Fewer new T2DM cases seen in adults on plant-based diet

(HealthDay)—Fewer new type 2 diabetes (T2D) cases are seen in adults who eat more plant-based foods, and intake of vitamins B2 and B6 is also associated with a reduced risk for T2D, according to two studies presented during Nutrition 2019, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, held from June 8 to 11 in Baltimore.

Yung Choi, from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and colleagues examined the impact of long-term change toward a plant-centered diet in 2,717 young adults participating in a prospective cohort study with 30 years of follow-up. The researchers identified 206 cases of incident T2D during 10 years of follow-up after year 20. The greatest increase in dietary quality over 20 years was associated with a significant decrease in the risk for T2D compared with a small decrease in diet quality (median A Priori Diet Quality Score [APDQS] increase of 22 points versus decrease of 8 points; hazard ratio, 0.40). The risk for T2D decreased 23 percent for each 10-point increase in APDQS over 20 years.

Kim V.E. Braun, Ph.D., from the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and colleagues examined the impact of intake of vitamins B2, B6, B12, folate, and methionine (methyl donor nutrients) on T2D risk using data from three cohorts comprising a total of 200,727 patients. The researchers documented 8,141 T2D cases during follow-up. Compared with those in the lowest quintile, those in the highest quintile of vitamins B2 and B6 had 10 and 11 percent lower T2D risk, respectively. Vitamin B12 from food sources correlated with increased T2D risk (hazard ratio, 1.11), whereas supplemental vitamin B12 correlated with lower T2D risk (hazard ratio for quintile 5 versus 1, 0.92).

"A higher vitamin B12 intake from food seems to be associated with a higher T2D risk, which may be due to consumption of animal products," Braun and colleagues write.

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