Changing the way you eat can greatly impact how you manage your diabetes. For example, eating a healthy plant-based diet can improve insulin production and even prevent major complications from diabetes as well.

More about plant-based diet and diabetes

The food that we eat plays a big role in our health. For people with diabetes, a healthy diet is very important in helping you improve your condition. Eating well can help you feel good, have more energy, stay at a healthy weight, and prevent or delay problems from diabetes. Also, a good diet is a great way to keep your blood sugar level, blood pressure, and cholesterol in a healthy range. Diabetes is on the rise, especially among Latinos, and the American Diabetes Association says that 114 million Americans have diabetes or prediabetes today. Food choices such as fast food, meats, animal fats, highly processed foods, and sugar-sweetened drinks could play a big role in the rising rates of type 2 diabetes in America and worldwide. On the other hand, a healthy diet with lots of plant foods can be very effective in preventing and treating type 2 diabetes.

A brand new 2019 study shows that eating a plant-based (also called Vegan) diet can actually improve insulin secretion and hormones for people with type 2 diabetes. A plant-based diet is mostly made up of vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds and discourages people from eating animal products. Recently, there have been a lot of similar studies that show the benefits of eating a plant-based diet for people with diabetes. Some studies have even shown how plant-based diets can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. The author of this specific study thinks that eating a plant-based diet should be one of the first treatments offered for people with diabetes. “With diabetes rates rising and insulin costs soaring, this study offers hope that a solution could be close at hand: the food on our plates,” said Hana Kahleova, Director of Clinical Research at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. The food we choose to eat can be one of our first lines of defense in managing, and even improving, diabetes.

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