Two months on a vegan diet reduces diabetes risk
Study shows ‘most of us would benefit from going to a more plant-based diet’ that reduces cholesterol and blood sugar.
Switching to a vegan diet for just two months can cut the risk of heart disease and diabetes, a trial has shown.
The study by Stanford University, California, involved 22 pairs of identical twins, with one of each pair put on a vegan diet while the other ate an omnivore diet. The vegan group saw improvements in cholesterol, blood sugar and weight loss, which experts said shows “most of us would benefit from going to a more plant-based diet”.
Both groups were offered meal deliveries and guidance on how to cook healthy, minimally processed food. After the trial the participants were tested for heart health measures such as blood sugar levels and cholesterol.
The vegan group saw a significant drop in levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol which, if high, can cause a build-up of fatty deposits in the blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Their fasting levels of insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar, fell by 20 per cent. This means their blood sugar levels were lower, helping to reduce the chance of developing type 2 diabetes and preventing damage to blood vessels caused by high blood glucose.
Those on the plant-based diet lost 2kg more than their twins who carried on eating meat and dairy products.
Christopher Gardner, the lead author of the study, said: “This suggests that anyone who chooses a vegan diet can improve their long-term health in two months, with the most change seen in the first month. Based on these results and thinking about longevity, most of us would benefit from going to a more plant-based diet.”
The study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, used identical twins so that genetics would not influence the results, and controlled for factors such as different upbringings.
Gardner said: “Not only did this study provide a groundbreaking way to assert that a vegan diet is healthier than the conventional omnivore diet, but the twins were also a riot to work with. They dressed the same, they talked the same and they had a banter between them that you could have only if you spent an inordinate amount of time together.”
The twins were aged 40 on average, and were all generally healthy with no history of heart disease. The study concluded that people did not have to become fully vegan to achieve the benefits – any diet that cut saturated fat and increases fibre will boost heart health.
Gardner said: “A vegan diet can confer additional benefits such as increased gut bacteria and the reduction of telomere loss, which slows ageing in the body. What’s more important than going strictly vegan is including more plant-based foods into your diet,” said Gardner, who has been “mostly vegan” for the last 40 years.
“Luckily, having fun with vegan multicultural foods like Indian masala, Asian stir-fry and African lentil-based dishes can be a great first step.” Vegan and vegetarian diets are rising in popularity in the UK, with an estimated one in 10 vegetarian.
Tom Sanders, a nutritional scientist at King’s College London, said: “Vegan diets are defined by what they exclude rather than what is consumed.
“There are good and bad vegan diets. For example, a bad vegan diet would be lacking vitamin B12, and high in fat, salt and sugar. The increased popularity of vegan diets has led to a large increase in ‘vegan junk food’ high in fat, salt and sugar. A healthy vegan diet would consist of whole grain cereals, pulses, nuts and fresh fruit and vegetables with vegetable oils low in saturated fat.”
The Times
