Can a vegetarian diabetic diet reverse diabetes? There are a number of studies which have found a vegetarian diabetic diet to be very advantageous to the treatment of diabetes. In fact, one study feature in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition describes some of the benefits as follows:

  • Whole-grain consumption has been shown through cohort studies to reduce the risk of both type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
  • Nuts such as almonds, viscous fibers from oats and barley, soy proteins, and plant sterols, which are often part of a vegetarian diet, reduce serum lipids.
  • Substituting soy or other vegetable proteins for animal protein has been known to decrease many of the problems concerning kidney damage and diabetes.

 

In 2007, it was reported by ABC news that a vegan diet may have the power to reverse and prevent diabetes. Researchers reported that “people who ate a low-fat vegan diet, cutting out all meat and dairy, lowered their blood sugar more and lost more weight than people on a standard American Diabetes Association diet”. They also lowered their cholesterol more and ended up with better kidney function. Many of the participants in this study, whether on the standard or the vegan diet, were able to stop taking some of their glucose-control medications or lower their dosages.

 

Tips for Taking on a Diabetic Vegetarian Diet

 

Obviously, the major concern of taking on a vegetarian diabetic diet is that you won’t get a substantial amount of protein in your meals. This shouldn’t stop you from changing your diet for your health or for your personal beliefs. Your physician or dietitian can help you to change over to a vegetarian diabetic diet easily and healthily in most cases. (In fact, you should speak to them no matter what type of dietary changes you are taking on.) There are plenty of plant-based foods that can provide you with ample amounts of protein. According to the American Diabetes Association, these are:

  • Dried or canned beans such as black beans, pinto beans, navy beans, and kidney beans, etc.
  • Bean-based products such as bean spreads, hummus, and fat-free refried beans.
  • Lentils
  • Peas, such as black-eyed or split peas
  • Nuts and nut spreads like almonds, almond butter, peanut, peanut butter, walnuts, pistachios, and cashews.
  • Soy and soy products such as soy milk, tofu, soy nuts, tempeh, and edamame.
  • Meat substitutes like meatless chicken nuggets, veggie burgers, and black bean burgers.

 

Another concern is having a lack of vitamin B12 in your diet. This can usually be taken care of by taking a supplement or multi-vitamin. Talk to your doctor about this concern as well to see if he/she has any advice on what product is best to use.