Low-Fat Vegan Diet Cut Liver Fat by a Third in People With Type 2 Diabetes

A low-fat vegan diet cut liver fat by a third in people with type 2 diabetes, without any calorie counting, according to a 16-week clinical trial published in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care on October 8.

Researchers at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and Yale School of Medicine asked 25 adults with type 2 diabetes to eat a low-fat vegan diet of vegetables, grains, legumes and fruit, as much as they wanted. Fat inside the liver and muscles was measured with magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Liver fat fell by 33%, body weight by an average of 6.0kg (6.6%), mostly fat, and visceral belly fat by 290 cm3. Insulin resistance fell, insulin sensitivity rose, several measures of beta-cell function improved and harmful advanced glycation end-products in the tissues went down, according to the press release.

"This research adds to a growing body of evidence that food can work like medicine for people with diabetes. When patients don't have to weigh their portions or track every calorie, healthy eating becomes something they can actually sustain, and that is when we see real, lasting metabolic change," said lead author Dr Hana Kahleova.

The trial had no control group, but the changes were large.

The same team has shown a vegan diet can help people with type 1 diabetes cut insulin costs by 27%, and a Harvard study linked fiber from grains and fruit to lower diabetes risk.

Real change, no calorie counting required.