Plant-Based Diet Outperforms Mediterranean Diet for Weight Loss and Cardiac Risk

Mediterranean diets, which are based predominantly on plant foods, are encouraged by healthcare professionals around the world for disease prevention. Healthier as they may be, it seems we can do even better. According to a study published last month in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, diets that encouraged people to bypass animal products and added fats completely and focus exclusively on fruits, vegetables, beans, and grains outperformed Mediterranean diets that included plants but also fish, cheese, and other animal-based foods.

Using a gold-standard research design where overweight participants followed each diet for four months in random order (with a one-month break between diets), an international team of scientists compared the effects of eating Mediterranean diets versus entirely plant-based diets on multiple measures of health. Neither group had a calorie limit, and everyone was instructed to continue their normal exercise routines and medication regimens in order to level the playing field.

The outcomes were remarkably different. On a Mediterranean diet, the average participant experienced no drop in body weight and no significant improvements in insulin sensitivity or LDL-cholesterol. Oppositely, the plant-based diet led to an average body fat loss of 8-pounds  — especially abdominal fat, with participants experiencing improved insulin sensitivity and LDL-cholesterol levels as well. Both diets improved blood pressure, though the Mediterranean diet performed better, seemingly due to a carryover effect from the first diet phase to the second. 

In all, this landmark study made it abundantly clear that, despite popular recommendations to eat certain animal foods like fish and low-fat dairy, diets centered even more around plant foods are uniquely effective at promoting health.

Reference:

Barnard ND, Alwarith J, Rembert E, et al. A Mediterranean Diet and Low-Fat Vegan Diet to Improve Body Weight and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors: A Randomized, Cross-over Trial [published online ahead of print, 2021 Feb 5]. J Am Coll Nutr. 2021;1-13. doi:10.1080/07315724.2020.1869625