Slap-dash
Plant-based diet best for diabetes
A new study has found that a wholefood, plant-based diet (WFPBD) improves the health of people with type 2 diabetes. Participants alternated between the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, which is only moderately plant-based, and a WFPBD for one week at a time.
Both diets reduced the need for insulin, insulin resistance, cholesterol and inflammation but the plant-based diet was significantly more effective. The greater the dietary change, the greater the benefits and patients with advanced type 2 diabetes, the authors said, may still experience large, comprehensive and rapid benefits.
Campbell T, Campbell E, Attia J et al. 2023. The acute effects of a DASH diet and whole food, plant-based diet on insulin requirements and related cardiometabolic markers in individuals with insulin-treated type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice. 110814.
About the author
Dr. Justine Butler
Justine joined Viva! in 2005 after graduating from Bristol University with a PhD in molecular biology. After working as a campaigner, then researcher and writer, she is now Viva!’s head of research and her work focuses on animals, the environment and health. Justine’s scientific training helps her research and write both in-depth scientific reports, such as White Lies and the Meat Report, as well as easy-to-read factsheets and myth-busting articles for consumer magazines and updates on the latest research. Justine also recently wrote the Vegan for the Planet guide for Viva!’s Vegan Now campaign.
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