“If there were a pill that did all of that,” Levin said, “everyone would be taking it.”
A new article published in the US Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) argues that a vegetarian diet substantially reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The organization that represents more than 100,000 has studied a plethora of meta-analyses on the benefits of a plant-based diet for the prevention and management of type diabetes.
According to AND studies suggest that vegetarians are less at risk of becoming obese or developing chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers. Those determinations also include vegans – who not only abstain from meat and fish, they also reject animal products, including dairy. The researchers at AND also noted that vegetarian diets are also beneficial to the environment compared to a diet that includes meat.
Vegetarian diets require fewer resources, land, water, fertilizers and fuels. “Vegetarian diets leave a lighter carbon footprint,” said Susan Levin, director of nutrition education at the non-profit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, D.C.
The researchers noted that meat eaters had more than twice the prevalence of diabetes when compared vegetarians and vegans. In terms of likelihood of developing the blood sugar disease. Those risks were reduced by 77 percent for vegans and by 54 per cent for vegetarians.
Even after BMI and other confounding factors are calculated into the equations, vegans and vegetarians are still 62 percent and 38 percent less likely to develop the disease.
As a consequence of the high intake of fibre and phytochemicals associated with fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts and seeds the diet appears especially protective, the authors of the report conclude. AND also points out that legumes are low-glycemic – which reduces blood sugar levels.
Still, even vegetarians must make the correct food choices, Levin points out. She insists that if you subsist on white rice, although it might be technically vegetarian, it is not necessarily nutritious. Levin insists that it is important to eat a variety of foods, including whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables, and nuts and seeds. The AND report notes that vegetarians and vegans should take supplemental vitamin B12 since their dairy intake may not provide enough of the vitamin.
Regarding the potential health benefits, studies confirm that vegetarians and vegans tend to weigh less and have reduced cholesterol levels compared to meat eaters. Not only are they at lower risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers, such as cancers of the prostate and gastrointestinal tract.
“If there were a pill that did all of that,” Levin said, “everyone would be taking it.”
