Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2018
College/Unit
Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design
Department/Program/Center
Division of Animal and Nutritional Sciences
Abstract
Purpose of Review
Worldwide, diabetes has increased steadily and in recent years, drastically. The majority of diabetes cases are type 2 (T2DM), caused by modifiable risk factors such as diet. Vegetarian diets have been studied over the past few decades for their preventative and therapeutic effects on diabetes and may be more beneficial than medication for diabetes management.
Recent Findings
A vegetarian diet characterized by whole plant foods is most beneficial for diabetes prevention and management.
Summary
Vegetarian diets are inversely associated with risk of developing diabetes independent of the positive association of meat consumption with diabetes development. Vegetarian diets range from vegan (no animal products), lacto-ovo-vegetarian (no animal meat, but consumes milk and eggs), pesco-vegetarian (consumes fish), and semi-vegetarian (occasional meat consumption). There has been an observed difference in the extent of preventative and therapeutic effects of these different types of diets. The most important aspect of any of these types of diets is emphasizing whole grains, fruits and vegetables, legumes, and nuts and reducing saturated and trans fats.
Digital Commons Citation
Olfert, Melissa D. and Wattick, Rachel A., "Vegetarian Diets and the Risk of Diabetes" (2018). Faculty & Staff Scholarship. 2991.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/2991
Source Citation
Olfert, M.D., Wattick, R.A. Vegetarian Diets and the Risk of Diabetes. Curr Diab Rep 18, 101 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-018-1070-9
Comments
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.