: Can vegan or vegetarian diets have a positive effect on people with diabetes? Can a vegan or vegetarian diet help people treat their diabetes, or at least have a positive effect on them? Why?

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Not only has it been proven that a whole food plant-based diet can reverse diabetes type 2 in many cases, but that it can completely reverse diabetes type 2 in two weeks in some people who've been injecting themselves with insulin for 20 years on a daily basis. Studies where this has been achieved can be found at the following link: NutritionFacts

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There are several investigations assessing this issue. In several clinical trials (1, 2) Dr. Barnard has prooved that a low-fat vegan diet can improve serum values of HbA1c and requirements for medication of patients affected by type 2 diabetes. The same studies found significant improvements in plasma lipids (LDL and total cholesterols), that show decrease of risk factors for cardiovascular disease, often a complication of diabetes and metabolic disorders.

Additionally, clinical trials show that vegan and vegetarian diets promote weight loss (3, 4, 5) and improved insulin sensitivity(4, 5) being these two important risk factors for type 2 diabetes (6).

The reasons of the effectiveness must be found in the fact -among others- that vegetarians and vegans eat less quantities of total fats, saturated fats and highers amounts of fiber and show lower BMI (7).