A new study, funded in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health and by the School of Public Health at Loma Linda University, found that following a vegetarian diet coupled with exercising at least three times a week significantly reduced the risk of diabetes in African Americans.
This finding is particularly encouraging because African Americans are twice as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than non-Hispanic whites.
"A vegetarian diet may be a way to counteract the increased diabetes risk for the black population," said Serena Tonstad, MD, a professor at Loma Linda University and lead author of the research.
The study, which was published in the October issue of Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases, showed that lacto-ovo vegetarian blacks had a 53 percent reduced risk of diabetes when compared to non-vegetarian African Americans. Even more significant, vegan blacks had a 70 percent reduced risk of diabetes. Additionally participants who exercised three or more times a week (compared to once a week or never) had a 35 percent reduced risk of diabetes.
Daelyn Fortney | Facebook |@daelyn | emailDaelyn is the co-founder and managing director of the animal rights and eco-friendly news source, This Dish Is Veg. In addition to her work at TDIV, Daelyn homeschools her three daughters.
Photo credit: cc: flickr.com/photos/bodytel
