A clinical trial from Korea compared the effect of a vegan diet to a conventional diabetic diet, as prescribed by the Korean Diabetes Association (KDA), on glycemic control among Koreans (1).

The trial lasted three months. The vegan diet group had 46 people while the KDA diet group had 47. After three months, there was a statistically significant, greater reduction in HbA1c in the vegan group compared to the KDA group (0.5% vs. 0.2%, p = 0.017). When including only participants with high diet compliance, the vegan diet fared even better (0.9% vs. 0.3%, p = .01).

The vegan group ate less calories and saturated fat than the KDA group. Fiber intake for the vegan group and KDA group was 33.7 g and 24.9 g.

The vegan group lost weight while the KDA group didn’t. However, neither group’s blood pressure or LDL-cholesterol went down. The vegan group’s triglycerides went up while the KDA group’s went down; this might indicate the vegan group was eating more simple sugars.

I have posted these results in the VeganHealth.org article Type 2 Diabetes and the Vegan Diet.

Reference

1. Lee YM, Kim SA, Lee IK, Kim JG, Park KG, Jeong JY, Jeon JH, Shin JY, Lee DH. Effect of a Brown Rice Based Vegan Diet and Conventional Diabetic Diet on Glycemic Control of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A 12-Week Randomized Clinical Trial. PLoS One. 2016 Jun 2;11(6):e0155918. | link

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