One in three children born in the year 2000 will develop
diabetes later in life unless there are significant changes in
lifestyle. It's Diabetes Awareness Month, and as a nurse
practitioner, I suggest looking past the ads for diabetes
medications to new research that shows our diets hold the
answer. People who consume more protein from meat and other
animal products are at higher risk for Type 2 diabetes,
according to a recent study in Diabetes Care. Researchers
analyzed the diets of nearly 40,000 participants and found that
for every 5 percent of calories consumed from protein instead of
carbohydrate or fat, the risk of developing diabetes increased
30 percent. Increased animal protein intake also coincided with
increased weight and blood pressure. Vegetable protein was not
associated with diabetes risk. Meat-heavy diets are contributing
to the diabetes epidemic, but plant-based diets could help fight
it. Recent studies find that a low-fat vegan diet is as
effective as oral medications at lowering blood suga