- Research shows that following either the Mediterranean, DASH, or AHEI diet may lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
- Studies from 2025 suggest that the DASH diet may be one of the most effective ways to reduce the risk of diabetes complications.
- Recent research has also found that 3 to 5 cups of coffee per day may be linked to a longer life and a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
- Finally, recent evidence shows that a plant compound found in nuts, fruits, and vegetables may help lower the risk of diabetes and heart disease.
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Diabetes is a growing issue and concern in the U.S. Research from 2024 found that the rate of diabetes increased by 18.6% in a decade.
Various recent studies and reviews have found that individual dietary patterns can influence a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes, which is the most common form of diabetes.
Here is what the studies that Medical News Today covered in 2025 have to say about how certain dietary patterns can lower the risk of diabetes.
A meta-analysis presented at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) found that following any of these three diets can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes:
- Mediterranean diet
- DASH diet
- AHEI diet.
According to the meta-analysis, the greatest diabetes reduction risk was 23% and was seen in those closely following the DASH diet. The AHEI diet saw a 21% reduction, and the Mediterranean diet saw a 17% risk reduction.
The Mediterranean diet may be the most well-known of the three diets. However, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is fairly similar. It helps people to focus on reducing their sodium intake and increasing their consumption of calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
Michelle Routhstein, MS, RD, CDCES, CDN, a preventive cardiology dietitian and heart health expert at Entirely Nourished, not involved in this research, explained what the AHEI diet is:
“The AHEI (Alternative Healthy Eating Index) diet is a research-based scoring system developed to assess diet quality based on how well it aligns with dietary patterns that have been shown to lower chronic disease risk. It encourages high consumption of fiber-dense foods like vegetables, whole fruits excluding juice, whole grains, nuts, legumes; healthy fats like polyunsaturated fats, and lean proteins, specifically fish and poultry. It limits red and processed meats, refined grains, sodium, and sugar-sweetened beverages.”
Jason Ng, MD, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism in the Department of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, told Medical News Today that all three diets share some underlying concepts.
They all “contain the common theme of focusing on healthy fats, more plant-based foods like vegetables and fruits, and staying away from processed foods and keeping away from high sugar and added sugars to foods, which are all cornerstones of type 2 diabetes management,” said Ng, who was also not involved in the research.
A review of recent research that was published in Frontiers in Nutrition also found that the DASH diet can help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes related complications, such as:
- high blood pressure
- cardiovascular disease
- kidney disease
- nerve damage
- eyesight and foot issues.
Thomas M. Holland, MD, a physician-scientist and assistant professor at the RUSH Institute for Healthy Aging, RUSH University, College of Health Sciences, who was not involved in the review, told MNT:
“These findings are important because they show that the DASH diet, which was originally designed to lower blood pressure, also improves several of the biological pathways that drive complications in type 2 diabetes. Scientifically, the diet’s mix of high potassium, magnesium, calcium, fiber, and healthy fats, along with low sodium, added sugars, and saturated fat, reduces vascular stiffness, calms inflammation, and supports healthier kidney filtration and blood vessel function. This means the DASH diet helps protect the organs that diabetes tends to wear down over time, especially the heart, kidneys, eyes, and blood vessels.”
The DASH diet was originally developed to prevent and manage hypertension (high blood pressure). However, researchers have found that along with lower blood pressure, the diet can have various other benefits for those with type 2 diabetes.
“The DASH findings are valuable and reinforce what we’ve long recognized in metabolic medicine: Structured daily nutrition patterns can meaningfully improve the pathways that drive diabetes complications, from blood pressure and kidney function to lipids and inflammation,“ William Hsu, MD, Head of the Diabetes Regression and Remission Program and Chief Medical Officer at L-Nutra Health, not involved in this study, also told MNT.
A recent review published in Nutrients discussed some benefits of drinking coffee, as well as how it can decrease mortality risk and the risk for several conditions.
The review explains that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) generally considers coffee healthy when it has fewer than 5 calories.
The review notes that many cohort studies show that drinking coffee may be linked to decreased mortality rates. One 2012 study found that drinking at least 2 cups of coffee a day was linked with a 10–15% lower risk of overall mortality.
The review also found that drinking three to five cups of coffee daily may decrease the risk for cardiovascular disease by around 15%. It may also decrease the risk for chronic respiratory problems and respiratory disease mortality.
Coffee may decrease the risk for type 2 diabetes, and this likely applies to decaf and regular coffee. For people with diabetes,
Review author Farin Kamangar, MD, highlighted the main findings:
“The results of several decades of high-quality research on millions of people, show that coffee is overall beneficial to health. Moderate coffee consumption, typically 3 to 5 cups a day, is linked to increased longevity and reduced risks of many major diseases, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, respiratory illnesses, and cognitive decline.”
A major study has shown that a healthy, plant-rich diet may reduce the risk of developing both type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
The study findings that were presented at NUTRITION 2025, the annual flagship meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, suggested that eating a diet high in
The findings of this study have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Eamon Laird, PhD, assistant lecturer in nutritional science at Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Sligo & Visiting Adjunct Professor Trinity College Dublin, who was not involved in the study, told us that “these are highly significant — if the findings are true then it could lead to an effective measure of significantly reducing the risk of these conditions along with reducing healthcare costs and improving patient quality of life with an easy non-medical method from diet.“
“However, before we get too excited, I would like to see a lot more of the methods here — what was the population they looked at, what measures and methods were used, and what statistical techniques were employed,” Laird cautioned.
Researchers carrying out the observational study analyzed data from more than 200,000 adults in the U.S. Those in the highest group consumed around 4 to 5 servings of vegetables, 2 to 3 servings of fruit, two servings of whole grains, and half a serving of nuts per day.
People in the top fifth for phytosterol intake were 9% less likely to develop heart disease and 8% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those in the bottom group.
Phytosterols may be beneficial to health because they are found in many plant foods, and comprise two types of bioactive compounds: plant sterols and plant stanols.
Fenglei Wang, PhD, research associate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who presented the research, explained:
“Our clinical biomarker and metabolomic results suggest the involvement of insulin activity, inflammation, and the metabolism of metabolites associated with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This suggests that phytosterol might reduce risk by alleviating insulin resistance and inflammation.”
By interfering with the absorption of dietary cholesterol, phytosterols may also help lower levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or ‘bad’ cholesterol in the blood, a major risk factor for heart disease.
It can be difficult to get enough phytosterols to lower cholesterol through diet alone. Certain foods, such as unrefined oils, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and legumes, may have some of the highest concentrations, however.
They can also typically be taken as a supplement. However, it is important to remember that phytosterols should not take the place of cholesterol-lowering medications.
