Diet or diabetes: You decide.
Nearly 30 million people in the U.S. — or 1 in 11 — have diabetes. Diet is a crucial tool for managing the disease, and weight loss can help people who are overweight prevent Type 2 diabetes. Prevention is particularly important when you consider that diabetes brings complications such as high blood pressure and cholesterol, plus increased risk for heart attack and stroke, kidney disease and blindness. Consider one of the U.S. News 2016 Best Diabetes Diets, as evaluated by nutrition experts:
#1 The Fertility Diet
Yes, it’s aimed at promoting fertility, but surprise: The Fertility Diet snagged the No. 1 spot in the Best Diabetes Diets category. The plan, which promotes 10 healthy steps, discourages bad carbohydrates, which can exhaust the pancreas by forcing it to make extra insulin the body doesn’t need — setting the stage for Type 2 diabetes. Perhaps that’s why one expert calls it a “safe and effective eating plan that provides a number of health benefits.”
#2 (tie) Biggest Loser Diet
The Biggest Loser Diet tied with DASH to snag second place for preventing and managing diabetes. Expert panelists appreciated that it promotes healthy choices like four daily servings of fruits and veggies, plus plenty of protein and whole grains. According to Biggest Loser data, after adopting the plan, some contestants no longer had indications of metabolic syndrome, a group of risk factors that together can increase your risk for Type 2 diabetes (and heart disease and stroke). Researchers say participants reduced their levels of A1C — a measure of blood sugar — after seven months.
#2 (tie) DASH Diet
The DASH Diet — Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension — was designed to curb high blood pressure, but there’s a good chance it can help prevent and manage diabetes, too. It’s generally viewed as an ideal eating pattern for both, and it echoes dietary advice touted by the American Diabetes Association. In one small study published in 2011 in Diabetes Care, researchers reported that people with Type 2 diabetes reduced their levels of HBA1C and fasting blood sugar after eight weeks on the plan.
#4 (tie) The Engine 2 Diet
Experts were impressed with The Engine 2 Diet, a low-fat, vegan plan designed to prevent and perhaps reverse the diseases caused by the so-called Standard American Diet, including diabetes. It will almost certainly help you lose weight, which can stave off Type 2 diabetes. Plus, one study found that those on a similar diet were able to ease up on their diabetes medications and lower their A1C hemoglobin levels.
#4 (tie) The Flexitarian Diet
The Flexitarian Diet marries flexibility with a vegetarian eating plan — eat like a vegetarian most of the time, but when the urge for a double cheeseburger hits, go for it. Cutting back on meat will likely help you lose weight, which means you stand a better chance of staving off diabetes. Plus, some research has linked vegetarianism with a lower diabetes risk.
#4 (tie) Mayo Clinic Diet
The Mayo Clinic Diet aims to recalibrate eating habits and promote weight loss. It emphasizes the right foods, discourages the wrong ones and mandates physical activity — all good standards for diabetes prevention. The guidelines mirror those of the American Diabetes Association, and our expert panelists said the plan is better than most other approaches for those worried about diabetes.
#4 (tie) MIND Diet
The MIND Diet — which blends two all-star plans, the DASH and Mediterranean Diets — is designed to prevent Alzheimer’s disease with brain-healthy foods such as leafy green vegetables, berries, nuts, beans and whole grains. While research focuses on brain health, the plan’s parent diets may have diabetes-preventive effects. “The only reason there may be weight loss and decreased risk of heart disease and diabetes is there is elimination of the foods that cause most of us to gain weight,” one expert said. “People will be more aware of what they’re eating.”
#4 (tie) Ornish Diet
Experts applauded the Ornish Diet as a way to prevent or control diabetes, giving it an impressive rating in this category. The plan’s basic principles of emphasizing whole grains and produce and shunning saturated fat and cholesterol are right in line with American Diabetes Association guidelines. And in one study, Ornish dieters decreased their hemoglobin A1C levels by 0.4 percentage points after a year, which was considered meaningful.
#4 (tie) Vegan Diet
Going vegan will likely help you lose weight and fend off chronic diseases like diabetes. Research suggests the approach can lower HBA1C levels, and a small pilot study published in 2015 in Nutrition & Diabetes suggests it can help ease diabetes-related nerve pain.
#10 (tie) Dr. Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet
Dr. Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet aims to boost physical and mental health, provide a steady supply of energy and reduce the risk for age-related diseases like Type 2 diabetes. The approach draws from a Mediterranean-style diet thought to help stave off or reverse metabolic syndrome, which can lead to Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Plus, it’s mostly vegetarian, which the American Diabetes Association considers a healthful option that can help prevent and manage diabetes. Nearly all of the group’s top 10 “superfoods” for diabetes are well-represented on Weil’s diet.
#10 (tie) Mediterranean Diet
Fruits, veggies, whole grains. Fish and seafood. Oh yeah, and wine. The Mediterranean Diet is a healthy all-around choice, and one study, for example, found that about 30 percent of heart attacks, strokes and deaths from heart disease could be prevented by adopting the approach. Another study suggests the Mediterranean diet can help prevent diabetes, since the short chain fatty acids the diet promotes are linked to a decreased risk of the disease.
#10 (tie) Vegetarian Diet
Going vegetarian can help shed pounds and fend off chronic diseases, including diabetes. A meat-free eating plan will likely help you lose weight and keep it off, which can stave off Type 2 diabetes. Research links vegetarianism with a lower diabetes risk, and the American Diabetes Association agrees it’s a healthful option.
#10 (tie) Volumetrics Diet
Volumetrics emphasizes foods that are less energy dense than others — that is, they have fewer calories per gram. It’s considered a smart choice if diabetes prevention or management is on your mind. In one study, for example, adults following an eating plan resembling Volumetrics had significantly lower fasting insulin levels than those whose diets emphasized high-energy-dense food. Low-density diets, the authors wrote, help prevent insulin resistance — a frequent precursor to Type 2 diabetes — in which the body doesn’t respond as it should to the hormone.
#14 (tie) Slim-Fast
Can those shakes and meal bars really stave off a chronic disease? Some research suggests Slim-Fast has a beneficial effect on insulin and blood sugar. One study published in Diabetes Care, for example, showed that after one year, 26 percent of those on Slim-Fast were taking fewer diabetes medications than when the trial started, compared with 4 percent in a control group. In another study, researchers described Slim-Fast as a safe and effective way to improve glucose and insulin levels.
#14 (tie) TLC Diet
The TLC Diet — which stands for Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes — was created by the National Institutes of Health’s National Cholesterol Education Program to cut high cholesterol. Little research has examined TLC’s effect on diabetes, but a 2007 Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis study found the plan significantly lowered the fasting insulin levels of participants with high cholesterol. That’s important because elevated insulin levels can predict whether someone will develop Type 2 diabetes.
#14 (tie) The Traditional Asian Diet
There isn’t one Asian diet, but such a plan generally emphasizes rice, fish, noodles, breads, millet, corn and other whole grains, along with fruits, veggies, legumes, seeds, nuts and vegetable oils. And it appears to be a viable option for both preventing and managing diabetes. Research suggests the approach may cut diabetes risk and improve glucose tolerance. One study, for example, published in 2014 in the journal PLOS One, found that by following a traditional Asian diet, both Asian-Americans and Caucasian Americans who were at risk for Type 2 diabetes lowered their insulin resistance, a leading risk factor for developing diabetes.
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The Best Diets to Prevent — and Manage — Diabetes originally appeared on usnews.com
