Vegan Diet Helps Curb Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered that traditional vegan diets are “consistently” more effective and easier to follow for patients with cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes—which are preventable or treatable by healthy diets—than the dietary treatments prescribed by the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) and the American Diabetes Association (ADA). The NCEP and the ADA recommend similar diets in which 60 to 70 percent of energy comes from carbohydrates and monounsaturated fat, 15 to 20 percent of energy from protein, and less than seven percent from saturated fat. This information contradicts new research showing how following a plant-based diet is a better way to improve blood lipids and glycemic control without requiring people “to limit food consumption.” This is important news for the 82 million American adults diagnosed with one or more types of cardiovascular disease and the 25 million others who have type 2 diabetes, and follows other recent studies that have shown vegan diets to reduce pain from type 2 diabetes, childhood obesity, and costs associated with prescribed medications for heart disease and chronic conditions.