Young Adults Who Ate More Plants Had 48% Lower Diabetes Risk by Middle Age

Young adults who most improved the quality of their plant-centered diet over 20 years had a 48% lower risk of type 2 diabetes over the following decade, and gained less weight along the way.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota, led by Yuni Choi with Professor David Jacobs, used the CARDIA study, which enrolled Americans aged 18 to 30 in 1985 and 1986 and followed them for 30 years. The diabetes analysis covered 2,534 people. Diet was scored with a system that rewards nutritionally rich plant foods. The study is published in Diabetes Care.

Each step up in diet score over 20 years was linked to about 1.1 kg less weight gain and a smaller increase in waist size over the same period.

The authors conclude:

Young adults who increased plant-centered diet quality had a lower diabetes risk and gained less weight by middle adulthood.

The encouraging part is that the people who benefited most were those who improved their diets over time, so a slow shift toward beans, whole grains, fruit and veg counts.

It adds to last year's Harvard meta-analysis linking plant-based diets to a 23% lower risk of type 2 diabetes, and to doctors' reports of type 2 diabetes being reversed on a plant-based diet.

Start young, start small, and keep adding plants.