Abstract

Background: Low-fat vegetarian and vegan diets are associated with weight loss, increased insulin sensitivity, and improved cardiovascular health.

Objective: We compared the effects of a low-fat vegan diet and conventional diabetes diet recommendations on glycemia, weight, and plasma lipids.

Design: Free-living individuals with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to a low-fat vegan diet (n = 49) or a diet following 2003 American Diabetes Association guidelines (conventional, n = 50) for 74 wk. Glycated hemoglobin (Hb A_1c) and plasma lipids were assessed at weeks 0, 11, 22, 35, 48, 61, and 74. Weight was measured at weeks 0, 22, and 74.

Results: Weight loss was significant within each diet group but not significantly different between groups (−4.4 kg in the vegan group and −3.0 kg in the conventional diet group, P = 0.25) and related significantly to Hb A_1c changes (r = 0.50, P = 0.001). Hb A_1c changes from baseline to 74 wk or last available values were −0.34 and −0.14 for vegan and conventional diets, respectively (P = 0.43). Hb A_1c changes from baseline to last available value or last value before any medication adjustment were −0.40 and 0.01 for vegan and conventional diets, respectively (P = 0.03). In analyses before alterations in lipid-lowering medications, total cholesterol decreased by 20.4 and 6.8 mg/dL in the vegan and conventional diet groups, respectively (P = 0.01); LDL cholesterol decreased by 13.5 and 3.4 mg/dL in the vegan and conventional groups, respectively (P = 0.03).

Conclusions: Both diets were associated with sustained reductions in weight and plasma lipid concentrations. In an analysis controlling for medication changes, a low-fat vegan diet appeared to improve glycemia and plasma lipids more than did conventional diabetes diet recommendations. Whether the observed differences provide clinical benefit for the macro- or microvascular complications of diabetes remains to be established. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00276939.