Doctors and dietitians teach their diabetes patients how to properly control their blood sugar levels, how to take the right amount of insulin, and most of all, how to maintain a proper diet. Proper diet along with medication has been the prevailing wisdom when it comes to managing diabetes disease. However, recent studies have shown that with diet alone it is possible for patients to not only maintain healthy glucose levels, but actually reverse their diabetic condition, without medication.
An example of this type of reverse diabetes meal plan focuses on eating a low-fat, high-fiber diet. A study of this type of diet, from UCLA, showed that after three weeks of adhering to this plan, fifty percent of the participants were no longer classified as diabetic. The diet is based on percentages, with the lowest percentage of calories coming from fat, twenty to thirty percent from protein, and the highest caloric intake from high-fiber carbohydrates. At the end of this study, most participants no longer tested positive for metabolic syndrome.
A similar diet-based plan to reverse diabetes takes the low-fat model to the next level by focusing on the vegan diet. In this plan, diabetics are encouraged to eliminate all animal proteins and animal-based proteins, including cheese, eggs, and animal fats. This diet is based on cultures in which the consumption of animal fats is relatively low and in which diabetes is almost non-existent. Studies have indicated that when patients follow a more plant-based diet, their bodies become more sensitive to the insulin that is produced, while a fatty diet can make the body more resistant to insulin.
All of the protein in this diet plan comes from plant-based products. To guide diabetics in following this plan, it is necessary to know the new food groups, as designated by this diet: cereals, legumes, vegetables and fruits. Participants in a twelve-week trial of the low-fat vegan diet showed a marked decrease in glucose concentration compared to the control group.
