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.


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