Past that, the areas of disagreement center on the amount (and sourcing) of animal products, if any, that have a place in a healthy diet. One area of contention has been dairy, particularly butter, hailed a few years ago on the cover of Time magazine as back in favor as a health food. What has the scientific literature in 2017 revealed about the health impacts of butter and other dairy products? Here is a bulletpoint list:

Dairy Is Associated with Increased All-Cause Mortality
In a meta-analysis of 27 prospective nutrition studies, researchers found a non-linear increase in all-cause mortality with greater dairy consumption and a reduced risk with consumption of whole grains, fruits, nuts, vegetables, and fish. This topic remains open to further research as another analysis this year showed that fermented dairy products like cheese—as opposed to non-fermented dairy—may decrease heart-related mortality risk. Notably, this second study was funded by a grant from the dairy industry.

Substituting Margarine for Butter Reduced Heart Risk
In a prospective study of more than 74,000 women, the question of replacing butter with margarine was analyzed. Compared to butter, tub margarine was associated with a lower risk of heart attack. The same trends existed for stroke and total heart disease events.

Dietary Patterns That Include Butter Raise Heart Risk
In a prospective study in Wales of 1,838 men, a dietary pattern that included butter was associated with increased heart disease risk while a pattern that included whole grain cereals, dairy, pudding, and biscuits without cheese or butter was associated with a lower risk of heart disease and stroke. Those are some powerful whole grains!

Cheese and Butter Linked to Type 2 Diabetes
A group of 3,349 subjects in the PREDIMED study who were free of diabetes at baseline were tracked for more than four years. Those with the highest intakes of saturated fat and animal fat had the greatest risk for developing diabetes in follow-up. Consuming just one daily serving of butter and cheese was associated with a higher risk of diabetes. The diabetes link is still under study as another analysis this year reached the opposite conclusion.

Low-Fat Dairy Favored Over High-Fat Dairy
In a group of over 42,000 men and women in Iran studied for 11 years, consumption of low-fat dairy, especially low-fat yogurt and cheese, was associated with reduced mortality and heart disease risk, while greater intake of high-fat dairy and milk was not associated with these benefits.

The Impact of Butter on Heart Disease Risk
In a randomized, controlled study of 92 people with abdominal obesity and low HDL (good) cholesterol levels, five different dietary patterns (butter-rich; cheese-rich; polyunsaturated fatty acid-rich; monounsaturated fatty acid-rich; and low-fat, high-carbohydrate) were tested for four weeks each. Increases in HDL (good) cholesterol concentrations were similar during the butter- and cheese-rich phases, but LDL (bad) cholesterol concentrations increased significantly on a diet rich in butter.

Milk and Butter Intake Associated with Higher Mortality in Sweden
The dairy foods intake of more than 100,000 healthy adults in Sweden was followed for 14 years after obtaining dietary histories. High consumers of non-fermented dairy and butter experienced increased measures of all-cause mortality. High consumers of fermented dairy products had better outcomes.

High-Fat, High-Sugar Diets Linked to More Depression
Almost 5,000 adults in a Dutch research study were assessed for dietary patterns and depressive symptoms. A combined high-saturated-fat and high-sugar dietary pattern including butter and high-fat dairy products was associated with more depressive symptoms.

As is often the case, studies shed light on optimal nutrition but may still leave unresolved questions and issues. Furthermore, funding of studies by industry, as is often the case when dairy consumption and health outcomes are reported, may raise a concern over biases. Overall, the bulk of the data in 2017 favors the conclusion that butter and dairy are best avoided for optimal health. This is consistent with statements this year by members of both the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.

The post Are Butter and Dairy Back in 2017? A Look at the Latest Research appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. Type 2 diabetes—the most common form of the disease—is caused by insulin resistance and pancreatic failure. Sugar can play an aiding and abetting role in diabetes, but the idea that “eating sugar causes diabetes” is simplistic and interferes with efforts to help the public understand the actual causes of the disease and how to protect themselves and their families. Here is what you need to know:

Sugar is the Body’s Fuel

The human body runs on glucose, a simple sugar. Just as gasoline powers your car, glucose powers your muscles, your brain, and the rest of your body. Glucose comes from fruit and from starchy foods, such as grains, beans, and potatoes, and your body can also produce it when needed. Without it, you would die.

Diabetes means having higher-than-normal blood glucose values. It comes in three common forms: 

• Type 1 diabetes is caused by the destruction of the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, usually through an autoimmune process. The triggers for this process are under investigation and may include dairy proteins, viruses, or other factors.
  
• Type 2 diabetes typically starts with insulin resistance. That is, the cells of the body resist insulin’s efforts to escort glucose into the cells. What causes insulin resistance? It appears to be caused by an accumulation of microscopic fat particles within muscle and liver cells. This fat comes mainly from the diet—chicken fat, beef fat, cheese fat, fish fat, and even vegetable fat. To try to overcome insulin resistance, the pancreas produces extra insulin. When the pancreas can no longer keep up, blood sugar rises. The combination of insulin resistance and pancreatic cell failure leads to type 2 diabetes.
  
• Gestational diabetes is similar to type 2 and occurs during pregnancy.

What Fuels the Diabetes Epidemic?

In Japan, China, and other Asian countries, the transition from traditional carbohydrate-rich (e.g., rice-based) diets to lower-carbohydrate Westernized eating habits emphasizing meats, dairy products, and fried foods have been accompanied by a major increase in diabetes prevalence. Similarly, in the U.S., a meat-based (omnivorous) diet is associated with a high prevalence of diabetes, compared with dietary patterns emphasizing plant-derived foods. In the Adventist Health Study-2, after adjusting for differences in body weight, physical activity, and other factors, an omnivorous diet was associated with roughly double the risk of diabetes, compared with a diet omitting animal products.

In clinical trials, when people change from an omnivorous diet to a low-fat, vegan diet, diabetes typically improves significantly.

These findings from observational studies and clinical trials resonate with the finding from magnetic resonance spectroscopy showing that fat inside the cells leads to insulin resistance, the first step toward type 2 diabetes.

Sugar is Falling, Diabetes is Rising

It has become fashionable in recent years to blame sugar for health problems, to the neglect of other important contributors. Sugar consumption has actually been falling in the U.S. since 1999, when bottled water and sugar-free beverages began to edge sodas off the shelf. At the same time, consumption of cheese and oily foods has steadily increased, as has diabetes prevalence. This suggests that something other than sugar is driving the diabetes epidemic.

Still, Sugar is not Health Food

So, our bodies actually run on sugar—that is, glucose. Moreover, sugar has only four calories per gram (much less than fats and oils, which have nine calories per gram), and sugar’s calories can be used for metabolic needs or stored as glycogen. So, does that mean that added sugars are innocuous?

Certainly not. Although glucose is an important fuel for the body, there is no physiological need for added sugars. Because sugar dissolves into sodas and snack foods, it is easy to consume surprisingly large quantities of it, contributing to weight gain. In turn, higher body weight can make type 2 diabetes more likely to occur. Some have also suggested that excess ingested sugar, particularly fructose, may contribute to diabetes risk in other ways.

A number of studies have looked for relationships between sugar (especially sugar-sweetened beverages) and diabetes risk. Many have found no significant relationship, apart from sugar’s extra calories that lead to weight gain. For example, the Women’s Health Study, the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, the Black Women’s Health Study, and the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis found no significant associations between sugar consumption and diabetes risk after adjustment for measures of body weight. Some studies have had mixed results, exonerating sucrose, but indicting glucose and fructose.^, And some studies have shown associations between sugar-sweetened beverages and diabetes that persist after adjustment for body weight.^,

A 2015 meta-analysis summarized the results of 17 cohorts, concluding that, after adjustment for body weight, a daily 250 mL serving of sugar-sweetened beverages could increase diabetes risk approximately 13 percent. These observational studies do not necessarily indicate cause and effect. Sodas are often accompanied by cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets, and other unhealthful foods. That is, soda consumption can be a sign of a diet focusing on fast foods or an overall unhealthful diet. And, sugary snack foods (e.g., cookies and snack pastries) are often high in fat; the sugar lures us in to the fat calories hiding inside. Some, but not all, observational trials have sought to control for these confounding variables. The meta-analysis authors also cautioned that they had identified significant bias, suggesting that public interest in the issue may have led investigators to favor research showing ill effects of sugar and to neglect to publish data seeming to exonerate sugar.

The roots of type 2 diabetes remain in insulin resistance and pancreatic failure, and the blame for the current diabetes epidemic lies in an overall dietary pattern emphasizing meat, dairy products, fatty foods, and sugary foods, rather than simply in sugar alone.

Conclusion

Diabetes is a serious disease. Its most common form, type 2 diabetes, has become a worldwide epidemic as Western eating habits spread. An understanding of its causes is essential to identifying means of combatting it. A diet emphasizing vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes and avoiding animal products helps prevent diabetes and improves its management when it has been diagnosed.

The idea that “eating sugar causes diabetes” is inaccurate. Nonetheless, avoiding added sugars is a helpful step, and it should be taken in addition to a healthful plant-based eating pattern, not instead of it.

This article originally appeared on the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine website and was reprinted with permission. 

The post Does Sugar Cause Diabetes? appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

We restarted the documentary, and the three of us sat in awe as the veil was lifted from our eyes. This was the first time we had heard that type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis (diseases we were struggling with) could be controlled or reversed through a plant-based lifestyle. In fact, none of us had ever heard of eating plant-based! After finishing the film, my husband suggested we take the dive. We watched the Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue and then my husband led the way as we emptied our kitchen of animal-based and processed foods. We started over.

Sadly, both of our families are riddled with diet-related diseases. I have type 2 diabetes (like my dad), and I was taking medications three times a day at the time. I also struggled with severe osteopenia (like my mom) and walked with a limp. To make matters worse, I weighed 220 pounds. After going plant-based, in less than three months my blood sugar went so low that I was able to get off of my medication. The food had become my NEW medication! Within the first year, I also lost 50 pounds—before this, I had been unable to lose weight on any diet I tried. Our son’s cystic acne disappeared and he lost the 25 pounds he had gained that year from eating so much junk food and fast food in college. To top it off, my husband (whose mom and dad have both had heart attacks) saw his cholesterol drop 50 points!

At first, our younger son (who was in high school at the time) chose not to become 100 percent plant-based. Thankfully, after two years of enjoying so many delicious plant-based dishes, he decided to join us. In addition, two other close family members have joined us in this journey to address their own autoimmune disease and heart disease. Both of them have been able to get off medications they had been on for many years. Our entire family’s health has improved so much on a plant-based diet!

Though my sons and husband are athletes, I rarely exercised before as an obese person struggling with multiple diet-related illnesses. At first, I didn’t do more than just take our dogs (who are now plant-based, too!) for walks around the block. This past year, at 51 years old, I decided to train to run a 5K race. I used the “Couch to 5K” app and consistently followed the program through. I ran my first race at HealthFest 2016 in Marshall, Texas—where I had friends and family cheer me on. It was an amazing accomplishment and day for me.

Over the past four years, I have devoted myself to helping others find the hope my family has found in this lifestyle. I try to inspire people on social media and through my website where I share all the WFPB recipes my family enjoys. It is my hope that I will do my part to help transform families and kitchens all over the world!

The post My Son Made Us Watch Forks Over Knives, and It Changed Our Family Forever appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

In 2010, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and high cholesterol. My cardiologist put me on high blood pressure medicine, which I hated. I worked out harder, quit smoking, and was able to get off the medicine in one year. For the next five years, I worked out with a personal trainer and followed the recommended “heart healthy” diet.

In 2015, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I was totally bummed. My numbers were off the charts (in a bad way) and my eyesight was blurry. I hadn’t had much success with the “heart healthy” diet and now had to combine it with the “diabetic diet,” which I found very limiting and frustrating. I started taking Metformin, which is a diabetes medication. Before she passed, my mother had been on Metformin, followed the “diabetic diet,” and still had to shoot up with insulin everyday for 30 years. I didn’t want to live that way.

Feeling discouraged and defeated, I ran across the Forks Over Knives documentary. Knowing I had nothing to lose, I watched it. I’m so glad, because it changed my life forever. Finally, I felt like I had found all the answers to my health issues. Watching it was like seeing a long lost friend and being wrapped in a great, big hug—it was familiar, hopeful, and long overdue.

In Six Weeks, My Blood Glucose Dropped 282 Points

The next day I cleaned out my kitchen and started learning new recipes. I grew up on Southern cooking, so I had to learn to adjust recipes to suit my palate. Within six weeks of going plant-based, I lost 15 pounds and went down two dress sizes. The best news? My blood glucose went from 382 to 100 and my A1C went from 15.6 to 5.9. (The A1C test is a 3-month average of blood sugar levels; the current A1C range for a non-diabetic is between 4 and 5.7.) In six weeks!

When I went back to my doctor, she was impressed. When I told her I was not on the recommended diabetes or heart-healthy diets, she told me that my lab work spoke for itself and to keep doing what I was doing.

I now feel both physically and mentally better than I have in 30 years. I feel like I “wrecked” my body with years of dieting and poor eating, and am now taking the steps to putting it back together. I have a new perspective on life and am always excited to discover new recipes and foods to try.

I make and eat easy granola almost every morning with almond milk and fruit. I love bean and veggie chilies, and often top baked potatoes with chili. I also like hearty soups, and make them often in my slow cooker. My all-time favorite quick frozen dessert is frozen mango, blueberries blended with almond milk, some cocoa powder, and ground flaxseeds. It takes care of ice cream and chocolate cravings at the same time!

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When we shared Eric’s health transformation story last year, many readers asked to hear more about his dog. So we’re happy to share this moving short film about Eric and Peety by the Humane Society of Silicon Valley.

The post Eric & Peety: A Story of Mutual Rescue appeared first on Forks Over Knives.