He called for promotion of vegan diet (vegetarian food) which, he said, was found to be three times more powerful than conventional diet in checking the disease. Dr. Barnard, who is touring medical colleges and hospitals in ten cities across India, stated at a news conference here on Friday that his study on a sample of 49 patients who were put on vegan diet showed their blood sugar levels dropping by 1.2 percentage points.

Their cholesterol and body weight also dropped significantly.

Low fat diet

A low fat vegan diet for diabetes required that the patients should not consume meat, fish, poultry,milk products and eggs. They should also ensure low sugar and no added oils. They could have unlimited pulses, vegetables, fruits and whole grains.

India tops

Dr. Barnard, who is the president of the US- based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, said with 31.7 million diabetic patients, India was at the top of the world in terms of spread of the disease in 2000. The disease was spreading so rapidly that their strength could go up to 79.4 million by 2030.

He maintained that diabetes was not genetic but a result of westernised eating habits characterised by meat, cheese, milk and sugar consumption. He also said 90 to 95 per cent of the patients suffered from type II diabetes which was a result of pancreas producing insulin with the cell resisting its action.

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