Posted on 07/28/2006 4:30:14 AM PDT by grundle
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.
I read my first post again and see what you meant here. I mixed the metaphor so to speak.
It is interesting though. I would like to see the vegans diet plan. I bet it was low on the junk carbs. I am not diabetic, but battle my weight. If I avoid potatoes, white rice, bread, pasta and sweets - oh, and beer :(, I can eat all I want and won't gain an ounce. I put some simple carbs in and my clothes will immediately begin to shrink!
If you pursue such a diet long enough, you can begin to smell the fructose in green apples as you enter the grocery store.
The sort of vegan diets I've looked at are short on fats and oils. There's this false belief out there that it's "sugar" and "fat" that packs on the pounds. Actually, for most folks, it's starch and starch and starch and starch that do the job.
Dairy I could believe, since lactose is basically a form of sugar.... but meat? Its protien, what benefit is there from cutting out protien?
I've done the Vegan thing. It soooo took the joy out of eating out with my husband. But it does work.
sw
Beats me. As others more familiar with the subject are saying, it's possible that other factors are responsible for the benefits of the vegan diet, and the avoidance of meat isn't what helps.
However,my hip went out on me not too long ago and now I can't walk well so the weight is coming back.
Atkins was surprisingly easy for me,a milk-a-holic,bread-a-holic,chocoholic,junk food-a-holic,to follow. My doctor told me that it was because protein (of which Atkins provides a lot)is better able than any other type of food to turn off the little switch in your head that tells you that you're hungry.
Black rice?
I've never heard of it. Sounds interesting.
Comapred to white rice, what does it taste like?
It is amazing how little food your body needs. I cut my callories by 2/3 and do aerobic exercise 7 days a week. I used to just lift weights 5 days a week. I have now gone from 240lbs to 195lbs and my benches and squats have suffered little. The main thing though is that my blood pressure went from pre-hypertension to 115/65 and my heart rate went from 80bpm to 48bpm.
Conclusion: Your body does not like being overweight and it reacts very quickly when you shed pounds.
Exercise and a low carb, with plenty of protein (meat) had my blood sugar normal within a week. Whatever works.
That's exactly what makes my clothes shrink!
The American Medical Association (AMA), which actually represents the medical profession, has called PCRM a “fringe organization” that uses “unethical tactics” and is “interested in perverting medical science.”
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I don't like the PCRM but it IS true that a vegan diet is very healthy. Even if a person doesn't want to be vegan or vegetarian, eating less animal protein and even less refined carbs will help diabetes. Also, exercise, vigorous exercise is the absolute key. Even if a person is a meat eater, it depends on what kind and how often the meat is consumed. My FIL is almost 80 but he HUNTS his own meat which is exercise and guaranteed not to contain toxic poison chemicals, red dyes to make the meat look all pretty,etc.
Wild black rice is very fiber rich. White rice is processed, bleached garbage.
I've not eaten in the longest time. My protein is fine. I get it from green vegetables. B12 is great. Except for the little milk in my morning coffee, I don't eat dairy anymore because raw cheese can be expensive. Meat is not the only source of protein. Where do you think animals get their protein from? Plants.
I am a vegetarian who eats a lot of unprocessed foods and raw veggies and fruits. I tend to emphasize the greens and sprouted lentils for more protein. I try to stay away from sweet fruits,etc. My fasting blood sugar was 73 last time it was tested and I had no nutritional issues. My sister was quite heavy and lost weight eating a vegetarian diet emphasizing raw cheese and organic fruits and veggies. I cut out all refined carbs and it's true. Once you cut out refined carbs, the weight just peels off (if you exercise!).
Keep a small bottle of bitter melon capsules on hand. It's derived from a very bitter gourd and it lowers blood sugar like gluco drugs. I used to tell my customers that if they really want to eat something sweet to eat the sweets and then take one or two of the capsules. It's worked every time. Oh yeah, sprouting lentils and eating heavy fiberous starches like quinoa and oatgroats help too.
I've heard that taking a shot of hard liquor can also lower blood sugar.
Well maybe...I have an uncle that guzzles 180 proof rum and has no diabetes. I don't know about the liver :D
Darned (as they would say in the good old days), is that it?
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