The effects of plant-based diets on pancreatic beta-cell function: A systematic review

Plant-based diets have been associated with improvements in blood glucose and HbA1c levels, as well as improvements in insulin resistance. This review aimed to systematically analyse the scientific literature on the effects of plant-based dietary interventions on pancreatic beta-cell function, as measured by insulin secretion. The three clinical trials that were included in the analysis showed a high risk of bias that was predominantly due to a lack of blinding in their designs. Compared with non-plant-based interventions, vegan and vegetarian diets showed a number of significant improvements in insulin secretion, HbA1c and weight loss across the studies. Larger randomised controlled trials with uniform measurements of beta-cell function would be beneficial to allow for quantitative analysis of pooled results.