Association of plant‐based diet and type 2 diabetes mellitus in Chinese rural adults: The Henan Rural Cohort Study

Abstract

Aims/Introduction: Studies have found that a plant-based diet was associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, but evidence is scarce on such associations in China. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a plant-based diet is related to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes among Chinese adults. Materials and Methods: A total of 37,985 participants were enrolled from the Henan Rural Cohort Study. An overall plant-based diet index (PDI) was created by assigning positive and reverse scores to 12 commonly consumed food groups. Multivariate logistic regression models and restricted cubic spline analysis were performed to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Results: After multivariable adjustment, the risk of type 2 diabetes was inversely associated with the PDI (extreme-quartile OR = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.79-0.98; P = 0.027), the risk associated with a 1 standard deviation (SD) increase in PDI was 4% lower (95% CI, 0.93-1.00; P trend = 0.043) for type 2 diabetes. Moreover, the odds of type 2 diabetes was decreased with an increment of PDI after fitting restricted cubic splines (P trend < 0.01). Conclusions: Among Chinese populations, diets higher in plant foods and lower in animal foods were associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.

Association between Dietary Protein Intake and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Chinese Rural Elderly Population: A Matched Case-Control Study

“…Our study also suggests that high intake of plant protein appears to reduce the risk of T2DM, which is similar to previous observational studies (12,13,36). However, the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study (37) and the European studies (11,29) showed no significant association of plant protein intake with T2DM risk.…”

The Association Between Plant-Based Diet Indices and Obesity and Metabolic Diseases in Chinese Adults: Longitudinal Analyses From the China Health and Nutrition Survey

“…Previous prospective studies and meta-analyses have concluded that higher PDI and hPDI scores are negatively associated with lower reductions in weight gain over 4-year intervals (10). Plantbased diets, especially those rich in high-quality plant foods, significantly reduce the risk of T2D (9,13,(33)(34)(35). PDI or hPDI Adjusted for age, urban and rural, sex, total energy intake, education, physical activity, smoking status, alcohol drinking, baseline systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and BMI.…”

Effectiveness of Plant-Based Diet on Reducing the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: a Literature Review

“…It also showed that fructosamine level dropped signifi cantly. In the study conducted by Yang et al (2021), they stated that they believed a plant-based diet would overcome to some extent infl ammation and insulin secretion and improve blood glucose control. This can reduce the risk of T2DM.…”

“…In addition to being high in fi ber, plant-based foods also contain antioxidants, like polyphenol, which can trigger insulin secretion by inhibiting the absorption of glucose in the intestine. It causes decreased postprandial glycemic response and increased insulin sensitivity (Yang et al, 2021).…”