Lower Inflammatory Markers in People Eating Plant-Based

Plant-based diets are linked to lower inflammatory markers, according to a systematic review that compared these eating patterns with more conventional, meat-centered diets. The paper, published in the journal Redox Biology, found that plant-based eating patterns like the Mediterranean diet and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet were linked to lower measures of oxidative stress and inflammation.

A team of German researchers looked at 13 intervention studies and 16 observational studies, systematically digging through the data to determine which style of eating was linked to better biomarkers of health and disease. They found that, just as plant-based dietary patterns have beneficial effects on age-related diseases, these diets also demonstrate potential to reduce various markers of oxidative stress and inflammation, which may be at the root of many of these diseases. The authors attributed these benefits, in part, to the synergistic effects of various plant-based foods with antioxidant potential, acknowledging “the array of phytochemicals and other compounds present in plant-based diets i.e. carotenoids and flavonoids that may directly or indirectly modulate inflammatory and immunological processes.”

This investigation corroborates research highlighted in The Game Changers film. One of the studies mentioned showed that a single hamburger “can increase measures of inflammation by 70%.” Conversely, “switching to a plant-based diet can help reduce measures of inflammation by 29% in just three weeks.” These studies clearly didn’t stand alone. Rather, as demonstrated by this 2021 systematic review, they align with the body of evidence, underscoring the anti-inflammatory potential of plant-based diets.

References:

Aleksandrova K, Koelman L, Rodrigues CE. Dietary patterns and biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation: A systematic review of observational and intervention studies. Redox Biol. 2021;42:101869. doi:10.1016/j.redox.2021.101869

Li Z, Wong A, Henning SM, et al. Hass avocado modulates postprandial vascular reactivity and postprandial inflammatory responses to a hamburger meal in healthy volunteers. Food Funct. 2013;4(3):384-391. doi:10.1039/c2fo30226h

Sutliffe JT, Wilson LD, de Heer HD, Foster RL, Carnot MJ. C-reactive protein response to a vegan lifestyle intervention. Complement Ther Med. 2015;23(1):32-37. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2014.11.001