An update on the Mediterranean, vegetarian, and DASH eating patterns in people with type 2 diabetes
Open accessAbstract
When it comes to eating, there is no "one-size-fits-all" solution. This article provides an overview of recommendations and research for three evidence-based eating patterns-Mediterranean, DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), and vegetarian/vegan-that can be individualized for people with type 2 diabetes. In an effort to improve adherence and health outcomes, practical considerations for improving nutrition are highlighted with the aim of helping patients successfully adopt an eating pattern that meets their individual needs and sociocultural and personal preferences.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
A variety of eating patterns are acceptable for the management of diabetes.
“A variety of eating patterns are acceptable for the management of diabetes (70,97,131,132).”
From 5. Facilitating Positive Health Behaviors and Well-being to Improve Health Outcomes:<i>Standards of Care in Diabetes—2023</i> (2023) · cites this paper as [132]
Cites
A Clinical Trial of the Effects of Dietary Patterns on Blood Pressure
Appel, L. J., Moore, T. J., Obarzanek, E., Vollmer, W. M., Svetkey, L. P., Sacks, F. M., Bray, G. A., Vogt, T. M., Cutler, J. A., Windhauser, M. M., et al. (1997) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejm199704173361601 · Cited by 5,981 · see citing works
Estruch, R., Ros, E., Salas-Salvadó, J., Covas, M.-I., Corella, D., Arós, F., Gómez-Gracia, E., Ruiz-Gutiérrez, V., Fiol, M., Lapetra, J., et al. (2018) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmoa1800389 · Cited by 3,616 · see citing works
Nutrition Therapy for Adults With Diabetes or Prediabetes: A Consensus Report
Evert, A. B., Dennison, M., Gardner, C. D., Garvey, W. T., Lau, K. H. K., MacLeod, J., Mitri, J., Pereira, R. F., Rawlings, K., Robinson, S., et al. (2019) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dci19-0014 · Cited by 1,496 · cited 3× · see citing works
“According to the most recent American Diabetes Association nutrition guidelines, the evidence does not support a clear preference for one specific eating pattern; rather, it recommends that a variety of eating patterns should be considered in the overall strategy for diabetes management (1,3).”
BackgroundInfluentialPrevention and management of type 2 diabetes: dietary components and nutritional strategies
Ley, S. H., Hamdy, O., Mohan, V., & Hu, F. B. (2014) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(14)60613-9 · Cited by 1,301 · see citing works
Ajala, O., English, P., & Pinkney, J. (2013) · The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.3945/ajcn.112.042457 · Cited by 821 · see citing works
Chiavaroli, L., Viguiliouk, E., Nishi, S., Blanco Mejia, S., Rahelić, D., Kahleová, H., Salas-Salvadó, J., Kendall, C., & Sievenpiper, J. (2019) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu11020338 · Cited by 548 · see citing works
A journey into a Mediterranean diet and type 2 diabetes: a systematic review with meta-analyses
Esposito, K., Maiorino, M. I., Bellastella, G., Chiodini, P., Panagiotakos, D., & Giugliano, D. (2015) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-008222 · Cited by 501 · see citing works
Esposito, K., Maiorino, M. I., Ciotola, M., Palo, C. D., Scognamiglio, P., Gicchino, M., Petrizzo, M., Saccomanno, F., Beneduce, F., Ceriello, A., et al. (2010) · Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey · doi:10.1097/ogx.0b013e3181e5a159 · Cited by 460 · see citing works
Disparities in State-Specific Adult Fruit and Vegetable Consumption — United States, 2015
Lee, S. H., Moore, L. V., Blanck, H. M., Harris, D. M., & Galuska, D. A. (2017) · MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report · doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6645a1 · Cited by 379 · see citing works
(2019) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dc20-s005 · Cited by 346 · see citing works
Kahleova, H., Matoulek, M., Malinska, H., Oliyarnik, O., Kazdova, L., Neskudla, T., Skoch, A., Hajek, M., Hill, M., Kahle, M., et al. (2011) · Diabetic Medicine · doi:10.1111/j.1464-5491.2010.03209.x · Cited by 312 · see citing works
Azadbakht, L., Fard, N. R. P., Karimi, M., Baghaei, M. H., Surkan, P. J., Rahimi, M., Esmaillzadeh, A., & Willett, W. C. (2011) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dc10-0676 · Cited by 304 · see citing works
Elhayany, A., Lustman, A., Abel, R., Attal‐Singer, J., & Vinker, S. (2010) · Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism · doi:10.1111/j.1463-1326.2009.01151.x · Cited by 298 · see citing works
Huo, R., Du, T., Xu, Y., Xu, W., Chen, X., Sun, K., & Yu, X. (2015) · European Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1038/ejcn.2014.243 · Cited by 296 · see citing works
Schwingshackl, L., Chaimani, A., Hoffmann, G., Schwedhelm, C., & Boeing, H. (2018) · European Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/s10654-017-0352-x · Cited by 273 · see citing works
Vegetarian diets and glycemic control in diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
(2014) · Europe PMC (PubMed Central) · doi:10.3978/j.issn.2223-3652.2014.10.04 · Cited by 243 · see citing works
Mishra, S., Xu, J. Y., Agarwal, U., Gonzales, J., Levin, S., & Barnard, N. D. (2013) · European Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1038/ejcn.2013.92 · Cited by 240 · see citing works
Esposito, K., Maiorino, M. I., Petrizzo, M., Bellastella, G., & Giugliano, D. (2014) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dc13-2899 · Cited by 205 · cited 1× · see citing works
“In randomized controlled trials (RCTs), a lowcalorie Mediterranean eating pattern resulted in a greater reduction of A1C, higher rates of diabetes remission, and delayed need for diabetes medication (by ~2 years) compared with a low-fat diet in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes (18).”
BackgroundViguiliouk, E., Kendall, C. W., Kahleová, H., Rahelić, D., Salas-Salvadó, J., Choo, V. L., Mejia, S. B., Stewart, S. E., Leiter, L. A., Jenkins, D. J., et al. (2019) · Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2018.05.032 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
Papamichou, D., Panagiotakos, D. B., & Itsiopoulos, C. (2019) · Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases · doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2019.02.004 · Cited by 182 · see citing works
Itsiopoulos, C., Brazionis, L., Kaimakamis, M., Cameron, M., Best, J. D., O’Dea, K., & Rowley, K. (2011) · Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases · doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2010.03.005 · Cited by 171 · see citing works
DASH Eating Plan: An Eating Pattern for Diabetes Management
Campbell, A. P. (2017) · Diabetes Spectrum · doi:10.2337/ds16-0084 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Lee, Y., Kim, S.-A., Lee, I., Kim, J., Park, K., Jeong, J.-Y., Jeon, J., Shin, J.-Y., & Lee, D. (2016) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0155918 · Cited by 145 · see citing works
Mediterranean diet for type 2 diabetes: cardiometabolic benefits
Esposito, K., Maiorino, M. I., Bellastella, G., Panagiotakos, D. B., & Giugliano, D. (2016) · Endocrine · doi:10.1007/s12020-016-1018-2 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Paula, T. P., Viana, L. V., Neto, A. T. Z., Leitão, C. B., Gross, J. L., & Azevedo, M. J. (2015) · The Journal of Clinical Hypertension · doi:10.1111/jch.12597 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Dietary Patterns and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in People with Type 2 Diabetes
Archundia Herrera, M. C., Subhan, F. B., & Chan, C. B. (2017) · Current Obesity Reports · doi:10.1007/s13679-017-0284-5 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Long-term outcomes from a multiple-risk-factor diabetes trial for Latinas: ¡Viva Bien!
Toobert, D. J., Strycker, L. A., King, D. K., Barrera, M., Osuna, D., & Glasgow, R. E. (2011) · Translational Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/s13142-010-0011-1 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
What can we learn from dietary pattern analysis?
Hodge, A. M., & Bassett, J. K. (2016) · Public Health Nutrition · doi:10.1017/s1368980015003730 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Barnard, N. D., Levin, S., Gloede, L., & Flores, R. (2018) · Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · doi:10.1016/j.jand.2017.11.017 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Carter, P., Achana, F. A., Troughton, J., Gray, L. J., Khunti, K. K., & Davies, M. J. (2013) · Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics · doi:10.1111/jhn.12138 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
de Carvalho, G. B., Dias-Vasconcelos, N. L., Santos, R. K. F., Brandão-Lima, P. N., da Silva, D. G., & Pires, L. V. (2020) · Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition · doi:10.1080/10408398.2019.1624498 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Lee, V., McKay, T., & Ardern, C. I. (2015) · Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism · doi:10.1155/2015/236234 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Esposito, K., Maiorino, M. I., Ciotola, M., Di Palo, C., Scognamiglio, P., Gicchino, M., Petrizzo, M., Saccomanno, F., Beneduce, F., Ceriello, A., et al. (2009) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-151-5-200909010-00004 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
US Dietary Guidance—Is It Working?
Horn, L. V., & Cornelis, M. C. (2019) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.2019.13976 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Blonde, L., Umpierrez, G. E., Reddy, S. S., McGill, J. B., Berga, S. L., Bush, M., Chandrasekaran, S., DeFronzo, R. A., Einhorn, D., Galindo, R. J., et al. (2022) · Endocrine Practice · doi:10.1016/j.eprac.2022.08.002 · Cited by 507 · see citing works
American Diabetes Association Professional Practice Committee (2022) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dc22-s005 · Cited by 445 · see citing works
ElSayed, N. A., Aleppo, G., Aroda, V. R., Bannuru, R. R., Brown, F. M., Bruemmer, D., Collins, B. S., Hilliard, M. E., Isaacs, D., Johnson, E. L., et al. (2023) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dc23-s005 · Cited by 362 · see citing works
American Diabetes Association Professional Practice Committee, ElSayed, N. A., McCoy, R. G., Aleppo, G., Balapattabi, K., Beverly, E. A., Briggs Early, K., Bruemmer, D., Echouffo-Tcheugui, J. B., Eichorst, B., et al. (2025) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dc25-s005 · Cited by 305 · see citing works
American Diabetes Association (2021) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dc21-s005 · Cited by 299 · see citing works
ElSayed, N. A., Aleppo, G., Bannuru, R. R., Beverly, E. A., Bruemmer, D., Collins, B. S., Darville, A. K., Ekhlaspour, L., Hassanein, M. M., Hilliard, M. E., et al. (2023) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dc24-s005 · Cited by 325 · see citing works
Bajaj, M. S., McCoy, R. G., Balapattabi, K., Bannuru, R. R., Bellini, N. J., Bennett, A. K., Beverly, E. A., Early, K. B., ChallaSivaKanaka, S., Echouffo-Tcheugui, J. B., et al. (2025) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dc26-s005 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Alu'datt, M. H., Rababah, T., Tranchant, C. C., Al-U'datt, D. G. F., Gammoh, S., Alrosan, M., Bani‐Melhem, K., Aldughpassi, A., Alkandari, D., & AbuJalban, D. (2024) · Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety · doi:10.1111/1541-4337.70084 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Pathophysiology and Advances in the Therapy of Cardiomyopathy in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus
Graczyk, P., Dach, A., Dyrka, K., & Pawlik, A. (2024) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms25095027 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Evolving paradigms in nutrition therapy for Diabetes: From carbohydrate counting to precision diets
Alum, E. U., Obasi, D. C., Abba, J. N., Aniokete, U. C., Okoroh, P. N., & Akwari, A. A. (2025) · Obesity Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.obmed.2025.100622 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Impact of dietary inflammatory index on gingival health
Reis, R. A., Stolf, C. S., Sampaio, H. A. D. C., Silva, B. Y. D. C., Karahan, T. Ö., Kenger, E. B., Miguel, M. M. V., Santamaria, M. P., Monteiro, M. F., Casati, M. Z., et al. (2023) · Journal of Periodontology · doi:10.1002/jper.23-0292 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Kou, J., Ma, W., Wang, X., Li, C., & Liang, T. (2024) · Sustainable Production and Consumption · doi:10.1016/j.spc.2024.09.019 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Yang, H., Kim, M.-J., Hur, H. J., Jang, D.-J., Lee, B.-K., Kim, M., & Park, S. (2023) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu15071741 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Misperception of diet quality among US adults: implications for cardiometabolic health promotion
Lee, E., Fitzgerald, N., Downs, S., Kuhrt, N., Visaria, A., Kalbag, A. S., & Setoguchi, S. (2025) · European Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1038/s41430-025-01605-1 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Predicting Postprandial Glycemic Responses With Limited Data in Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes
Shen, Y., Choi, E., & Kleinberg, S. (2025) · Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology · doi:10.1177/19322968251321508 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Papadaki, A., Coy, E. M., Anastasilakis, D. A., Peradze, N., & Mantzoros, C. S. (2024) · Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2024.05.033 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Health Benefits of Vegetarian and Mediterranean Diets: Narrative Review
Pieczyńska, K., & Rzymski, P. (2022) · Polish Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences · doi:10.31883/pjfns/156067 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Chu, S. D., Chu, C. H., & Chan, A. K. Y. (2025) · Geriatrics · doi:10.3390/geriatrics10040097 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Kajdas, A. A., Żebrowska, A., Zalewska-Janowska, A. M., & Czerwonogrodzka–Senczyna, A. (2024) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu16223961 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Doglikuu, B. D., Abubakari, A., Yaseri, M., Shakibazadeh, E., Djazayery, A., & Mirzaei, K. (2021) · Journal of Diabetes & Metabolic Disorders · doi:10.1007/s40200-021-00896-y · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Integrative Therapies in Metabolic Syndrome
Lucius, K. (2024) · Integrative and Complementary Therapies · doi:10.1089/ict.2024.88345.kl · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Li, R., Xu, K., Zhu, K., Liu, J., Tian, S., Li, D., Li, D., Liao, Y., Geng, T., Liao, Y., et al. (2025) · American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1016/j.ajcnut.2025.10.005 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Doglikuu, B. D., Abubakari, A., Yaseri, M., Shakibazadeh, E., Djazayery, A., & Mirzaei, K. (2021) · Preprints.org · doi:10.20944/preprints202106.0399.v1
Healthy/Prudent Diets and Health Benefits in Adults
Katsagoni, C. N., Kokkinos, P. F., & Sidossis, L. S. (2023) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781119833475.ch3
Mardhotillah, H., Afifah, D. N., & Pramono, A. (2024) · AcTion Aceh Nutrition Journal · doi:10.30867/action.v9i1.1583
Dietary and Nutrition Education: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Yusof, B. N. M., Talib, R. A., & Hamdy, O. (2025) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-32047-7_49-1 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Swami, S., Ghotekar, L. H., Prakash, A., Aggarwal, R., Margekar, S. L., Gogoi, P., & Ojha, A. (2025) · Cureus · doi:10.7759/cureus.88698
Rheumatoid Arthritis: Integrative Medicine Perspectives
Lucius, K. (2025) · Integrative and Complementary Therapies · doi:10.1177/27683192251386937
Iryaningrum, M. R., Soetedjo, N. N. M., Indraswari, N., Agustini, D., Sribudiani, Y., & Supriyadi, R. (2025) · Kidney and Dialysis · doi:10.3390/kidneydial5040053
Diet Versus Exercise in Cardiometabolic Disease: Are Two Always Better Than One?
Jo, J., & Lee, K. (2026) · Current Cardiology Reports · doi:10.1007/s11886-026-02419-8
- Authors
- Benson, G., & Hayes, J.
- Affiliations
- Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation (US)
- Corresponding author
- Benson, Gretchen
- Venue
- Diabetes Spectrum
- Publisher
- American Diabetes Association
- Published
- 2020-05-01
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 125-132
- ISSN
- 1040-9165 (ISSN-L)
- 1944-7353
- PMC
- PMC7228822
- OpenAlex
- W3024650191
- Cited by
- 30
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 2.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Diabetes Spectrum (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Management and Education
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Dietary Effects on Health
- Keywords
- type 2 diabetes, Mediterranean diet, DASH diet, vegetarian diet, vegan diet, dietary habits, dietary adherence, personalized nutrition, dietary recommendations
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
