half serving a day reduced this risk by 15 percent. “Study after study has tightly linked eating a plant-based diet with decreasing a number of Continue reading >>

A Prescription For A Plant-based Diet Can Help Reverse Diabetes

Mark Hatfield via Getty Images Chances are good that you have diabetes or know someone who does. Even if you don’t, you’re paying for the care of millions of people with diabetes through your taxes. It’s a disease that affects people of all backgrounds, income levels, and, increasingly, ages, and it costs our country nearly a quarter trillion dollars every year — that’s well over the total yearly revenue of electronics giant Apple. New statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 29 million Americans have diabetes and another 86 million have prediabetes. Hardest hit are Native Americans, followed by African Americans and Latinos. They are at far greater risk for heart attacks, blindness, amputations, kidney failure, painful nerve symptoms, and loss of a decade of life compared with those who do not have the disease. But a recent report has found that one simple prescription could help reverse diabetes, improve blood sugar, and lower weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol. It could allow the 115 million Americans with diabetes or prediabetes to dramatically reduce their medications or get off them entirely. And all this is possible, the analysis found, not with a new magic pill, but with tried-and-true, simple changes to diet. A team of researchers from the United States and Japan, including the Physicians Committee’s Susan Levin, MS, RD and myself, published a new meta-analysis showing that a plant-based diet significantly improves diabetes management. Combining the results of six prior studies, we found that a plant-based diet boosts blood sugar control considerably. Among the studies analyzed was our 2006 NIH-funded trial, which found that plant-based diets could improve a key indicator of blood sugar control called hemoglobin Continue reading >>

How I Reversed My Diabetes And Stopped All Medications With A Plant-based Diet

I grew up at the tip of southern Texas with four brothers and three sisters. When I was eight years old, my father abandoned our family, and my mother was left to raise eight children on her own. In search of better employment, she moved us to the Chicago area in 1982. In high school, I thrived as an athlete and earned a football scholarship to the University of Michigan. In those days, I could eat whatever I wanted and did not have weight issues, because I was so physically active. At twenty-one years old I was 6’2″ and weighed 305 pounds. A Family Medical History Filled With Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Cancer As a young adult, I witnessed my beloved mother, the rock of our family, battle type 2 diabetes and the complications that come with it. She suffered from kidney failure, vision problems, and heart disease. After 33 years of fighting diabetes, she passed away in April of 2002. I miss her dearly. Just two months later, my oldest brother David passed away from pancreatic cancer. Out of eight siblings, my sister Jill is the only one who has not been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. But she, too, has felt its impact personally, since she donated one of her kidneys to our mother. My sisters Carol and Sandra, and my brothers Martin and Joe (my twin), have all struggled with the disease for years. Just two months ago, Joe also suffered a heart attack. Martin suffers terribly: he has had a pancreas and kidney transplant, is legally blind, had his right leg amputated, goes to dialysis three times a week, and takes 25 medications every day. My Own Struggle With Diabetes I have also struggled with diabetes. I was diagnosed with the disease the same year that it claimed my mom’s life. At that time, I began taking five different oral medications including Metformin and Continue reading >>

A Plant-based Diet For Type 2 Diabetes

The main goal of diabetes treatment is to protect the blood vessels. When the delicate blood vessels of the heart, eyes, kidneys, and feet are attacked, the complications can be devastating, even fatal. Foods are our first line of defense, and a plant-based diet is your arteries best friend. It has no animal fat and no cholesterolat all. And as part of a healthful lifestyle, it has been shown to reopen narrowed arteries. In 2003, our research team was funded by the National Institutes of Health to put a plant-based diet to the test. The year-and-a-half study used a three-pronged regimen: it was veganthat is free of animal products. It was low in fat, and was low-Glycemic-Index. It was already clear that a low-fat vegan diet is highly effective for improving body weight, cholesterol, and blood pressure. The new study showed that, compared with a more conventional regimen focused on limiting calories and carbohydrates, the plant-based diet was much more effective in improving blood sugar control. In participants whose medication regimens remained constant, the drop in A1C was 0.4 points for the conventional diet and 1.2 points for a plant-based diet.1 Since then, many people have used this approach, finding that it is really quite easybecause there is no calorie-counting, no skimpy portions, and not even carb-counting, except when needed for calibrating insulin doses. Low-carb diets are based on the simplistic idea that carbs release glucose into the blood. True enough, but our bodies run on glucose. It is our basic fuel. So the real issue is, what is preventing glucose from getting from the bloodstream into the cells where it belongs? The answer, of course, is insulin resistance. At Yale University, researchers have investigated the causes of insulin resistance. With MR Continue reading >>

Plant-based Diets For Diabetes

The three diabetes videos I mentioned are: For those seeking a deeper understanding of what diabetes really is and what causes it, check out How Not to Die from Diabetes, and this series of videos: Thankfully, not only can diabetes be reversed, but so can some of its complications. See Can Diabetic Retinopathy Be Reversed? and, for diabetic neuropathy, my live annual review From Table to Able: Combating Disabling Diseases with Food. Of course, preventing it is better: There are some foods that may increase the risk: And others that may help: If you haven’t yet, you can subscribe to my videos for free by clicking here. Continue reading >>

The Reluctant Vegan: Diabetic Changes Life

Robert Kluttz, a former owner of two fast-food restaurants, says he lost weight and became healthier with a vegan diet. Matt Stone, CJ Robert Kluttz owned two Chick-Fil-A outlets before diabetes struck in 2011. Vegan eating reversed that condition. Robert Kluttz hadn’t seen a doctor in 30 years. He was ashen, his gait so wobbly he could hardly walk across the room. He was losing weight and complaining about being tired. He saw halos around lights. One night, his words were so slurred his wife thought he’d been drinking. But still, he refused to go. Even pleas from his sister, who flew in from out of town, seemed to make no difference. That is until the night he borrowed his wife’s car and had trouble driving. He agreed to go the next morning. In the exam room of Dr. Sven Jonsson’s office in St. Matthews, Kluttz didn’t have time to put on a gown. The entire assessment took less than 15 minutes. His blood pressure was 225/117. His hands trembled. He couldn't stand. ►READ MORE: CJ investigates | Diabetes, Kentucky's epidemic The doctor was certain he was having a stroke. "He told me he was afraid I was going to die," Kluttz remembered. He watched the door close as Jonsson hurried to call the hospital for an emergency admission. Sitting on the exam table, Kluttz was alone with his wife. "It was scary," Kluttz remembered. "You don't know what the future holds." ♦♦♦ Like many Americans, Kluttz had diabetes and didn't know it. Every day for 22 years, he ate a chicken biscuit for breakfast and a fried chicken sandwich with fries for lunch. He threw back 15 Cokes or Mountain Dews a day at his two Chick-fil-A restaurants. By age 57, he weighed 258 pounds. At the hospital, Kluttz's blood pressure set off alarms. Doctors confirmed he had a stroke. Hospital labs sh Continue reading >>

How You Reverse Insulin Resistance (and Diabetes) With A Low-fat, “whole” Carbohydrate, Plant-based Diet – An Interview With Cyrus Khambatta, Phd

How You Reverse Insulin Resistance (and Diabetes) Rapidly with A Low-Fat, Plant-Based Diet (39:40 min) Kirk’s video overview with Dr. Khambatta of their interview (5:33 min) Dr. Khambatta’s Personal “Mastering Diabetes” Story Dr. Khambatta was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 22 during his senior year in college while a mechanical engineering student at Stanford University. He had been an athlete all his life playing all types of sports. He was told upon his diagnoses to start counting and reduce his carbohydrate intake, and, to take insulin. He was given the standard advise that if he reduced his carbohydrate intake he would need less insulin and control his blood sugar better. That first year he cut his carbohydrates down to 100-120 grams per day and he ate more protein rich and fatty foods. With this approach he felt terrible, lost his energy, and his blood sugar was uncontrollable. He had no idea how to control his blood glucose. The carbohydrates he consumed were processed, fat and sugar laden carbs, with little non-starchy carbohydrate or “good” low glycemic, carbohydrates like beans, lentils, peas, etc.. He had more protein, dairy products and fat in this dietary approach. He could not control his blood glucose with any predictable use of his insulin. He had to make continued adjustments, and frequently, there would be hypoglycemic episodes as well as elevated blood sugar levels. His “ah ha” moment came after playing soccer on day and he felt terrible and his blood sugar was 285. He “threw” his glucose meter against the wall and cried in despair. He had a realization that food was the problem and decided with conviction that he had to learn how to eat and learn about nutrition. He read books about low carb, high protein diets, but Continue reading >>

Vegan Diet Reverses Diabetes Symptoms, Study Finds

Yahoo!-ABC News Network | 2018 ABC News Internet Ventures. All rights reserved. Vegan diet reverses diabetes symptoms, study finds WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People who ate a low-fat vegan diet,cutting out all meat and dairy, lowered their blood sugar moreand lost more weight than people on a standard AmericanDiabetes Association diet, researchers said on Thursday. They lowered their cholesterol more and ended up withbetter kidney function, according to the report published inDiabetes Care, a journal published by the American DiabetesAssociation. Participants said the vegan diet was easier to follow thanmost because they did not measure portions or count calories.Three of the vegan dieters dropped out of the study, comparedto eight on the standard diet. "I hope this study will rekindle interest in using dietchanges first, rather than prescription drugs," Dr. NealBarnard, president of the Physician's Committee for ResponsibleMedicine, which helped conduct the study, told a newsconference. An estimated 18 million Americans have type 2 diabetes,which results from a combination of genetics and poor eatingand exercise habits. They run a high risk of heart disease,stroke, kidney failure, blindness and limb loss. Barnard's team and colleagues at George WashingtonUniversity, the University of Toronto and the University ofNorth Carolina tested 99 people with type 2 diabetes, assigningthem randomly to either a low-fat, low-sugar vegan diet or thestandard American Diabetes Association diet. After 22 weeks on the diet, 43 percent of those on thevegan diet and 26 percent of those on the standard diet wereeither able to stop taking some of their drugs such as insulinor glucose-control medications, or lowered the doses. The vegan dieters lost 14 pounds (6.5 kg) on average whilethe diabet Continue reading >>

A Plant-based Diet For The Prevention And Treatment Of Type 2 Diabetes

Go to: Abstract The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is rising worldwide, especially in older adults. Diet and lifestyle, particularly plant-based diets, are effective tools for type 2 diabetes prevention and management. Plant-based diets are eating patterns that emphasize legumes, whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds and discourage most or all animal products. Cohort studies strongly support the role of plant-based diets, and food and nutrient components of plant-based diets, in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes. Evidence from observational and interventional studies demonstrates the benefits of plant-based diets in treating type 2 diabetes and reducing key diabetes-related macrovascular and microvascular complications. Optimal macronutrient ratios for preventing and treating type 2 diabetes are controversial; the focus should instead be on eating patterns and actual foods. However, the evidence does suggest that the type and source of carbohydrate (unrefined versus refined), fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated versus saturated and trans), and protein (plant versus animal) play a major role in the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes. Multiple potential mechanisms underlie the benefits of a plant-based diet in ameliorating insulin resistance, including promotion of a healthy body weight, increases in fiber and phytonutrients, food-microbiome interactions, and decreases in saturated fat, advanced glycation endproducts, nitrosamines, and heme iron. Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, Insulin resistance, Vegan, Vegetarian Go to: 1. Introduction Type 2 diabetes is a global epidemic, with approximately 422 million cases worldwide and a rapidly rising prevalence in middle- and low-income countries.[1] In the United States in 2011–2012, 12%–14% of adul Continue reading >>

A Vegan Diet Could Prevent, Treat And Even Reverse Type 2 Diabetes, Say Leading Experts This Diabetes Week (12-18 June).

Diet and lifestyle have long been regarded as the main causes of type 2 diabetes. Now research suggests that vegans reduce their risk of diabetes by 78% compared with people who eat meat on a daily basis. “Type 2 diabetes is almost always preventable, often treatable, and sometimes reversible through diet and lifestyle changes,” wrote Dr Michael Greger, internationally-renowned physician, in his best-selling book How Not To Die. “People who eat a plant-based diet have just a small fraction of the rates of diabetes seen in those who regularly eat meat. By switching to a healthy diet, you can start improving your health within a matter of hours.” This is partly because vegans are better able to control their weight. Carrying excess body fat is the number one risk factor of type 2 diabetes, with around 90% of those who develop the disease being overweight. Vegans, however, have lower levels of obesity on average than any other dietary group. It is also because, Dr Greger explains, the saturated fats found in animal products contribute to insulin resistance – the cause of type 2 diabetes – whereas monosaturated fats found in nuts and avocados may actually protect against the detrimental effects of saturated fats. As a result, people eating plant-based diets appear to have better insulin sensitivity, better blood sugar levels and better levels of insulin, which enables blood sugar to enter your cells. Type 2 diabetes is spreading fast. Over 21 million people have been diagnosed with the disease in the United States, a number that has roughly tripled since 1990, with devastating health implications. Diabetes can lead to blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, and stroke. Sandra Hood, state registered dietitian in the UK, said: “A plant-based diet can be very h Continue reading >>

Vegan Doctor Launches Cookbook To Help Reverse Diabetes

Vegan Doctor Launches Cookbook to Help Reverse Diabetes Social Media Coordinator and Freelance Journalist | Wellington, New Zealand | Contactable via [email protected] Posted by Nadia Murray-Ragg | Jan 3, 2018 Dr. Neal Barnard , of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine ( PCRM ), has just announced the release of a new vegan cookbook next month, designed to provide readers with knowledge and recipes to help reverse and prevent diabetes. Barnard said in a tweet Im so excited to announce that Im teaming up with @dreenaburton on a brand new cookbook with 150 delicious, plant-based recipes that can help you beat type 2 diabetes! This book, called Dr. Neal Barnards Cookbook for Reversing Diabetes will be available for purchase from the 27th of February. You can find it here . Type 2 diabetes (also called hyperglycemia ) is a life-long condition that affects mostly overweight people and those over 40 years old, once diagnosed, patients need to inject themselves multiple times per day and/or take prescription medicine. This condition is caused when bodies are unable to process insulin properly and their glucose levels (blood sugar) spike to higher than normal, or erratically. Dr. Neals book takes a different, more modern approach to treating diabetes his secret is in the diet. Finally an approach to managing diabetes that is not based on pills or injections, but on food the most delicious prescription you could imagine. Although changing up a diet can seem daunting or un-appetizing, this new book contains the healthy vegan recipes for everyones favorite recipes: muffins, pudding, burgers, onion rings just to name a few. In addition to recipes , this book contains easy to understand explanations of the link between diabetes and nutrition. Continue reading >>

Diabetic? 5 Reasons To Eat A Plant-based Diet

Save Here in the United States, 9.3 percent of the population (over 29 million!) has diabetes. Every year, 1.4 million Americans becomes a newly diagnosed diabetic. If you don’t have diabetes, you probably know someone who does. It’s a growing epidemic and can lead to complications such as hypertension, heart disease, stroke, loss of feet and limbs, blindness and kidney disease. Luckily, word is starting to spread about the benefits of eating plants to combat this chronic disease. Many a doctor has said, if a plant-based diet came in pill form, it would be the miracle cure and everyone would want one. Lose weight, improve blood sugar control, decrease risk of cancer and heart disease, clear up your skin and recover from exercise faster with absolutely no negative side effects? Sounds perfect. There’s tons of research to support the benefits of eating a plant-based diet. This study found that diabetics who replaced at least 35 percent of their total protein intake with plant protein (like soy, legumes and nuts) improved their blood sugar control. Imagine what would happen if they had replaced 50 percent of their meat consumption with plants — or even all of it! These results are in line with other studies, such as the Adventist Health Study, in which vegetarian/vegan diets are associated with a lower risk for diabetes, as well as all-cause mortality. In a study of 92,000 women and 40,000 men, replacing just one serving of animal protein for plant protein was associated with a 10 to 21 percent reduced risk for type 2 diabetes. On the flip side, evidence shows that diets high in animal protein (especially red meat) are associated with an increased occurrence of the chronic disease. Why, specifically, are plant-derived foods a better choice? 1. Fat in animal protein Continue reading >>

Vegan Diet

Tweet Many people instantly recoil at the idea of a vegan diet, but this attitude is gradually changing, particularly amongst people with diabetes. Can people with diabetes use a vegan diet to improve blood glucose control? Absolutely. By eating a healthy vegan diet low in cholesterol and saturated fat, but balanced enough to include fibre and protein, blood glucose levels can be made easier to control. This type of diet, particularly when combined with exercise, can help to lower blood glucose levels and better manage diabetes. What is a vegan diet for diabetes? A vegan diet effectively means cutting out meat, dairy and animal products whether you have diabetes or not. So what do you eat? Vegan diets, whether for people with diabetes or not, are usually based around plants. Particular foods eaten include vegetables, fruit, grains, legumes. Animal products such as meat and dairy are avoided, as are added fat and sugar. People on vegan diets often take vitamin B12 deficiency supplements. Isn’t a vegan diet for diabetics hard to stick to? Eating a vegan diet does require some compromise, but getting the right diabetes recipes and planning your diet well will make following a vegan diet for diabetes easy. When planning your vegan diet, you need to make sure that protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins and minerals are balanced. Vegan diets do not usually demand that portions be stuck to or calories counted, making them easier to follow than some diabetes diets. Can I lose weight using a vegan diet? Many people with diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes, have a firm goal to lose weight. Weight loss is well understood as one of the best ways of achieving diabetes control. Vegan diets with a lower glycaemic index and a higher level of fibre are an excellent way of losing wei Continue reading >>

Can You Really Reverse Diabetes With A Plant-based Diet? Let Dr. Neal Barnard Explain The Results Of His Nih-sponsored Research - And Exercise Was Not Part Of The Program

Dr. Neal Barnard on Reversing Diabetes Through Diet If you do not see the video, click here to go to the direct link. If you received this post via email, click here to get to the web version with all the links & Dr. Barnard's video. This is hands down, one of the best videos I've seen to explain how what we eat affects our health & our weight. Whether you're pre-diabetic, already have type-2 diabetes, or you're perfectly healthy--take the 37 minutes to watch this. It was the best time investment of the week for me. Dr. Barnard is funny, articulate, & turns the complicated into simple!!! Really. Just watch it until the end. And he even changed my mind about salmon. Highlights from the Healthy Librarian's Notes I didn't watch this with the intent of posting about it (beyond Facebook)--so I took quick notes. But I learned so much from the video, I couldn't resist posting my notes here. Here's what captured my attention. Please watch the video for yourself, though--don't just rely on my notes-you'll miss a lot! Please Note: The video is about Type-2 Diabetes, not Type-1 Diabetes, aka Juvenile Diabetes. They are different diseases. 1. Sure, diabetes means you have too much glucose. But, glucose is good thing. It's not the bad guy. It powers our muscles. It powers our brain. We need glucose. 2. The problem with glucose & diabetes, is that it's not going where it's supposed to go--into the cells that need the glucose--it's circulating around in the blood. And when there's too much glucose circulating in the blood, it can damage our blood vessels--especially the tiny ones--like behind our eyes, in our kidneys, and in our feet--as well as our heart. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness, kidney, and heart disease. 3. Carbohydrates are not the cause, and have never been the Continue reading >>

Preparing To Prescribe Plant-based Diets For Diabetes Prevention And Treatment

The number of people worldwide with type 2 diabetes is expected to double by 2030.1 In the United States, diabetes affects ~ 26 million people of all ages, about one-fourth of whom are not yet diagnosed.2 Despite the availability of a wide range of pharmacological treatments and the best efforts of diabetes educators and other health care professionals, good control of diabetes and its comorbidities remains elusive for much of the population, as evidenced by rates of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality that are two to four times higher than those of people who do not have diabetes.2 Although dietary habits and body weight play undisputed roles in type 2 diabetes, the question of what eating pattern best addresses glycemia, cardiovascular risk factors, and weight control remains controversial. The uniform, calorie-controlled diabetic diet plans of the past have been replaced by individualized meal-planning approaches, and in more recent years, nutrition guidance has focused on carbohydrate counting and minimizing saturated and trans fats. With the release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans3 came praise for plant-based eating patterns, which have been extensively studied for weight management and disease prevention and treatment. Individuals following a plant-based eating pattern typically consume fewer calories and less fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol and have lower BMIs than nonvegetarians. They also consume more fiber, potassium, and vitamin C. In prospective studies of adults, compared to nonvegetarian eating patterns, vegetarian eating patterns have been associated with lower prevalence rates of type 2 diabetes,4 cardiovascular disease (CVD),5 hypertension,6 and obesity7,8 and reduced medical care usage.9 Both the Ame Continue reading >>