Photo: KavindaF on Pixabay.
Great news for anyone thinking about making the switch: people who ate a vegetarian diet had a 35% lower risk of developing diabetes, and people who changed to a vegetarian diet during the study had a 53% lower risk, compared with non-vegetarians.
Researchers at Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital in Taiwan followed 2,918 Buddhists for a median of five years. None had diabetes, cancer or heart disease at the start, and 183 went on to develop diabetes. The results held after adjusting for age, sex, education, physical activity, family history and, importantly, body mass index. The study is published in Nutrition & Diabetes, a Springer Nature journal, and the full paper is free to read.
Most of the evidence linking vegetarian diets to lower diabetes risk comes from Western countries, so this is a welcome result from Asia, where the disease often develops at lower body weights. The authors conclude:
Vegetarian diet and converting to vegetarian diet may protect against diabetes independent of BMI among Taiwanese.
The finding about converting is the most encouraging part: it suggests the benefit isn't reserved for lifelong vegetarians. Swapping meat for beans, tofu, whole grains and vegetables looks like a smart move at any age.
It fits with the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists now recommending a plant-based diet, and with what we already know about preventing and even reversing diabetes with plants.
It's never too late to make the switch!