Day: November 29, 2023

An analysis published Wednesday in the journal BMC Medicine, drawing on data from 37 studies, adds to the evidence that eating fewer animal-based foods — especially processed meats — and replacing them with whole grains, legumes and nuts is linked to a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes.

The study is particularly useful because it details which dietary changes are most strongly linked to better health, said Qi Sun, an associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who was not involved with the study. For example, the study estimated that replacing one serving per day of processed meats, like hot dogs, sausage, deli meats or bacon, with a serving of whole grains, nuts or beans was associated with a 23 to 36 percent lower risk of cardiovascular issues, including stroke, heart attack and coronary heart disease.

The analysis combined the results from studies in the United States, Europe and Asia that asked participants detailed questions about the foods they typically ate. Researchers followed them for an average of 19 years and looked for correlations between their diets and health. They adjusted for other factors that can affect health, including calorie intake, physical activity, smoking and alcohol use.

These types of studies can’t determine if plant-based foods directly prevent cardiovascular disease or Type 2 diabetes — only that there is an association between eating more of such foods and a lower risk of developing these conditions, said Sabrina Schlesinger, an epidemiologist and nutrition scientist at the German Diabetes Center in D?sseldorf, Germany, and a lead author of the study. But the findings were consistent between studies, she said, and are supported by other research that points in the same direction.