An American expert said today that type-II diabetes can be kept under control by avoiding "western" food."Westernisation of diet has led to a health crisis. What we need is an easternisation of dietary practices worldwide," Dr Neal Barnard, nutrition researcher with US-based National Institute of Health, said today.Diet proved to be three times more powerful than oral medicines to help control the disease, particularly type-II diabetes, Dr Barnard, who is scheduled to address a seminar at a city hospital on January 17, said in a statement here.Proper diet also significantly lowered cholesterol and high blood pressure, he added.Quoting World Health Organisation projections, he said diabetes is expected to affect nearly 80 million people in India by 2030.According to a study conducted in Washington, even people with long-standing diabetes and weight problems linked to the disease had their conditions partially reversed by switching over to low-fat vegetarian diet that excluded dairy products, he said."We have high hopes that due to historical and religious influences in India, it wll be easier for patients to adapt a non-meat, non-dairy diet than for Americans although the research team was surprised to note how positively people beset with physical problems and facing a lifetime of medication embraced the diet in the US," Dr Barnard said.