Study Shows Diabetes Can Be Reversed With a Plant-Based Diet
A study published in Journal of Metabolic Syndrome shows diabetes can be reversed by switching to a whole food plant-based diet. For the 30.3 million Americans suffering diabetes today, a 2017 study should provide great hope. The study involved 55 diabetes patients who were put on a diet of fruit and veggies for three days. Their medicines were also taken away for the study to see how just the plant-based diet would impact their condition.
Participants in the study, who represented a range of ages, demographics, diabetes type, and length of diabetes diagnosis, all experienced encouraging results after just three days on a plant-based diet. Biswaroop Roy Chowdhury, an Indian medical nutritionist, led the study and writes:
“The study reported controlled blood glucose levels for 84% of patients and partially controlled levels for 16% of patients. Those with controlled levels could attain a healthy blood glucose range without medicines and or insulin, along with the prescribed diet in 3-days. Those with partially controlled levels could attain a healthy blood glucose range with less than 50% of insulin than prescribed earlier. “
(Chowdhury, 2017).
Study Partipants Reverse Diabetes With Diet
The diet that helped eliminate the need for medicine in 84% of patients included a variety of nutritious whole plant food ingredients like the ones below. The exact quantities of each plant foods were controlled and the patients were monitored closely over the three day study.
Plant-Based Diet Reversed 100% of Type 1 Diabetes
The plant-based diet helped patients reduce their dependence on insulin regardless of diabetes type. Of the 34 type 2 diabetes patients, 100% achieved controlled blood sugar levels with diet alone. Of the 21 patients with type 1 diabetes, 12 achieved target blood sugar levels without medication. The other 9 type 1 diabetics were able to partially control their blood sugar levels with the plant-based diet and were able to reduce their dependence on insulin injections as a result.
In just three days the diabetic participants also began to lose weight. About half of patients lost more than 2.2 pounds, or 1kg of body mass during the study.
The authors of the study summarize the results which are all good news for those suffering diabetes. They write:
“The plant-based diet in the form of raw fruits and vegetables has the ability to reduce blood glucose levels both fasting and post-prandial. The diet is suitable for diabetic individuals. The diet has shown effect in case of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients. The diet process could reduce the insulin dependency for most of the patients by at least 50%. Disease duration was not a hindrance, as similar effects were seen in subjects with above 10 years of disease history and with newly diagnosed diabetes patients. The diet proved to be beneficial irrespective of variable age groups and demographic profiles.”
(Chowdhury, 2017)
The results of this study suggest that diabetes can be reversed with a plant-based diet or this, the natural human diet, can help a diabetic patient better manage their condition. If the choice is frequent shots of insulin and other medications, or simply eating fruits and veggies, many would choose the more natural and less risky approach. According to Chowdhury,
“…this unique treatment approach will eliminate the risks of medicine side-effects. On the basis of this research, diabetes education can be developed for better understanding of the disease and better living for the diseased population.”
The researchers conclude that the plant-based diet is a safe and effective approach to reverse or manage diabetes.
Healing With Plants is a holistic health education website empowering people to heal themselves at home, with plants. Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. today. Many people who have suffered from diabetes have regained their health simply by eating more plants and at Healing With Plants we are spreading the good news! Follow Healing With Plants on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for more healing whole foods plant-based recipes and inspiring stories that testify for the amazing healing power of plants.
SOURCES: 1. American Diabetes Association (2019) "Statistics About Diabetes." Diabetes.org, accessed August 25, 2019. 2. Chowdhury BR (2017) Diabetes Reversal by Plant-Based Diet. Journal of Metabolic Syndrome 6: 232. DOI: 10.4172/2167-0943.1000232
