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An estimated 400 million
people in the world
are now living with diabetes.
This equates to 1 in 11 adults.
While Type 1 diabetes is less common
and is usually related to genetics,
Type 2 diabetes, once
called adult onset diabetes,
is now so common it can impact
children as young as age 5.
Type 2 diabetes is most
typically the result of poor diet
and a lack of exercise.
By 2040, the number of people
suffering from Type 2 diabetes
across the globe could rise
to more than 640 million.
As the standard American diet,
also referred to as the
Western pattern diet
has spread across the world,
people have increased their intake
of fatty and processed foods.
Now more than 2/3 of Americans
are overweight or obese
and according to diabetes.co.uk,
obesity is believed to
account for 80 to 85%
of the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
Lack of exercise also increases
the risk of developing diabetes.
The less active a person is,
the greater the risk of the disease.
The World Health Organization notes
that physical inactivity
alone is estimated to cause
7% of the burden of Type 2
diabetes in the European region.
According to the American
Diabetes Association,
in 2015 more than 30 million
Americans were diabetic
and more than 84 million
adults were pre-diabetic.
Dr. Eugene Chang told Everyday Health,
"Over the past century,
we've seen the incidence
"of chronic diseases go up
dramatically in Western culture,
"and that's due to
changes in our lifestyle,
"diet, and environment."
The symptoms of Type 2 diabetes vary.
Diabetes UK says, "A lot of
people don't get any symptoms
"or they don't notice them.
"Some people don't think
the symptoms are important
"so don't ask for help."
It adds, "This means that
people live with Type 2 diabetes
"for up to 10 years
before being diagnosed."
The health consequences of
diabetes can be serious.
It can lead to nerve damage,
resulting in the loss
of feeling in the limbs,
as well as kidney damage and eye damage
with the potential risk of blindness.
It can also potentially increase
the risk of heart disease,
stroke, sleep apnea and
Alzheimer's disease.
But diabetes may be managed
effectively with a vegan diet.
"By eating a healthy vegan diet
"low in cholesterol and saturated fat,
"but balanced enough to
include fiber and protein,
"blood glucose levels can
be made easier to control,"
says Diabetes.co.uk.
This type of diet, particularly
when combined with exercise
can help to lower blood glucose levels
and better manage diabetes.
A recent study of more
than 2,000 young adults
supports this point of view.
For participants that
increased the amount of fruits,
vegetables and nuts in their diet
over the course of 20 years,
the risk of developing Type
2 diabetes was 60% lower
than those who didn't.
A study from the University of London
also found that a plant-based diet
can help to ease symptoms of depression
as well as other mental health issues
in Type 2 diabetes sufferers.
A critical analysis of
more than 400 individuals
with diabetes aged in their mid 50s
revealed that physical and
emotional quality of life
improved after switching to a vegan diet.
Lead author of the study,
Anastasios Toumpanakis said,
"We would say that people
with Type 2 diabetes
"following a plant-based
diet might be happier
"because as the studies suggest,
"the majority found that
through this eating pattern
"they can have better
control of their condition."
Nerve pain was also less common
in those following a plant-based diet.
Those who remained on a non-vegan diet
reported a loss of temperature
control in their feet,
suggesting that plant-based
foods can help to slow
progressive nerve damage
in diabetes sufferers.
Many medical experts believe
that a healthy plant-based diet
can go further than just
managing Type 2 diabetes.
- Overall the results suggest
that a plant-based diet
can improve overall quality of life,
psychological well-being and
chronic diabetic neuropathy
in people with Type 2
diabetes without changes
in food enjoyment and diet cost.
So it's not more expensive,
people don't dislike it.
It just gets rid of a
whole lot of physical
and mental problems,
psychological problems
that people have.
- [Narrator] It may also help
to reverse the condition.
- Now put that in the context of the fact
that nutritional
excellence has the ability
to work better than drugs.
- It can be reversed, something
we've known since the 1970s.
Now, we know that look,
any weight loss can slow
or even reverse diabetes.
In Slovakia, the Natural
Food Interaction Diet,
which promotes the consumption
of plant-based whole foods
is undergoing trials
at the National Institute for
Diabetes and Endocrinology.
The diet was developed
after years of study
on the interactions of
chemicals within food
and it may help to reverse Type 2 diabetes
without need for further
medical intervention.
Recommended meals on the
diet include Weetabix,
a wholegrain wheat breakfast cereal,
with chia seeds and almond milk
and quinoa with dark green
vegetables and pine nuts.
The American College of Lifestyle Medicine
recommends an online program
that encourages diabetes sufferers
to adopt a plant-based diet
to help reverse the condition.
And vegan physician, Dr. Neal Barnard
released a plant-based recipe book
specifically for people who
want to reverse Type 2 diabetes.
- In 2006 we published the first findings
from a breakthrough study
that was funded by NIH
where we did a head-to-head test
of a conventional diabetes
diet that reduced calories
and asked the participants
to count carbohydrate grams
versus an experimental approach
that used a totally vegan low fat diet.
And do you know what happened?
The vegan diet caused more weight loss,
better blood sugar control
and it helped people
to a surprising degree.
- [Narrator] Barnard is
the founding president
of the Physicians Committee
for Responsible Medicine.
The committee is a nonprofit organization
dedicated to the promotion
of a plant-based diet
and preventative medicine.
Its members include 12,000 physicians.
Barnard's book is helping to save lives.
One diabetes sufferer told PCRM,
"I've gone from 2,000
milligrams of metformin a day
"to now only 500 milligrams a day
"and I'm still in progress, thank you."
Metformin is the first-line medication
for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes.
One person said their wife
was recommended the book by their doctor.
"My wife's numbers that
had been out of control
"for so long were finally
predictable," he said.
Another patient added simply,
"Did it, it worked, thanks."
"Weight has gone up and come back down,"
Barnard told Parade.
"Sugars that have gone
up can go back down,
"medication doses that have gone higher
"year by year can come down,
as can cholesterol levels
"and blood pressure levels
"and medication used to treat them."
Brooklyn's Borough president, Eric Adams
says he reversed his diabetes
with a plant-based diet.
He was losing his eyesight and
suffering from nerve damage
in his hands and feet.
He decided to take
matters into his own hands
and manage his condition
with an active lifestyle
and a healthy vegan diet.
- My eyesight cleared up
when I changed my diet.
In three months all the
nerve damage was gone,
the ulcer was gone, all of
those symptoms that I had
associated with my diabetes disappeared.
- [Narrator] Type 2
diabetes runs in his family.
He told Everyday Health,
"Imagine the excitement I have
"in watching my mother who
has been injecting herself
"with insulin since I was two years old
"now hear me tell her that
she can reverse her condition.
"I can't even express the emotions
"that are attached to that."
Adams isn't the only public figure
to improve his health with a vegan diet.
Rapper Will.i.am ditched
meat and dairy in 2017.
He lost weight and his cholesterol
and blood pressure levels improved.
- My high blood pressure was
high, it had high cholesterol
and since then, starting in December,
I changed what I eat, I
have a plant-based diet,
I work out.
- [Narrator] He said, "The
cholesterol is down as well,
"but in runs in my family and diabetes,
"so I want to get it under control now
"so I don't have to
worry about it later on."
- I wanna continue my veganism,
working out, staying fit
gettin' gorilla ripped,
you know what I'm saying?
Get my gorilla muscle strength.
- [Narrator] Kevin Smith has also claimed
that following a vegan diet
has improved his health.
The filmmaker suffered a heart attack
at the beginning of 2018.
He then decided to ditch
animal products and go vegan.
He was told he needed to lose 50 pounds.
He lost 17 pounds in just nine days
of eating plant-based foods.
- You're lookin' at me
right now going like,
Silent Bob telling me how to (beep) eat?
Yes, believe it or not, man.
I'm not saying I'm an expert
but I've been through some stuff
and so now I can speak on
the issue of men's health.
- [Narrator] After a month
of plant-based eating,
Smith's doctor ran lab tests
and said the results looked fantastic.
The doctor reduced Smith's
Lipitor cholesterol medication
by half because his levels
had dropped so radically.
Following the change, Smith's daughter,
vegan model and actress,
Harley Quinn Smith,
said her dad was thriving.
"He's doing really great.
"He's the healthiest he's ever been.
"He's vegan now which is amazing."
- Once he had his heart attack,
I was absolutely not going to let him
continue living his life without veganism
being a part of it.
- [Narrator] The American
Diabetes Association
recommends people eat
plant-based whole foods
like citrus, fruits and berries.
The group says a vegan
diet rich in fresh fruits,
vegetables and plant-based
proteins including beans,
grains, nuts and seeds
can help to mitigate
the onset and effects of Type 2 diabetes.
In its 2018 Standards of
Medical Care in Diabetes,
the ADA cites 35 studies
pointing to the benefits
of a plant-based diet.
And also notes that
doctors and nutritionists
should always educate patients
on lifestyle management.
Diabetes.co.uk agrees, it states,
"Many people instantly recoil
at the idea of a vegan diet,
"but this attitude is gradually changing,
"particularly amongst
people with diabetes."
Can people with diabetes use a vegan diet
to improve blood glucose control?
Absolutely, by eating a healthy vegan diet
low in cholesterol and saturated fat
but balanced enough to
include fiber and protein,
blood glucose levels can
be made easier to control.
This type of diet, particularly
when combined with exercise
can help to lower blood glucose levels
and better manage diabetes.
The NHS has also recognized the benefits
of a vegan diet for people with diabetes.
It acknowledged a study
that suggests a strong link
between a whole foods plant-based diet
and Type 2 diabetes prevention
in overweight adults.
This high level recognition represents
the initial acceptance of the vegan diet
in both the public sector
and the scientific community.
The research referred to by the NHS
involved a 16 week
randomized control experiment
that placed 75 overweight men
and women into two groups.
One on a low fat vegan diet,
the intervention group,
the other without change
to their current diet,
the control group.
The intervention group
showed improved function
of their beta cells in
addition to a reduction in BMI
and reportable visceral fat loss.
The control group did not
see significant results
in either beta cell
function or weight loss.
The NHS applauded the research technique
of the randomized trial,
stating that it is the best way
to assess the effectiveness
of an intervention.
It also conceded that a vegan
diet tends to incorporate
less fat and sugar than
the typical Western diet,
so the results are not
particularly surprising.
Consuming high amounts of
sugar is commonly thought of
as increasing the risk of diabetes,
but according to experts
appearing in the 2017 documentary
"What the Health" processed
meat is also a risk factor.
- [Male Narrator] Harvard
researchers looked at
nine perspective studies
finding that just one serving
of processed meat per day increased risk
of developing diabetes by 51%.
The link between eating meat
and developing diabetes became undeniable.
- [Narrator] It pulled
this finding from a study
conducted in August 2011 and published
in the American Journal
of Clinical Nutrition,
referencing a 2009 study,
the filmmakers note that
if a person eats meat.
- [Male Narrator] Today
with 2/3 of Americans
being overweight, clearly
there's a food issue.
In the next 25 years one
out of every 3 Americans
will have diabetes.
- Diabetes, the arthritis,
the heart disease,
the dementia, the obesity, the cancers
are affecting about 70% of deaths.
All the data is that those
70% of deaths and morbidity
are largely lifestyle
related and preventable.
- [Narrator] What do you think?
Do you agree?
Do you know or anyone you
know manage Type 2 diabetes
with a vegan lifestyle?
Let us know in the comments below.
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