HEALTH: Vegan diet reverses diabetes symptoms, study finds

[Guest guest]

Just spotted this health item - worth checking out! Best love, pat.

 

-----

 

Vegan diet reverses diabetes symptoms, study finds

Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:34 PM ET

 

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People who ate a low-fat vegan diet, cutting out all meat

and

dairy, lowered their blood sugar more and lost more weight than people on a

standard

American Diabetes Association diet, researchers said on Thursday.

 

They lowered their cholesterol more and ended up with better kidney function,

according

to the report published in Diabetes Care, a journal published by the American

Diabetes

Association.

 

Participants said the vegan diet was easier to follow than most because they did

not

measure portions or count calories. Three of the vegan dieters dropped out of

the study,

compared to eight on the standard diet.

 

" I hope this study will rekindle interest in using diet changes first, rather

than prescription

drugs, " Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Physician's Committee for Responsible

Medicine,

which helped conduct the study, told a news conference.

 

An estimated 18 million Americans have type-2 diabetes, which results from a

combination of genetics and poor eating and exercise habits. They run a high

risk of heart

disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and limb loss.

 

Barnard's team and colleagues at George Washington University, the University of

Toronto

and the University of North Carolina tested 99 people with type-2 diabetes,

assigning

them randomly to either a low-fat, low-sugar vegan diet or the standard American

Diabetes Association diet.

 

After 22 weeks on the diet, 43 percent of those on the vegan diet and 26 percent

of those

on the standard diet were either able to stop taking some of their drugs such as

insulin or

glucose-control medications, or lowered the doses.

 

The vegan dieters lost 14 pounds (6.5 kg) on average while the diabetes

association

dieters lost 6.8 pounds (3.1 kg).

 

An important level of glucose control called a1c fell by 1.23 points in the

vegan group and

by 0.38 in the group on the standard diet.

 

DROPPING DRUGS

 

A1c gives a measure of how well-controlled blood sugar has been over the

preceding

three months.

 

In the dieters who did not change whatever cholesterol drugs they were on during

the

study, LDL or " bad " cholesterol fell by 21 percent in the vegan group and 10

percent in the

standard diet group.

 

The vegan diet removed all animal products, including meat, fish and dairy. It

was also low

in added fat and in sugar.

 

The American Diabetes Association diet is more tailored, taking into account the

patient's

weight and cholesterol. Most patients on this diet cut calories significantly,

and were told

to eat sugary and starchy foods in moderation.

 

All 99 participants met weekly with advisers, who advised them on recipes, gave

them tips

for sticking to their respective diets, and offered encouragement.

 

" We have got a combination here that works successfully, " said Dr. David Jenkins

of the

University of Toronto, who worked on the study. " The message that we so often

get with

diet is that it is no good because nobody follows it for very long. "

 

Dr. Joshua Cohen, George Washington University associate professor of medicine,

said

everyone diagnosed with diabetes is told to start eating more carefully.

 

" That may be among the hardest things that any of us can do, " Cohen told the

news

conference.

 

The vegan diet " is at least as good, if not better than traditional approaches, "

Cohen said.

 

Vance Warren, a 36-year-old retired police officer living in Washington, said he

lowered

his a1c from 10.4, considered uncontrolled diabetes, to 5.1, considered a

healthy level,

over 18 months. " My life is much better being 74 pounds (34 kg) lighter, " Warren

told the

news conference.

 

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[Guest guest]

Neal Barnard who assisted with the study below is the author of several

marvelous books that include great vegan recipes. Turn Off Your Fat

Genes (bad title) is wonderful. My partner and I have tried many of the

recipes with great success. Another good one is Foods that Fight Pain.

 

Best,

 

Chris

 

Patricia Sant wrote:

> Just spotted this health item - worth checking out! Best love, pat.

>

> -----

>

> Vegan diet reverses diabetes symptoms, study finds

[...]

[Guest guest]

Hi Pat,

 

Thanks for the into! I don't have any diseases linked to obesity, but this is

good to know. After all I am trying to avoid them. ;D

 

Yvette

 

Patricia Sant <moorcroftblue wrote:

 

Just spotted this health item - worth checking out! Best love, pat.

 

-----

 

Vegan diet reverses diabetes symptoms, study finds

Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:34 PM ET

 

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People who ate a low-fat vegan diet, cutting out all meat

and

dairy, lowered their blood sugar more and lost more weight than people on a

standard

American Diabetes Association diet, researchers said on Thursday.

 

They lowered their cholesterol more and ended up with better kidney function,

according

to the report published in Diabetes Care, a journal published by the American

Diabetes

Association.

 

Participants said the vegan diet was easier to follow than most because they did

not

measure portions or count calories. Three of the vegan dieters dropped out of

the study,

compared to eight on the standard diet.

 

" I hope this study will rekindle interest in using diet changes first, rather

than prescription

drugs, " Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Physician's Committee for Responsible

Medicine,

which helped conduct the study, told a news conference.

 

An estimated 18 million Americans have type-2 diabetes, which results from a

combination of genetics and poor eating and exercise habits. They run a high

risk of heart

disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and limb loss.

 

Barnard's team and colleagues at George Washington University, the University of

Toronto

and the University of North Carolina tested 99 people with type-2 diabetes,

assigning

them randomly to either a low-fat, low-sugar vegan diet or the standard American

Diabetes Association diet.

 

After 22 weeks on the diet, 43 percent of those on the vegan diet and 26 percent

of those

on the standard diet were either able to stop taking some of their drugs such as

insulin or

glucose-control medications, or lowered the doses.

 

The vegan dieters lost 14 pounds (6.5 kg) on average while the diabetes

association

dieters lost 6.8 pounds (3.1 kg).

 

An important level of glucose control called a1c fell by 1.23 points in the

vegan group and

by 0.38 in the group on the standard diet.

 

DROPPING DRUGS

 

A1c gives a measure of how well-controlled blood sugar has been over the

preceding

three months.

 

In the dieters who did not change whatever cholesterol drugs they were on during

the

study, LDL or " bad " cholesterol fell by 21 percent in the vegan group and 10

percent in the

standard diet group.

 

The vegan diet removed all animal products, including meat, fish and dairy. It

was also low

in added fat and in sugar.

 

The American Diabetes Association diet is more tailored, taking into account the

patient's

weight and cholesterol. Most patients on this diet cut calories significantly,

and were told

to eat sugary and starchy foods in moderation.

 

All 99 participants met weekly with advisers, who advised them on recipes, gave

them tips

for sticking to their respective diets, and offered encouragement.

 

" We have got a combination here that works successfully, " said Dr. David Jenkins

of the

University of Toronto, who worked on the study. " The message that we so often

get with

diet is that it is no good because nobody follows it for very long. "

 

Dr. Joshua Cohen, George Washington University associate professor of medicine,

said

everyone diagnosed with diabetes is told to start eating more carefully.

 

" That may be among the hardest things that any of us can do, " Cohen told the

news

conference.

 

The vegan diet " is at least as good, if not better than traditional approaches, "

Cohen said.

 

Vance Warren, a 36-year-old retired police officer living in Washington, said he

lowered

his a1c from 10.4, considered uncontrolled diabetes, to 5.1, considered a

healthy level,

over 18 months. " My life is much better being 74 pounds (34 kg) lighter, " Warren

told the

news conference.

 

This service is not intended to encourage spam. The details provided by your

colleague

have been used for the sole purpose of facilitating this email communication and

have not

been retained by Reuters. Your personal details have not been added to any

database or

mailing list.

If you would like to receive news articles delivered to your email address,

please

at www.reuters.com

 

? Copyright Reuters 2006All rights reserved. Users may download and print

extracts of

content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only.

Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or

similar means,

is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters

and the

Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Reuters group

of

companies around the world.

Quotes and other data are provided for your personal information only, and are

not

intended for trading purposes. Reuters, the members of its Group and its data

providers

shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the quotes or other data, or for

any actions

taken in reliance thereon.

 

? Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters

content,

including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without

the prior

written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered

trademarks

and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Yvette wrote:

> Thanks for the into! I don't have any diseases linked to obesity, but this

is good to

know. After all I am trying to avoid them. ;D

 

Me neither (touch wood, as they say), but like you I would like to avoid them! I

figure we're

going about it the right way!

 

Best love, Pat