*Consumers with the highest adherence to 鈥榦verall鈥� predominantly plant-based diets had a 23 percent lower risk of Type 2 diabetes than those with weaker devotion to the diets

Emmanuel Akosile | 绿帽献妻

The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers, in a new meta-analysis, found that people with the highest adherence to 鈥渙verall鈥� predominantly plant-based diets had a 23 percent lower risk of Type 2 diabetes than those with weaker adherence to the diets.

The study findings also discovered that the association was stronger for people whose diets emphasised healthy plant-based foods.

The study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine online.

First author Frank Qian, who conducted the research as a Master鈥檚 student in the Department of Nutrition, said: 鈥淧lant-based dietary patterns are gaining popularity in recent years, so we thought it was crucial to quantify their overall association with diabetes risk, particularly since these diets can vary substantially in terms of their food composition.鈥�

While previous studies have suggested that plant-based dietary patterns may help lower Type 2 diabetes risk, there has been a lack of research analysing the overall body of epidemiological evidence.

According to the researchers, the current study provides the most comprehensive evidence to date for the association.

The researchers identified nine studies that looked at the association and were published through February 2019. Their meta-analysis included health data from 307,099 participants with 23,544 cases of Type 2 diabetes.

They analysed adherence to a predominantly plant-based diet, which could include a mix of healthy plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes, but also less healthy plant-based foods such as potatoes, white flour, and sugar, and modest amounts of animal products.

The researchers also looked at 鈥渉ealthful鈥� plant-based diets, which were defined as those emphasising healthy plant-based foods, with lower consumption of unhealthy plant-based foods.

A mechanism that may explain the association between predominantly plant-based diets and reduced Type 2 diabetes risk, according to the researchers, is that healthy plant-based foods have been shown to individually and jointly improve insulin sensitivity and blood pressure, reduce weight gain, and alleviate systemic inflammation, all of which can contribute to diabetes risk.

鈥淥verall, these data highlighted the importance of adhering to plant-based diets to achieve or maintain good health, and people should choose fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, tofu, and other healthy plant foods as the cornerstone of such diets,鈥� said senior author Qi Sun, associate professor in the Department of Nutrition.

Other Harvard Chan authors of the study included Gang Liu, Frank Hu, and Shilpa Bhupathiraju, agency report stated.

National Institutes of Health grants HL60712, P30 DK46200, and DK112940 supported the study, and Bhupathiraju is supported by a Career Development Grant from the NIDDK (K01 DK107804), according to report.