As we have been made aware, diabetes is a global issue with approximately 34.2 million people in the US alone that have diabetes with about 7 million people undiagnosed. There are also approximately 88 million people who have prediabetes. By 2050 it is estimated that about 1 out of every 3 Americans will be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.
Knowing that a diabetes diagnosis is only going to increase in the US, especially where food is very accessible and not always the healthier options, we as diabetes educators should be working on adding some additional strategies to help these patients.
One such option would be to consider a plant-based diet. This lifestyle has been shown to decrease insulin resistance, improve beta cell function, increase in post prandial incretin secretion, improve blood sugar, and reduce body weight just to name a few. There are a lot of reasons that a plant-based diet is beneficial. Implementing a plant-based diet may be a smoother transition if it is done over a three-week period. Removing more processed foods and adding more whole foods may be the first step in moving toward a plant-based diet. Adding plant-based carbohydrates into one’s diet may be better tolerated by slowing increasing the fiber in the diet. When switching animal protein for plant-based proteins, beans, tofu or tempeh excellent sources. The fat in a plant-based diet is mostly monounsaturated fats which will add to the cardiovascular benefits of switching to a plant-based diet. Some examples would be nuts/seeds, avocados, and olives. Many food manufacturers are producing plant-based alternatives so finding variety should not be challenging.
When preposing this lifestyle change to a client, it will be helpful to explain benefits of switching and what the client should be prepared for (maybe hypoglycemia). This will be a very individualized conversation since each client will have their own reasons for considering a plant-based diet, but the benefits of implementing this may well worth it.
Amy Sullivan, RD, LDN, CDCES