Data from over 110,000 people show that eating these foods regularly can make you more likely to develop diabetes

Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects more than 540 million people worldwide. With changes in lifestyle and eating habits, diabetes has become the third largest factor affecting human health. In China, there are more than 114 million adults with diabetes, accounting for 1/4 of the world's diabetes patients.

An unhealthy diet is one of the risk factors for diabetes . Early studies have shown that a healthy plant-based diet is associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, and can also improve liver and kidney function and reduce inflammation. In contrast, an unhealthy plant-based diet is associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.

Recently, researchers from Queen's University Belfast in the UK published a research paper titled " A healthful plant-based diet is associated with lower type 2 diabetes risk via improved metabolic state and organ function: A prospective cohort study " in the journal Diabetes & Metabolism.

The study showed that a healthy plant-based diet can reduce body fat, regulate blood sugar concentration, reduce inflammation levels, and improve liver and kidney function, thereby reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes. Healthy plant-based foods include fruits, beans, nuts, tea and coffee, vegetables, and whole grains. Intake of such foods can reduce the risk of diabetes by 24%.

In this study, researchers analyzed 113,097 participants in the UK Biobank database, with an average age of 56 years and 57% women. The study collected information on 17 types of food diets from participants through questionnaires, analyzed the relationship between a healthy plant-based diet and the risk of type 2 diabetes, and explained the potential mechanisms.

17 food categories

Healthy plant-based diet: fruits, legumes, nuts, tea and coffee, vegetables, whole grains.

Unhealthy plant-based diet: Juice, potatoes, refined grains, sugary drinks, candies and desserts.

Animal foods: meat, eggs, dairy products, animal fats, seafood or fish, other animal foods.

Based on the participants’ diets, the researchers scored dietary patterns, ultimately creating healthy and unhealthy plant-based diet scores.

During an average follow-up of 12 years, a total of 2628 cases of type 2 diabetes were recorded. The study found that for a healthy plant-based diet, participants in the highest quartile had a 24% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared with participants in the lowest quartile. In contrast, for an unhealthy plant-based diet, participants in the highest quartile had a 37% increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared with participants in the lowest quartile (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Healthy and unhealthy plant-based diets and diabetes risk

In addition, the researchers also analyzed the participants' blood lipids (triglycerides), blood sugar (HbA1c), inflammatory parameters, and insulin-like growth factor.

Mediation analysis revealed that body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference were the strongest mediators of the association between a healthy plant-based diet and type 2 diabetes, accounting for 28% each, followed by HBA1c (11%), triglycerides (9%), and alanine aminotransferase (5%).

However, higher BMI, triglycerides, and waist circumference showed a mediating effect in the association between an unhealthy plant-based diet and type 2 diabetes, mediating 7%, 13%, and 17% of the development of type 2 diabetes, respectively.

The study pointed out that in this large study, regardless of genetic risk or other risks, a healthy plant-based diet was consistently associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes , an association that was partly mediated by a lower BMI and was also associated with better glucose metabolism, lower inflammation, and better liver and kidney function.

Studies have shown that a healthy plant-based diet, including fruits, legumes, nuts, tea and coffee, vegetables, and whole grains, is associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. In terms of mechanisms, in addition to being associated with lower BMI and blood sugar, it is also associated with improved liver and kidney function and reduced inflammation.