Eating a plant-based diet may reduce risk of diabetes: What to know

Eating a diet rich in plants and low on heavily processed and sugary foods may lower the risk of Type 2 diabetes, according to a new study.

A diet focused on whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of diabetes by 24%, according to the study published Tuesday in the journal Diabetes & Metabolism.

The study compared the benefits of a healthy plant-based diet, one focused on nuts, fruits, whole grains and legumes, to an unhealthy plant-based diet, one that includes fruit juices, sweets and refined grains.

Following a healthy plant-based diet was found to have the greatest benefit when it comes to both cutting the risk of diabetes and preventing weight gain, according to the study.

Type 2 diabetes, a condition in which a person's cells don't respond normally to insulin, affects over 30 million people in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Maya Feller, a registered dietitian and nutritionist, said she recommends people think about how they can add plant-based foods into their current pattern of eating.

"You may not like salad, and that's OK, but do you like a cooked vegetable? Can you add a fruit to your breakfast? What are the veggies that you can add to your afternoon snack?" Feller said Thursday on "Good Morning America." "Think about those things that you can add every single day."

For the past several years, plant-based diets have been a growing wellness trend.

The way of eating has been found in previous research to reduce the risk of heart disease and dementia and increase longevity.

Here are five questions answered about the plant-based way of eating.

1. What is a plant-based diet?

A plant-based diet is a way of eating that consists mostly or entirely of foods derived from plants, including vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, legumes and fruits.

Thomas Colin Campbell, a Cornell University biochemist, claims responsibility for giving the plant-based way of eating its name. He said he coined the term in 1980 to "help present his research on diet to skeptical colleagues at the National Institutes of Health," according to The New York Times.

"I wanted to emphasize that my work and ideas were coming totally from science and not any sort of ethical or philosophical consideration," he told the newspaper.

2. Is a plant-based diet different from a vegan diet?

Yes, a plant-based diet consists of eating few to no animal foods, while a vegan diet eliminates all animal foods and products -- everything from meat and leather products to eggs and cheese, Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity medicine physician scientist at Harvard Medical School, previously told "GMA."

Plant-based diets are also different from vegetarian diets, which eliminate all meat, fish and poultry, according to Stanford.

While religious, cultural or ethical reasons often motivate veganism and vegetarianism, plant-based diets are often done for health and environmental reasons.

Plant-based diets also often place an emphasis on whole foods.

"There is a way to be healthy in any of those," said Stanford. "What I say to my patients is to find the best right thing for them because everyone's body is different and everyone's body responds differently."

3. What are the benefits of plant-based eating?

The benefits include everything from better blood pressure to better skin, according to Feller.

"Those who follow a whole foods plant-based diet tend to have better metabolic profiles, like improved fasting blood sugars, lower circulating blood lipids and better blood pressure, as well as a reduced risk of developing chronic illnesses," Feller previously told "GMA" . "Plus, many of the vitamins, pigments and phytochemicals in fruits and veggies contribute to healthy skin, like the lycopene in tomatoes that helps protect skin from sun damage, and vitamin C in sweet potatoes, which smooths wrinkles by stimulating the production of collagen."

"Cutting back on animal products also means skipping much of their saturated fats, which are notorious for clogging pores," she added. "On top of the health benefits, eating plant-based cuts down on animal products, which helps combat climate change."

4. What are good things to eat on a plant-based diet?

Brian Wendel, creator of the 2011 documentary "Forks Over Knives," places an emphasis on eating whole, minimally processed foods within a plant-based diet.

"For me, the best guide is does the food still look somewhat like it does when you take it out of the ground? When you cook a potato, it still looks like a potato," Wendel told "GMA" in 2020. "The more a food is like that, the more you can lean on that in your diet and lifestyle, for health benefits."

Of course, fresh vegetables and fruits are a big part of a plant-based diet, as well as nuts, whole grains and legumes. Seafood and meat products can also, on occasion, be part of a plant-based diet.

Wendel emphasized eating more than just vegetables on a plant-based diet to ensure you are taking in enough calories.

"Make starchy foods -- beans, rice, sweet potatoes, quinoa, chickpeas -- the center of the plate because that has the energy to sustain you," he said. "And then surround it with vegetables."

5. Is there a way to be plant-based but still eat some meat?

Yes, the definition of plant-based is that your diet is based on plants but that allows room for other foods from time to time.

One option is the flexitarian diet, which encourages people to try alternative meat options, like tofu, but leaves room for flexibility if you can't quite fully give up meat. The diet was promoted by dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner in a 2009 book that says you can reap the benefits of a plant-heavy diet even if you eat meat occasionally, according to U.S. News and World Report, which ranked the diet No. 2 on its 2020 best diets list.

This plant-heavy diet focuses on adding five food groups -- "new meat," fruits and vegetables, whole grains, dairy and sugar and spices -- to your diet, instead of taking foods away.

The "new meat" food group includes tofu, beans, lentils, peas, nuts, seeds and eggs, according to U.S. News and World Report.