[madelineschultz]

Dr. Michelle McMacken is a true luminary in the plant based diet world! I recently returned from a nutrition conference called Plant Stock orchestrated by cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn. Dr. McMacken spoke regarding her work with plant based diets and type 2 diabetes.

[harrisonwhittle]

"As far back as the 1950s, studies have been published on treating hyperglycemia with a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet,[50–52] documenting the effectiveness of employing a predominantly vegetarian diet to treat diabetes"

I don't understand how this is possible when Type 2 Diabetes is a disease of insulin resistance. Isn't the whole thought process behind treating insulin resistance to lower insulin, so that you body becomes more sensitive to it? And how are you supposed to lower insulin when all you're eating are carbohydrates? I'm pretty sure an apple, even though it's an unprocessed, wholesome, fibrous source of carbs, will spike your blood sugar more than four ounces of pastured liver.

red meat and saturated fat are also demonized in this article. What was the sourcing of these things in people diets in the studies that were talked about? "red meat" is a poor blanket-categorization that could cover a wide variety of sourcing, and thus quality of diet. Grain-fed cattle is VERY different in nutrients than pasture raised cattle.

Is it also possible that the healthy-user bias is drifting in the lines of this article? Maybe the vegan diabetics are getting better because their lifestyle is overall much healthier than the non-vegan diabetics?