Diet and exercise are crucial to preventing and controlling type 2 diabetes, which is by far the most common form of diabetes. If lifestyle improvements are insufficient, patients are prescribed insulin or other drugs known as antidiabetic agents. All people with type 1 diabetes must take insulin regularly to survive because their body does not produce this hormone.

Commissioned by the Physician Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a nationally representative survey of 1,022 American adults found that 69 percent of those questioned would prefer to emphasize a nutritional approach in treating diabetes, compared to 21 percent who favored medications. Those most likely to favor diet over pills were women, people with higher educations and incomes, people in Western states and people ages 45 to 64.

A recent PCRM-sponsored study of 99 adults with type 2 diabetes compared two diets for 22 weeks: low-fat vegan (no animal products) with unlimited calories versus the American Diabetes Association's calorie-controlled non-vegan diet. People in both groups benefited, but greater improvements in glucose control, weight, body mass index, waist circumference and cholesterol were reported in the vegan group.

It should be noted that vegan diets are typically based on nutritious high-fiber complex carbohydrates, not the processed starches and sugars that account for most of the carbohydrate content of the average American diet. Also, many diabetes patients find it more difficult to stick to their meal plan than their medication.

Patients are urged to consult their doctor before considering changes in medication. For example, blood tests can indicate if a diet is lowering blood sugar and may allow an alteration in the drug regimen.

Copyright 2007 iVillage Total Health.