Here’s yet another reason to eat veggie burgers instead of hamburgers: A new study from the University of Eastern Finland has confirmed that people who eat plant protein rather than animal protein have a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, a condition that can lead to blindness, heart and kidney problems, nerve damage, and more.

The researchers analyzed the diets of 2,332 men who were between 42 and 60 years old and did not have diabetes when the study began. During the 19-year follow-up, 432 of them were diagnosed with the disease. Those who ate the most meat were the most likely to develop diabetes.

That’s not a big surprise. Typically, diabetes afflicts overweight people and those who eat foods high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and “heme” iron (i.e., meat, eggs, and dairy foods).

Many other studies, including a recent one published in Nutrition & Diabetes, have shown that eating plant-based whole foods helps shrink your waistline and reverse type 2 diabetes as well as other life-threatening conditions. That’s largely because vegan foods are naturally cholesterol-free and generally low in saturated fat and calories.

Studies show that, in general, vegans have lower body mass indexes than vegetarians and meat-eaters alike, and vegans are known to be less likely to suffer from diabetes and other diseases.

Leading health agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, agree that people should eat more vegan foods to prevent or treat diabetes. So if you want to reduce your risk of diabetes and other debilitating diseases—not to mention stop animal suffering and combat climate change—please order our free vegan starter kit.