A new study suggests that a plant-based diet may help people who have type 1 diabetes manage the condition. We spoke with a dietitian to find out more. 
  • Sasha [They/Them]@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    9·
    12 days ago

    I’m gonna be honest, I’m not sure about the reliability of this study. The author conflict of interest deceleration leads to some specific commercial interests in furthering a diet based approach to diabetes, specifically personal coaching and a book which rubs me the wrong way.

    The sample size of 29 is probably fine for a pilot study (and this is called out in their conclusion) and the paper seems reasonable to someone like me with no experience in the field. My main take away from skimming through it is that they largely attribute the difference to the fat content of the diets, spending a significant portion of the discussion on this fact. There’s also an issue where participants were put on meal plans rather than provided actual meals which may further limit the study.

    Ultimately I’d say the study is fine-ish, but the reporting is pretty crap. This is actually a particularly bad case because veg news gives a list of reasons why a plant based diet could be better for diabetes that are not really the main conclusions of the study. It really comes across to me like the plant based aspect is coincidental and they didn’t actually test for it. What the paper really did was compare calorie restriction with a low fat diet, there’s no testing to differentiate the effects of the plant based aspect from the low fat content. To me that feels like deliberately misleading study design.

    Don’t get me wrong, I am a vegan and don’t doubt the health benefits of the diet (though it’s still easy to be unhealthy as a vegan), but this article is pretty misleading…

  • Sunshine (she/her)OPMEnglish
    39·
    12 days ago

    Shame on the carnists downvoting this post attempting to reduce the needed visibility, they’re getting in the way of treating diabetes.

    • Cephalotrocity@biglemmowski.winEnglish
      52·
      11 days ago

      What an absolutely naive and caustic take. This has nothing to do with Vegan vs Carnivore. This is about the article and research being ridiculous and you are doing a discredit to veganism with this ignorant hostility.

      Fact is, for someone with diabetes the majority of foods proscribed are Vegan. Sugar, Corn Syrup, White flour products, White rice, grapes and derivatives… need I go on? A vegan diet absolutely has its health benefits but being a surefire safe way to pick foods for a diabetic is not one of them. You still need to watch what you are consuming.