Plant-based diets are the most important, yet underutilized, opportunity to reverse the pending epidemic of disease and death induced by obesity and diabetes.
Dr. Kim Williams, immediate past president of the American College of Cardiology, began published an editorial on plant-based diets with the classic Schopenhauer quote: “All truth passes through three stages. First, he is ridiculed. Secondly, he violently objected. Thirdly, it is accepted as something self-evident.” In 2013, plant-based diets for diabetes were at the “ridicule” stage in official endocrinology practice guidelines and put in the “Fashion Diets” section. The guidelines recognized that strictly plant-based diets “have been shown to reduce the risk of T2DM [type 2 diabetes] and improve the management of T2DM” better than the American Diabetes Association recommendations, and then inexplicably went on to say that it “does not support the use of one type of diet over another” with respect to diabetes or in general. “The best approach to a healthy lifestyle is simply to ‘improve unhealthy choices,’” whatever that means.
But, in 2015, the clinical practice guidelines of the same professional associations explicitly backed up a plant-based diet as a general recommendation for diabetic patients. The times they Are a changing’!
As I analyze it in my video. Plant-based diets recognized by diabetes associationsThe American Diabetes Association itself is also now on board, list plant-based diet as one of the acceptable dietary patterns for the treatment of the disease. However, the Canadian Diabetes Association has actually taken The Lead. “Type 2 diabetes mellitus is considered one of the fastest growing diseases in Canada and represents a serious public health problem,” which is why he does not mince his words and recommends plant-based diets for disease control “due to its potential to improve body weight and A1C [blood sugar control], levels of LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, in addition to reducing the need for diabetes medications.” The Canadian Diabetes Association uses the Kaiser Permanente definition for that eating pattern: “a regimen that encourages whole, plant-based foods and discourages meats, dairy products and eggs, as well as all refined and processed foods,” that is, junk food.
He recommends that diabetes education centers in Canada “improve patient perceptions of PBDs [plant-based diets] developing PBD-focused education and support, as well as providing individualized counseling sessions that address barriers to change.” The biggest obstacle identified eating plant products was ignorance. Nearly nine out of ten patients interviewed “had not heard of using a plant-based diet to treat or manage T2DM.” Why is that? “Patient awareness of (and interest in) the benefits of a plant-based diet for diabetes management… may be “influenced by the perception of diabetes educators and physicians.” In fact, most staff knew about the benefits of a plant-based diet for treating diabetes, but only one in three recommended it to their patients.
Because? One of the common reasons given was that they did not think Their patients ate plant products, so they didn’t even mention the topic, but “[t]his idea is contrary to the patient survey results that almost two-thirds of patients were willing” to at least try. The researchers cite the PCRM Geico studies I’ve covered in other videos, in which strictly plant-based diets were “well accepted with a compliance rate of over 95%,” presumably because study participants simply felt too better and reported “a higher energy level.” , better digestion, better sleep and greater satisfaction compared to the control group.”
Several staff members too voiced They were not clear about the scientific evidence supporting it as a second reason for not recommending this diet, but it has been shown to be more effective than a diet recommended by the American Diabetes Association in reducing the use of diabetes medications, controlling blood sugar, long-term blood and cholesterol. Therefore, it is possible that diabetes educators were simply behind the times, as there is a “lag” in the dissemination of new scientific findings from the literature to the physician and ultimately to the patient. Speeding up this process is one of the reasons I started NutritionFacts.org.
As Dr. Williams put it, “the ‘truth’ (i.e., evidence) of the benefits of plant-based nutrition keep going to ride. This now includes lower rates of stroke, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, myocardial infarction and mortality. [heart attacks and cardiac death], as well as many non-cardiac problems that affect our patients in cardiology, ranging from cancer to a variety of inflammatory conditions.” We have the science. The biggest challenge is to overcome “inertia, culture, habit and the widespread marketing of unhealthy foods.” And he concludes: “Reading the existing literature and evaluating the impact of plant-based nutrition, it is clear that it represents the most important, but underutilized, opportunity to reverse the pending epidemic of morbidity and mortality,” disease and death induced by plant-based nutrition. obesity and diabetes.
I highlighted PCRM Geico studies in my videos. Slimming the Gecko toNorth Dakota Plant-based workplace intervention.
Aren’t plant-based diets rich in carbohydrates? Get the “skinny” by watching my video Throwback Friday: Benefits of a macrobiotic diet for diabetes.
To learn more about the effect of diet on type 2 diabetes, watch the related videos below.
