Experts Endorse Plant-Based Diet for Diabetes Treatment

An expert consensus statement, published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, reports that plant-based diets and other nutrition interventions aid type 2 diabetes (T2D) remission. The statement is endorsed by American Association of Clinical Endocrinology, supported by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and co-sponsored by the Endocrine Society.  

The statements voted to consensus include the following: 

• Diet as a primary intervention for T2D is most effective in achieving remission when emphasizing whole, plant-based foods with minimal consumption of meat and other animal products.   
• A low-fat, whole food, plant-based diet can often sustain remission of T2D. 
• A very low-carbohydrate diet can be associated with significant adverse events and cardiovascular risk that make this diet inadvisable for long-term remission of T2D. 

Read more about diet and diabetes at PCRM.org/Diabetes.