Researchers from the George Washington University conducted a randomized, controlled trial on 99 participants with type 2 diabetes. 49 participants were randomly selected to follow a low-fat vegan diet, while the remaining 50 were to adopt a diet following the 2003 American Diabetes Association guidelines (“conventional diet”). The groups followed their assigned diets for 74 weeks. By the end of the trial, the researchers found that both diets had resulted in weight loss, improved glycemic control as measured by HbA1C, and a reduction in blood triglycerides. Once the results were controlled for medication adjustments, however, the low-fat vegan diet appeared to improve glycemic control and blood triglycerides more than the conventional diet. This study illustrates the physiological benefits of adopting a plant-based diet.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2009 May 1;89(suppl):1588S-96S. (Barnard et al.)
Loma Linda University scientists studied the relationship between various diet types (vegans, lacto-ovo vegetarians, pescatarians, and nonvegetarians) and prevalence of type 2 diabetes in a large cohort of Seventh-Day Adventists in North America. They found that vegans had the lowest prevalence (2.9%) of the disease, while nonvegetarians had the highest (7.6%). Additionally, the vegan diet was associated with a nearly one-half reduction in risk of type 2 diabetes compared with the risk associated with nonvegetarian diets.
Diabetes Care. 2009 May 1;32(5):791-796. (Tonstad et al.)
Athletes often choose sports drinks to aid with muscle recovery after endurance exercise. A recent study by Lynne Kammer and her team at the University of Texas compared the effects of ingesting a popular carbohydrate-electrolyte sports drink to those from eating whole grain cereal with low-fat milk, and concluded that the whole grain cereal and milk choice was equal to the sports drink in initiating post-exercise muscle recovery.
Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, May 2009; 6:11. DOI:10.1186/1550-2783-6-11
Researchers in Los Angeles conducted a study to evaluate how diet may affect the risk of breast cancer for Asian American women. Those who adhered most closely to the factors of a Mediterranean Diet (lower intake of meat and starches and a higher intake of vegetables and legumes, including soy) had a 35% reduced risk of breast cancer compared to a Western diet or an ethnic diet with a higher intake of meat and starch.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2009 Apr; 89(4):1145-1154. (Wu et al.)
In a crossover study involving 17 obese women at increased risk for insulin resistance, USDA scientists studied the effects of 5 different breakfast cereal test meals on subjects’ insulin response. They found that consumption of 10g of barley beta-glucan significantly reduced insulin response.
European Journal of Nutrition, April 2009; 48(3):170-5. Epub 2009 Feb 5.
In a study found via the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), researchers at the Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences explored the digestibility of starch derived from oats, wheat, buckwheat, and sweet potatoes. The goal of this study was to determine which of the four starch sources might prove useful in high-energy diets. Pigs were fed diets containing vitamins, minerals, and starch from one of the four sources, and after 15 days, it was determined that buckwheat, along with oats and wheat, provided a better source of dietary energy than sweet potatoes.
China’s Research of Agricultural Modernization Journal, April 2009
University of Connecticut researchers reviewed 8 studies evaluating the lipid-reducing effects of barley. They found that eating barley significantly lowered total cholesterol, LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, and triglycerides, but did not appear to significantly alter HDL (“good”) cholesterol.
Annals of Family Medicine, March-April 2009; 7(2):157-63
Compounds in sorghum called 3-Deoxyanthoxyanins (3-DXA) are present in darker-colored sorgums, and to a lesser extent in white sorghum. Scientists at the University of Missouri tested extracts of black, red, and white sorghums and found that all three extracts had strong antiproliferative activity against human colon cancer cells.
Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry. 2009 Mar 11;57(5):1797-804
Researchers in Brazil conducted a meta-analysis of 11 cohort studies including 1,719,590 participants, who were followed from 6 to 16 years. Their overall conclusion was that “consumption of whole grains was inversely associated with the risk of developing colorectal cancer.”
International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, March 2009; 21:1-13
A study conducted by the Columbia University Medical Center examined the association between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) among 1393 multi-ethnic participants. Using Cox proportional hazards, the association between adherence to the Mediterranean diet (0-9 scale) and the incidence of MCI, as well as the progression of MCI to Alzheimer’s disease was assessed. The models were all adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, education, genotype, caloric intake, body mass index, and duration between baseline dietary assessment and baseline dietary diagnosis. The study concludes that a higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet correlates to a reduced risk of developing mild cognitive impairment and reduced risk of MCI conversion to Alzheimer’s disease.
Archives of Neurology 2009 Feb; 66(2):216-25 (Scarmeas et al.)
Laxative use, especially among the elderly in nursing homes, can lead to malnutrition and unwanted weight loss. Viennese researchers studied 30 frail nursing-home residents in a controlled, blind, intervention trial where 15 patients received 7-8g of oat bran per day. At the end of 6 weeks, 59% of the oat group had discontinued laxative use while maintaining body weight; the control group showed an 8% increase in laxative use and a decrease in body weight.
?Journal of Nutrition, Health, and Aging, February 2009; 13(2):136-9
The National Institute of Nutrition in Hyderabad, India, carried out a study of the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of various pulses, legumes and cereals, including millets. Finger millet and Rajmah (a type of bean) were highest in antioxidant activity, while finger millet and black gram dhal (a type of lentil) had the highest total phenolic content.
Indian Journal of Biochemistry and Biophysics. February 2009; 46(1):112-5.
