Diabetes is a leading cause of death worldwide, with an estimated 1.5 million deaths each year directly attributable to diabetes, primarily type 2 diabetes.

And the disease is a major cause of other health complications, kidney failure, heart

attacks, strokes, and lower limb amputations.

Along with those conditions goes rising health care costs.

For example, in the United States, diabetes makes the list for the top five medical conditions,

accounting for a third of all medical expenditures, and spending more than doubled

over 20 years. Diabetes is the only disease for which cost per person has increased significantly

for these top five medical conditions, coming in close to $3,400 per person. The majority of those

costs come from prescription medications. And while diabetes

medications can be a very important tool for controlling blood glucose levels, what if there were

another way? Could a plant-based diet be the solution? Not only to diabetes prevention,

but to type 2 diabetes treatment.

And not just any treatment, but actually with the goal of diabetes remission.

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine convened a group of experts, including representatives from major groups like the American College of Cardiology,

the American Heart Association, the Academy of Nutrition

Dietetics, the list goes on, who reviewed the available evidence on dietary interventions

for type 2 diabetes treatment, for remission, and reached agreement on three key issues.

First, type 2 diabetes remission should be defined as having HBA-1C, a marker of blood glucose control,

below 6.5% for at least three months with no surgery, devices, or active drug therapy being used to lower blood sugars.

Second, diet as a primary intervention for type 2 diabetes can achieve remission in many adults,

and is related to the intensity of the intervention.

And finally, the big one.

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