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Julie Chester, RN, and a group from the University of California in Davis,
tested the impact of the regimen in 34 patients who followed the diet as part of
an overall lifestyle program. She presented their findings on August 26th at the
Eighteenth International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Congress.
Other components of the lifestyle program included daily exercise and stress
management that involved individual counseling, meditation, and yoga. Dietary
management was provided by a registered dietician who is a certified diabetes
educator, and medical care was provided by physicians and nurses, as needed.
The low-fat, high fiber, lacto-ovo vegetarian diet provided 65 to 75% of
calories as carbohydrates, 10 to 12% as fat, and 15 to 20% as protein. No
additional nutritional supplements were prescribed.
Patients were prescribed lipid-lowering drugs to maintain their serum
low-density lipoprotein levels below 100 mg%.
Of 36 participants in the trial, 21 followed dietary guidelines that called
for a high- fiber, low-fat, vegetarian diet. The remaining 15 did not alter
their diet and instead were maintained on a diet similar to that proposed in the
American Diabetes Association (ADA) guidelines.
Dietary intakes were estimated by 7-day food diaries recorded by patients.
At 6 months, total cholesterol had decreased by 21.8 mg% in the group
following the vegetarian diet versus an increase of 0.2 mg% in the group
following the diet similar to the ADA diet. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol
decreased by 7.5 mg% versus 3.2 mg% in the two groups, respectively.
High-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol decreased by 0.5 mg% in the
vegetarian group and increased by 1.1 mg% in the group on the diet following the
diet similar to the ADA diet. Triglycerides decreased by 35 mg% and 52 mg% in
the two groups, respectively. The vegetarian group also lost significantly more
weight.
"The National Cholesterol Education Program recommends that type 2
diabetics be should be considered at high risk for developing coronary artery
disease," Ms Chester said. "In fact, their risk exceeds 20 percent
over a 10 -year period. These patients are advised to maintain their LDL-cholesterol
below 100 mg/dL."
The results, she added, demonstrate that a high-fiber vegetarian diet
represents an effective means of controlling lipid abnormalities in type 2
diabetics. She emphasized that the diet is part of a larger lifestyle
modification strategy.
IDF: [Study title: The effect of a high fiber, low fat vegetarian diet on
lipid control in patients with type 2 diabetes. Abstract 2087]
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DID YOU KNOW:
 The
Diabetes Education Society offers online accredited continuing education
programs. Got an hour, take a course. Visit www.MedEdOps.org,
take the free sample course and review the Course Catalog. Then update yourself
and your staff to meet your Education Recognition requirements. For more
information call (800) 659-5808.
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