Obesity, Diabetes and Nutrition – Summary and Recommendations


by Gary Zin, PhD

Published articles, books, and lectures by Nutrition and Medical Experts present studies and describe real world results with individual patients that prove that lifestyles which include diets based on good nutrition strategies, mild exercise, and stress reduction techniques can prevent and even reverse diabetes.

Supporting data by Nutrition and Medical Experts are summarized and referenced on this Foodie and Friends web site. These published works included thousands of references to works by other nutrition and medical experts published in professional peer reviewed journals. This is not the work of a single “diet guru.” These are the works of serious and well respected nutrition and medical researchers.

In the posts on this blog, I have provided actual excerpts from their published works, not my interpretation of their data. You are encouraged to read the excerpts and follow the references provided on this Foodie and Friends web site. Follow the links in  “The Experts Speak”.

Now, this is my interpretation of the data, which in my opinion are overwhelming. — A plant based, low fat, high carbohydrate diet, including high fiber whole foods, and which minimizes or eliminates animal (including dairy) products is a nutrition strategy that has been proven worldwide to prevent and even reverse chronic diseases. The data show:

  • Obesity is a major factor in causing Type-2 Diabetes,
  • An Asian or Vegetarian diet can prevent obesity and diabetes, and
  • A strict low fat vegan diet can actually reverse diabetes.

But, let me emphasize –

YOU MUST MAKE YOU OWN CONCLUSIONS AND RELY ON YOUR OWN PHYSICIAN FOR YOUR MEDICAL ADVICE.

And —

If you are taking diabetes medicine, all of the medical experts I’ve quoted, warn that you must begin any diet changes under the supervision of your physician. They point out that these diet changes can alter your body chemistry very quickly – and may require your diabetic medication to be modified quickly to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).


All the Nutrition and Medical Experts referenced in this web site recommend mostly vegetarian (vegan) diets. There are some differences — for example, Dr. Fuhrman’s diet emphasizes vegetables while Dr. McDougall’s diet emphasizes starches.

Also, these experts have diets with different levels of food restrictions; some are more stringent than others. To reverse the disease, they all recommend a very strict vegan diet. Some recommend this strict vegan diet as the early phase of a new nutrition program for prevention of obesity and diabetes.

Dr. Dean Ornish’s Reversal Diet is a strict (almost vegan) vegetarian diet, and has been documented to reverse disease. His Prevention Diet includes more food choices, and is appropriate for those who are not yet suffering from disease, but wish to prevent it. In his Reversing Heart Disease book, he states:

“Fat, Carbohydrates, and Protein —
All foods are composed of three constituents: fat, protein, and carbohydrate. Most people consume about 40 to 50% of their calories as fat. Although people often believe that carbohydrates (starches), make you fat, it’s really not so.”

“Eating fat makes you fat. … It’s not the baked potato that is high in fat and calories, it’s the sour cream and butter you put on it. It’s not the pasta that’s fattening, it’s the cream sauce and olive oil you add to it.”
….
“Fat is not bad either; we just eat too much of it. The average person needs to consume less than 14 g of fat to meet the daily requirements of essential fatty acids, which you body needs to synthesize a variety of important substances. Unfortunately, the average American consumes at least eight times that amount.”
…
“Fat does taste good, but as you decrease the amount of fat in your diet, your palate will begin to readjust. After a while you’ll find that the food in the Reversal Diet tastes delicious, even though it contains must much less fat, and the food that used to taste good will begin to seem too rich or oily.”
…
“Too much protein, like two little protein, can be harmful for you. Animals that are fed high-protein diets die sooner than animals given the same number of calories but with less protein. Excess protein also can lead to bone demineralization and osteoporosis. And in animal studies, even a low-fat diet that is high in protein can promote the formation of coronary artery blockages.”
…
“Most diets don’t work for long because people get tired of feeling hungry and deprived. So instead of limiting the amount of food, the Reversal Diet asks you to watch the type of food that you eat, and to select only vegetarian sources.”

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After reviewing the data, in my opinion, the formula for preventing and reversing obesity and diabetes is simple;

  • Reduce the amount of Fat in our almost vegan diets to under 20%, preferably closer to 10%.
  • Control the amount of Protein to less than 20%, preferably closer to 10%.
  • Make the bulk of our diets consist of Carbohydrates – (complex carbohydrates, not simple carbohydrates). When we include more complex carbohydrates in our diets, the dietary fiber will increase.

Or stated with simple percentages, a diet that will prevent obesity and diabetes is an almost vegan diet, composed of about

  • 15% Fat
  • 15% Protein, and
  • 70% Carbohydrates.

Similar diets with about 10% Fat have been shown to actually reverse diabetes.

We can use these guidelines to select and/or modify healthy recipes.