A clutch of studies being presented at Nutrition 2018 show vegetarian diet is healthier but what you eat really holds the key
Vegetarian diet is healthier than non-vegetarian diet but, a clutch of papers being presented at Nutrition 2018 show that the quality of food matters.
Nutrition 2018 is the inaugural flagship meeting of the American Society for Nutrition being held at Boston. It will feature new research into the health impacts of eating a plant-based diet and how dietary quality influences those impacts.
In a study of nearly 6,000 people based in the Netherlands, those who ate more plant protein at the expense of animal-derived protein showed a lower risk of developing coronary heart disease. The study followed the subjects over a median follow-up period of more than 13 years. The study has been done by the Erasmus University Medical Center.
Another study of 4,500 Brazilian adults found that people who regularly consumed more plant-based protein were nearly 60 percent less likely than those consuming more animal-based protein to show evidence of plaque in the heart’s arteries. The estimate was based on coronary artery calcium scoring, a measure of plaque buildup commonly used to assess heart disease risk.
Among South Asians living in the US, people following a vegetarian diet were found to have lower number of risk factors for heart disease and diabetes. They had lower body mass index, smaller waist circumference and lower amounts of abdominal fat, lower cholesterol and lower blood sugar compared to people in the same demographic group who ate meat. The study has been done by researchers from George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.
An analysis of changes in body weight among more than 125,000 adults over 4-year periods shows plant-based diets rich in high-quality plant-based foods (such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables and nuts) were associated with less weight gain. A higher intake of unhealthful plant-based foods (such as sweets, refined grains and fries) was associated with significantly greater weight gain. The study has been done by the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.
A study of nearly 30,000 US adults bolsters evidence that a higher quality diet helps you live longer and suggests that the quality of plant-based foods in the diet is more important than the quality of animal-based foods. Better choices in the plant-based components of the diet lowered mortality by 30 percent while higher quality animal-based components had little effect on mortality. The beneficial effect of high-quality plant-based foods was even more pronounced among people with chronic health conditions, found researchers from Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.
