We don't know if our parents or grandparents meant for us to eat our vegetables — and more of them — to protect us from diabetes or obesity, but that is exactly what research has found a vegan diet can do, according to Denmark's Steno Diabetes Center, whose researchers presented their findings at the European Congress on Obesity, as reported by Insider.
The study included a meta-analysis of 11 random trials, in which researchers looked for trends among the independent experiments. The study included nearly 800 people, all of whom had either obesity or type 2 diabetes. The trials in question lasted a minimum of 12 weeks and an average of 19. Researchers discovered that those who followed a vegan diet dropped an average of nine pounds across all 11 trials. Participants on the vegan diet dropped almost six pounds more than those on other diets (such as the popular Mediterranean diet), and they lost an average of 16 pounds more than those who did not change their eating habits at all.
According to U.S. News and World Report, vegan diets can improve blood sugar and overall cholesterol levels, though they didn't seem to affect blood pressure or triglyceride levels.
The experiments, however, had major limitations: according to Insider, the diets utilized in the various groups were not matched in terms of nutrients or calories. Nonetheless, according to Anne-Ditte Termannsen of the Steno Diabetes Center, who led the study, it was "a rigorous assessment of the best available evidence to date [and] indicates with reasonable certainty that adhering to a vegan diet for at least 12 weeks may result in clinically meaningful weight loss and improve blood sugar levels, and thus can be used in the management of overweight and type 2 diabetes," as reported by The Guardian.
According to Healthline, studies have showed that vegan diets include more fiber, antioxidants, folate, and magnesium than non-vegan diets. Vegan diets, however, must be correctly designed to provide enough calcium, iodine, selenium, and zinc, according to the website. As a result, vegans may need to supplement their diets with certain vitamins.
Even if you don't want to completely eliminate animal proteins from your diet, increasing the amount of plant-based meals you consume can help lower your risk of type 2 diabetes and stabilize blood sugar levels.
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