The Best Diet for Diabetes

The case for using a plant-based diet to reduce the burden of diabetes has never been stronger.

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If all a plant-based diet could do is prevent and reverse the number one killer of men and women (heart disease), shouldn’t it be the default diet until proven otherwise? (See How Not to Die from Heart Disease ( )) Yet the evidence for the benefits of a more plant-based diet continues to emerge for a variety of other life-threatening chronic diseases.

I’ve previously discussed plant-based diets and diabetes in:
• Plant-Based Diets and Diabetes ( )
• Plant-Based Diets for Diabetes ( )
• Benefits of a Macrobiotic Diet for Diabetes ( )
• How Not to Die from Diabetes ( )
• Reversing Diabetes with Food ( )
• Diabetes Reversal: Is It the Calories or the Food? ( )

And what was that about stopping kidney decline in its tracks? See:
• Treating Chronic Kidney Disease with Food ( )
• Which Type of Protein Is Better for Our Kidneys? ( )
• How Not to Die from Kidney Disease ( )
• How to Treat Heart Failure and Kidney Failure with Diet ( )

Learn more about the dietary phytochemical index I mentioned in Calculate Your Healthy Eating Score ( ).

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Want to get a list of links to all the scientific sources used in this video? Click on Sources Cited at . You’ll also find a transcript and acknowledgements for the video, my blog and speaking tour schedule, and an easy way to search (by translated language even) through our videos spanning more than 2,000 health topics.

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Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM

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Leroy Johnson
 

  • Hench Herbivore says:

    I’ve seen T2 reversed in my clients with a whole foods plant-based diet. It is so powerful!

    • Tonzo Wall says:

      Hench Herbivore can it be sustained though

    • You Are The Universe says:

      @Tonzo Wall of course it can be sustained. Please! These people are 98% plant based >>>>>> The Adventist vegetarians in California have perhaps the highest life expectancy of any formally described population. Adventist vegetarian men and women live to be about 83 and 86, respectively, which is comparable to Okinawan women, but better than Okinawan men. The best of the best were Adventist vegetarians who also had healthy lifestyles, such as being exercising nonsmokers. They live to 87 and nearly 90, on average. That’s 10 to 14 years longer than the general population. They have 10 to 14 extra years on this Earth by making simple lifestyle choices.

    • Hench Herbivore says:

      Tonzo Wall it sure can. It’s all about clearing out the intra-myocellular lipids, so by sticking to this eating modality it’s not a problem. Check out the book “The Programme For Reversing Diabetes”, by Dr. Neil Barnard for more.

    • Hench Herbivore says:

      RWS you should change your username to negatron! I’m guessing you’re the head of Tyson foods, you’re so threatened by people eating vegetables! 🤣🤣🤣

    • Lori N says:

      @Tonzo Wall It’s taken me 3 years but my last blood tests were below the diabetic range. Pre-diabetic, but according to Dr. Popper’s recent article, pre-diabetes doesn’t exist, it’s a recent invention of the drug companies to sell more Metformin. My A1C has been steadily dropping, kidney function normal, no longer impaired. It could have happened earlier if I had been more disciplined and eaten less vegan junk food (high fat) and Chinese food (high oil), French fries (oops) and had exercised more consistently, but I finally achieved my goal. I was first diagnosed in 2006 so I am proof that it can be done even with T2 of long duration and age over 60 with a WFPB diet. As to whether it can be maintained, not only is it easy (as long as I’m not out in a social situation) and delicious, I would never go back. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner.

  • Sunghee Lee says:

    Thank you Dr. Greger!👍

  • NutritionFacts.org says:

    The bottom line is that the case for using a plant-based diet to reduce the burden of diabetes and improve overall health has never been stronger. For more on diabetes, see https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/diabetes/

  • Leonard Schmitt says:

    I just love your videos! always makes my day to learn about the newest and best available information on nutrition research <3

  • Communism is the future says:

    I work in a hospital, I see patients every day dying of preventable diseases, it’s heartbreaking.

    • savita subrahmanyam says:

      You can actually help spread the vegan message……. Please do tell your patients about it 🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱💚💚💚

    • Pyriphlegeton says:

      paul w
      Homeopathy is proven to be ineffective. Which is what any scientifically literate person would have expected anyways.

      Hospitals generelly help people, especially with acute problems. That being said, most hospital visits are preventable and many medications are inferior to lifestyle changes. But if one doesn’t change their lifestyle (as do most people), one will end up there.

      Doctors mostly try to heal people, not harm them.

    • Pyriphlegeton says:

      paul w
      How am I a shill, Paul?
      And in what way ignorant?
      I chose to become a doctor to help others (and also very much myself) to live the healthiest life possible. Basically all I do is study for that purpose. Substantiate your claims.

    • sourdoh! says:

      Mary Ellerbrook and hunting? the vegan philosophy allows for sustenance hunting. you want humans to face cage-time for hunting? there are enough laws, change minds and you win without pointing guns at ppl.

  • S M says:

    Thank you very much for your videos, they are extremely helpful!

  • Mai Sirry says:

    Dr. Greger, please do some videos focused on type 1 diabetes!!! We sometimes feel left out 😪😪

  • Brandon Wark says:

    Great video! I’m sending this to people who need this information!

  • Priya says:

    Thanks for the wonderful videos.
    My mom has stopped her metformin after becoming vegan (she was lactovegetarian for 30 years before becoming vegan)
    My patients are reducing their medication on a plant-based diet

    • José Rivera says:

      Priya how much fruit your patients or you do you eat?

    • Aeroplane Guy says:

      Fruit is great but in my opinion keep it as snacks or one meal maximum per day. One more thing I suggest is swishing water in your mouth several times after eating fruit and other meals. The real gold mine is oatmeal, sweet potatoes, beans, lentils, barley and so on, basically grains and starches (complex carbs), nutrition powerhouses. Then keep everything else tertiary, cruciferous leafy greens, fruit, citrus family, other veg. Check Dr. Gregers Daily Dozen free app or you can find an example of foods to aim for daily.

    • Priya says:

      At most 3- 4 servings of fruit… diabetics should avoid watermelons, grapes, mangoes, litchis… fruit with a high sugar content
      Diabetics, in my experience, don’t get an elevated blood glucose level with whole berries… limited to a serving a day

    • José Rivera says:

      @Priya Obviously they won’t get elevated glucose, the liver (one of the less diagnose organs cause it can go way in time without any symptom) digest 80% of.the fructose, so yeah there is practically not much glucose going into the bloostream, the liver? That’s other issue if they don’t know they have a fatty live Wich it can be caused by a massive amounts of glucose ingested in the diet we don’t know if fruit is actually one of the worst foods for some people

  • Tamara K. says:

    Thanks to a low-fat WFPB diet my mom lost ~40lbs and was able to (almost) reverse her diabetes. “Almost” because she still has to check her blood sugar status from time to time and goes to her doctor for general check ups but other than that she’s the healthiest she’s been in years and I’m so happy for her!

  • Shady Pikachu says:

    my dads a1c went from 12 to 7.1 after going more plant-based. it’s insane how powerful food is

    • Kristie A says:

      Shady Pikachu awesome! Wish my dad would try it! instead he insists that he has some “special” kind of T2 (adult onset as well) that food won’t affect 🤨🙄 oh and that I’m not a doctor. I’m just certified in nutrition. Lol

    • Shady Pikachu says:

      @Kristie A It really is sad to hear that especially when we just want to help them! Being certified in nutrition is amazing! If anything, he should be listening to your advice even more!

    • Marlyn Guzman Castellon says:

      Hi, how long did it take to go down to 7.1

    • Randy Lin says:

      I lost 60 lbs in 4 months and dropped my bloodsugars from 13.6 to 7 in 4 months. On a Keto/Carnivore diet.

    • lotusflowerbombb says:

      Randy Lin how is your EGF and lipid panel?

  • Steve Priest says:

    *Caution, eating a whole food plant-based diet to prevent and treat type 2 diabetes may reduce obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular mortality, and cancer. Talk to your doctor about whether a longer and healthier life from consuming a plant-based diet is right for you.

    • Steve Priest says:

      Whole plant foods may cause a significant reversal of erectile dysfunction. If an erection lasts more than four hours, brag about it! ‘Cuz you da man!

    • Lisa DuCette says:

      My doctor told me to try the keto diet for weightloss after I told her I’ve been vegan for 2 years. silly overpaid lady…

    • green byrd says:

      @Lisa DuCette Same here. Crazy isn’t it?

    • wynott givemore92 says:

      Tilapia Aquaponics yes ,but try to get real meats from the forest ,or your closet farmer…or if that doesn’t work for you a real butcher shop…just try to avoid proccesd foods all together, and plant your own garden ,for a wonderful source of vegetables and herbs.oh I forgot to mention cut out sugar as much as possible…it’s in almost all proccesd foods. And one more thing,I’ve heard not all diets work for everyone or every illness,keep in mind this is for education and information…for instance legumes are not good for everyone,or everything but sticking with dark green vegetables and away from. Starchy vegetables is also good for a ketogenic diet. As well as intermittent fasting. I worked with a guy that was deathly allergic to legumes anything in a pod ,peas,beans,peanuts…

  • z n says:

    thank you so much for the video, very informative. hope you will post more videos soon..

  • ZeroZeroThirty .com says:

    Very informative. Thank you

  • Franz Nawrath says:

    just a BIG THANX for your time, and for making this information easier and more available… greetings from CHILE !!

  • Jaco says:

    Told my father, said that watching this 5 minute video was all he had to do to at least be more educated about his disease. Five minutes of his time is too long apparently,..I’m done with the willingness to stay ignorant for the sake of habits and tradition. Everyone should change their minds and actions, based on valid new information and evidence, and the people I encounter fear the new info to such a degree they are not even willing to look at it. It’s heartbreaking

    • James F says:

      Honestly, I tell my family these things but they just scoff and act like they know better as they eat pizza and hamburgers

    • Katzen sind weich says:

      Yep mine too. It is like watching an alcoholic drinking himself to death. My mother on the other hand is reaping the plant based benefits.

    • Nate Smith says:

      I feel that. I remember during Covid my family was freaking out and I kept saying’have you read the CDC’s FAQ page on Covid?’ And they never would, it’s like people have an aversion to fact based information.

    • Michael says:

      The last two years have magnified, to an extent I could never have previously imagined, the pain involved in seeing loved ones absolutely refuse careful thought and verifiable information, as their dedication to their MSM sources revealed itself for what it really is – an addiction to lies.

    • Jana Lu says:

      I feel for you and your heartbreak, don’t get me wrong. But somehow, it is just so darn comforting to find that I am not alone in having this experience. Thank you for sharing. 🙏

  • Linda Onyinye says:

    Thank you for this wonderful video but I tried gluconize and it work perfectly

  • Fast delivery Package says:

    All thanks to Dr Ozuka for helping me get rid of my diabetes completely

  • Fight Back Against Diabetes (George Wilson) says:

    *You Did Not Choose To Be Classified As Diabetic, But You Can Choose To Fight Back Against Diabetes* 💪

  • andrew pawley says:

    I love this channel!

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