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Introduction
Many different diets have been put forward as solutions that treat type 2 diabetes. Some will claim the diet “reverses” diabetes, some say it puts it into “remission”, while others more conservatively recommend a diet to manage diabetes symptoms in a healthy way.
There has been some debate on the use of terms like reversal, cure or resolution. And recently more clarity has been found in defining each.
One of the diets that has been recommended by some for the purposes of “reversing” or treating diabetes is a low-fat, whole food plant-based (WFPB) diet. Specifically, there is a claim that it is superior to other diets in treating diabetes. Some of these claims relate to popular online diet & lifestyle programs that use such a diet. While there is also a number of studies that are commonly cited in support of the claims.
In this episode, we evaluate these claims by looking at the published research in this area, across epidemiology, human intervention trials and mechanistic rationale. We also ponder what it means for something to be the “best” diet to treat a chronic disease.
Related resources
- Join the Sigma newsletter for free
- Subscribe to Sigma Nutrition Premium
- 2021 Consensus Report on Diabetes Remission
Related episodes:
- Episode 331 with Prof. Roy Taylor
- Episode 405 with Dr. Adrian Brown
- Episode 294 with Dr. Nicola Guess
- Episode 385: Insulin Resistance and Diet
- Claim of the Mastering Diabetes program: “… the best lifestyle to reverse insulin resistance and get your blood sugar levels back to normal is a low-fat, plant-based, whole-food diet.”
- [02:23]Intro: What is remission? What is the hypothesis about WFPB diets?
- [17:20]What aspects of diet could reduce diabetes risk or lead to remission?
- [29:11]Intervention trials that are commonly cited
- [55:18]What leads to diabetes remission?
- [1:02:43]Round up of thoughts
- [1:08:33]Key ideas
The Hosts
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Dr. Alan Flanagan has a PhD in nutrition from the University of Surrey, where his doctoral research focused on circadian rhythms, feeding, and chrononutrition.
This work was based on human intervention trials. He also has a Masters in Nutritional Medicine from the same institution.
Dr. Flanagan is a regular co-host of Sigma Nutrition Radio. He also produces written content for Sigma Nutrition, as part of his role as Research Communication Officer.
Danny Lennon has a master’s degree (MSc.) in Nutritional Sciences from University College Cork, and he is the founder of Sigma Nutrition.
Danny is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Sports Nutrition Association, the global regulatory body responsible for the standardisation of best practice in the sports nutrition profession.
Key Ideas
Danny’s Key Idea from this episode is: Evaluating claims of “This is the best diet for X”
If someone makes that claim, on hearing that, your interest should be immediately piqued and your brain should be racing into critical appraisal mode. This is often followed up with evidence showing such a diet can have beneficial impacts. But that is not dealing with the original point of contention. If someone is going to make a claim that the BEST way to treat diabetes is with diet X, then the burden of proof becomes a sufficient amount of evidence showing actual superior magnitude and/or prevalence of beneficial outcomes in humans, of using that dietary intervention, relative to others.
In the context of treating type 2 diabetes, as we discussed in this episode, we need to first be clear on the outcome we’re concerned with. And then define that precisely. Putting type 2 diabetes into remission has a specific meaning. We can’t use “curing diabetes” as a synonym.
