This fact sheet from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) explains how a low-fat, plant-based diet can help prevent and reverse type 2 diabetes, and sets out five simple steps to get started.
Diabetes Basics
In the past few years, much of what we thought we knew about diabetes has been turned on its head. New understanding of the nutritional causes of diabetes gives us the power to keep it from occurring or to turn it around.
Here is what is supposed to happen: our bodies turn starchy and sugary foods into glucose for our muscle cells to use for fuel. Insulin, a hormone made in the pancreas, ushers glucose into the cells. People with type 2 diabetes, the most common form, usually have enough insulin, but their cells resist it, so glucose builds up in the blood.
A Better Approach: A Low-Fat, Plant-Based Diet
A low-fat plant-based diet is an ideal choice for diabetes and related conditions such as heart disease, obesity, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, with no portion measuring and no going hungry. In a 22-week study by the Physicians Committee, George Washington University and the University of Toronto, 43% of participants on a low-fat vegan diet reduced their diabetes medication, compared with 26% of those following American Diabetes Association guidelines.
Five Simple Steps
1. Build your meals on the Power Plate
Fill your plate with whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables. Drink water and enjoy a small handful of nuts or seeds each day.
2. Go vegan: avoid animal products
Skip meat, poultry, fish, dairy and eggs. Their saturated fat is linked to heart disease and insulin resistance, and they also contain cholesterol.
3. Avoid added oils and other high-fat foods
Every gram of fat or oil has 9 calories, compared with 4 in a gram of carbohydrate. Choose foods with no more than 2–3 grams of fat per serving.
4. Choose low-glycemic-index foods
Beans, oats, sweet potatoes, pasta, rye and pumpernickel bread, barley and brown rice are good choices. Limit sugar, white and whole wheat bread, cornflakes and puffed cereals.
5. Eat plenty of fiber
Aim for at least 40 grams of fiber a day from beans, vegetables, fruits and whole grains.
A Note on Vitamin B12
Anyone following a fully plant-based diet, and all adults over 50, should take a vitamin B12 supplement to protect their blood and nerve cells.
The Chinese version of this page includes the full fact sheet with recipes and a one-day menu. For the original English fact sheet, visit: Diet and Diabetes: Recipes for Success