Partnerships among researchers from different institutions can yield encouraging, new approaches to understanding and treating diseases. Such a collaboration, between a group of scientists from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and Yale University, followed adults with Type II diabetes through a 16 week, plant based, dietary program, paired with advanced metabolic testing.

The team examined changes in blood sugar [serum glucose], and body weight, combined with assessment of deeply stored fat in the liver and muscles. This ground-breaking study resulted in the ability to evaluate how plant-based nutrition can influence the underlying triggers of diabetes.

Subjects in the study experienced improved insulin resistance, visceral fat reduction, and significant improvement in HgA1c levels. All of these improvements occurred without caloric restriction, simply eating a plant based diet.

In addition, subjects experienced measurable improvements in their overall health, and many expressed a new sense of agency over their well-being, and the course of their Type II diabetes. More research will follow these encouraging findings, offering hope for a better quality of life to many patients.

Dateline: Town of Colonie, Albany County, The Capital Region of New York State