According to a new study published in the journal Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome, a vegan diet improves insulin resistance and dyslipidemia in obese individuals with insulin resistance.
“A vegan diet has benefits on weight reduction and on the parameters of glucose and lipid metabolism”, states the study’s abstract. “This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the efficacy of plant-based diets on insulin resistance and blood lipids in patients with obesity.”
For the study, researchers conducted a meta-analysis of various studies related to the topic of insulin resistance. Six studies (seven datasets) were included.
“Compared with baseline, the plant-based diet improved the HOMA-IR, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol”, states the study. However, triglycerides remained relatively unchanged in those following a vegan diet. Researchers note that the “sensitivity analyses showed that the results were robust.”
The study concludes by stating that “In obese individuals with insulin resistance, a vegan diet improves insulin resistance and dyslipidemia, except for triglycerides.”
The full abstract of this study can be found below. More information can be found by clicking here.
Abstract
Background: A vegan diet has benefits on weight reduction and on the parameters of glucose and lipid metabolism. This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the efficacy of plant-based diets on insulin resistance and blood lipids in patients with obesity.
Methods: PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched for available papers published up to March 2021. The primary outcome was insulin resistance which was assessed by Homeostasis Model Assessment Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR), other metabolic parameters measures including the pre/post-diet changes in triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol. All analyses were performed using the random-effects model.
Results: Six studies (seven datasets) were included. Compared with baseline, the plant-based diet improved the HOMA-IR (SMD = 1.64, 95%CI 0.95, 2.33; I2 = 91.8%, Pheterogeneity < 0.001), total cholesterol (SMD = 2.51, 95% CI 0.88, 4.13; I2 = 98.0%, Pheterogeneity < 0.001), HDL-cholesterol (SMD = 1.55, 95% CI 0.66, 2.44; I2 = 92.0%, Pheterogeneity < 0.001), and LDL-cholesterol (SMD = 2.50, 95% CI 1.30, 3.70; I2 = 94.4%, Pheterogeneity < 0.001), but not the triglycerides (SMD = – 0.62, 95% CI – 1.92, 0.68; I2 = 97.8%, Pheterogeneity < 0.001). The sensitivity analyses showed that the results were robust.
Conclusions: In obese individuals with insulin resistance, a vegan diet improves insulin resistance and dyslipidemia, except for triglycerides.
- 1Department of Pediatrics, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
- 2Department of Endocrinology, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, No. 218, Ziqiang Street, Nanguan District, Changchun, China.
- 3Department of Endocrinology, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, No. 218, Ziqiang Street, Nanguan District, Changchun, China. [email protected].
