Scientists from the T.H. Chan Harvard School of Public Health (USA) conducted a study showing that eating healthy plant-based foods is associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes (non-insulin-dependent) among healthy people. Scientists were interested in the profiles of metabolites (substance used or produced as a result of chemical processes in the body) associated with different diets.
The results of the study were published in the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes Diabetologia. The team analyzed data from three studies involving 10684 people. The average age of the participants was 54 years. They filled out questionnaires. The researchers evaluated three parameters:
- general index of vegetable diet;
- healthy plant-based diet index;
- sick vegetable diet.
The indices were based on the analysis of the consumption of 18 groups of basic food products. These included healthy plant foods (whole grains, fruits and vegetables, nuts and legumes, vegetable oils, tea and coffee), unhealthy plant foods (refined grains, potatoes, fruit juices and sweetened beverages, plant-based desserts), animal products (meat and poultry, dairy products, fish and seafood).
The researchers examined blood samples taken since the late 1980s in early-stage studies to generate estimates of metabolite profiles. All cases of type XNUMX diabetes during the observation period were also recorded.
As a result, it turned out that those who developed diabetes consumed less healthy plant-based food. They had a higher average body mass index, and they were more likely to have high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol.
Data have shown that plant-based diets are associated with unique multimetabolite profiles. Furthermore, metabolite profile scores for both the total plant-based diet and the healthy plant-based diet were inversely related to the incidence of non-insulin-dependent diabetes in a normally healthy population, independent of body mass index and other risk factors. "Our results confirm the beneficial role of a healthy plant-based diet in the prevention of diabetes," the authors of the study conclude.