Celebrity chef Paula Deen’s announcement that she has diabetes should be a wake-up call about the dangers of eating meat, cheese, butter, and other fatty, cholesterol-laden foods. A recent Harvard School of Public Health study even suggests that eating processed meats and red meat can increase one’s risk of type 2 diabetes by as much as 50 percent.

Fortunately, people can prevent—and even reverse—diabetes by eating a healthy, yet tasty, plant-based diet. Researchers have even found that diabetics who eat low-fat vegan foods are able to stop taking medications—or at least take fewer of them—to manage the disease. Many people have also lost weight and lowered their cholesterol just by eating vegan foods.

If you want to eat healthier, but enjoy the taste of meat and dairy products, try eating great-tasting vegan versions of your favorite foods. Choose soy sausage instead of pork sausage, beefless tips rather than beef tips, and faux chicken, not chicken flesh. For product suggestions and free vegan recipes, see PETA.org.

Heather Moore

The PETA Foundation