"Two out of three people with diabetes die of heart disease or stroke, so it is hugely significant to find that a low-fat vegan diet can treat diabetes and dramatically reduce heart disease risk," says lead author Gabrielle M. Turner-McGrievy, M.S., R.D., a doctoral candidate in nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a nutrition scientist with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. "These findings should encourage anyone with diabetes to talk to their physician about adopting a vegan diet to manage their disease and reduce the risk of a heart attack."
In the 22-week study, 99 people with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to follow either a low-fat, low-glycemic vegan diet or a diet based on ADA recommendations. In the study which Turner-McGrievy co-authored with several others including Neal D. Barnard, M.D., and Joshua Cohen, M.D. the vegan diet dramatically cut consumption of cholesterol, fat, and saturated fat, and increased healthful fiber, beta-carotene, and vitamins K and C intake, compared with the diet based on ADA guidelines. Almost half of the participants in the vegan group reduced, if not eliminated, their medication, compared with only 26% of participants in the ADA group.