0
0
A recent study published in BMC Medicine suggests that swapping animal-based foods like red and processed meat for plant-based options such as nuts and legumes could potentially reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and overall mortality.
Incorporating insights from 37 previous studies, the research emphasizes the health advantages of including more plant-based meals in one’s diet. The findings indicate that transitioning from animal-based items (like red meat, processed meat, eggs, dairy, poultry, and butter) to plant-based alternatives (such as nuts, legumes, whole grains, and olive oil) may significantly benefit cardiometabolic health and decrease the risk of premature death.
The study, which conducted a systematic search across MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science databases, specifically focused on substitution analyses of animal-based foods with plant-based choices.
The researchers noted a “moderate certainty of evidence” linking the substitution of one daily egg with nuts to a lower cardiovascular disease mortality rate. Similar results were observed when replacing butter with olive oil.
The research highlighted that replacing 50 grams of processed meat with 28 grams of nuts daily correlated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease. However, swapping poultry or seafood with nuts or legumes did not show the same benefits.
Regarding the substitution of red meat with nuts or legumes, the study found only low-confidence evidence supporting a decreased risk of coronary heart disease.
Moreover, the study found that replacing butter with olive oil, red meat with nuts, or consuming one egg daily with nuts exhibited an inverse relationship with the frequency of type 2 diabetes.
Additionally, the researchers observed a moderate certainty of evidence supporting a reduced risk of all-cause mortality when substituting nuts or whole grains for red meat. This risk reduction was also evident when replacing processed meat with nuts or legumes, or unprocessed red meat with nuts, according to the study.
Substituting nuts or legumes for dairy or consuming one egg daily, as well as replacing butter with olive oil, were associated with a decreased risk of all-cause mortality, as per the researchers’ findings.
The researchers highlighted that their work represents the first systematic review and meta-analysis summarizing the associations between substituting animal-based foods with plant-based alternatives and a wide array of cardiometabolic outcomes, encompassing CVD mortality, CVD and CHD incidence, T2D, diabetes mortality, and all-cause mortality.
