It is very difficult for a diabetic to lose weight but according to the latest study it has been revealed that eating a plant-based vegetarian diet can help you lose around 6.20 kg of weight in a span of six months. The result of the study indicated that the patients consuming vegetarian diet group loses nearly twice as much weight as compared to those who follow the traditional diabetic diet. Vegetarian diet group lose around 6.20kg whereas the group which follows the traditional diet loses around 3.19kgs despite consuming equal amount of energy.
The study was done on a group of 74 adults with type 2 diabetes, split nearly equal among men and women, adopted a 500-calorie reduced diet for six months. Half adopted a vegetarian diet and half adopted a conventional diabetes diet. Vegetarian diet group reduced sub-fascial fat which lines our muscles, and intramuscular fat. These fat is stored in the muscles at a higher rate than those who followed the conventional diabetes diet.
Both groups reduced subcutaneous fat, the type of fat that is stored under the skin, equally. The team analysed the composition of study participants' thighs at baseline, at three months and six months into the study by using magnetic resonance imaging. The result suggested that changes in subcutaneous and sub-fascial fat correlated with changes in HbA1c, fasting plasma glucose, and ß-cell insulin sensitivity, markers of blood sugar metabolism and control.
Hana Kahleova, lead study author, said that losing muscle fat increases insulin sensitivity. A sample plant-based meal plan might include cooked millet with plums and almonds for breakfast; lentil soup with carrots and cabbage for lunch; brown rice with marinated tofu and bean sprouts for dinner; and vegetables, fruits, and carrot sticks with hummus for snacks.
Those participants who were consuming vegetarian diet group retained a six-cm reduced waist circumference, while those who were consuming traditional diabetes diet group retained a five-cm reduction, a year after the study concluded.
The level of HbA1c increased in both groups, but those in the vegetarian diet group were less likely to increase diabetes medication or insulin levels a year after the intervention as compared to the traditional diabetes diet group. The research appeared in the journal of the American College of Nutrition.
