Reduced Weight and Improved Body Composition with Plant-Based Diets

A large-scale umbrella review published in the journal Nutrients highlights the potential of plant-based diets to reduce weight and improve body composition. The study consolidated all the evidence to date assessing the effects of plant-based diets on anthropometric and cardiometabolic outcomes, and found that on top of reduced weight and body mass index, there were significant reductions in waist circumference – commonly used as a surrogate measure of abdominal visceral fat.

The review combined the work of seven previous analyses, representing a total of 51 primary experimental studies, and also found that plant-based diets were associated with lower fasting blood glucose and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. The improvements in these important cardiometabolic risk factors help explain why previous research consistently finds plant-based diets are linked to significantly lower risk of disease mortality.

The authors of the study concluded that “the potential benefits identified in this umbrella review suggest that, in broad terms, the adoption of a plant-based diet is recommended… and should be endorsed as a public health goal”.

References
Chew, H. S. J., Heng, F. K. X., Tien, S. A., Thian, J. Y., Chou, H. S., Loong, S. S. E., Ang, W. H. D., Chew, N. W. S., & Lo, K. K. (2023). Effects of Plant-Based Diets on Anthropometric and Cardiometabolic Markers in Adults: An Umbrella Review. Nutrients, 15(10), 2331.
https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15102331

Jafari, S., Hezaveh, E., Jalilpiran, Y., Jayedi, A., Wong, A., Safaiyan, A., & Barzegar, A. (2022). Plant-based diets and risk of disease mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 62(28), 7760–7772.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2021.1918628