A plant based diet or lifestyle focuses on foods derived from plants, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. It emphasizes minimizing or eliminating animal products, promoting health, sustainability, and or ethical choices. Rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants, these diets are linked to numerous health benefits, such as reduced risk of chronic diseases and improved heart health and more.
Historically, plant-based eating has roots in various cultures, from the Mediterranean to Asian cuisines. With growing awareness of environmental and ethical concerns, many people adopt plant-based diets not only for health but also to reduce their ecological footprint, or for ethical reasons. This includes specific diets like veganism, which excludes all animal products, whole food plant-based (WFPB) diets, eating only unprocessed plant foods, and many more from vegetarian to raw.
Here’s the compelling science-backed health data that I’ve found so far. If I’ve made any mistakes please let me know.
Table of Contents
✨Kitchen Tips & Hacks for A Plant Based Lifestyle
Grocery Shopping Tips & Tricks [toggle]
- Shop the Perimeter: Focus on the outer aisles of the grocery store where fresh produce, grains, and legumes are typically found. Unhealthy food is found closer to the center of the store.
- Frozen Fruits and Veggies: They’re convenient, as or even more nutritious, and often more affordable than fresh produce when money is tight. “Overall, the vitamin content of the frozen commodities was comparable to and occasionally higher than that of their fresh counterparts.”
- Buy in Bulk: Purchase grains, nuts, seeds, and dried beans in bulk to save money and reduce packaging waste.
📚 Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs)
Alzheimer’s
Dementia & Mild Cognitive Impairment
- WFPB Diet & Lifestyle [2024, Jun]
A Randomized Controlled phase 2 Trial (multicenter) of: 49 subjects ages 45-90.
The randomized clinical controlled trial found that: “[c]omprehensive lifestyle changes may significantly improve cognition and function after 20 weeks in many patients with [mild cognitive impairment] or early dementia due to AD.”
The lifestyle changes made were “(1) a whole foods, minimally processed plant-based diet low in harmful fats and low in refined carbohydrates and sweeteners with selected supplements; (2) moderate exercise; (3) stress management techniques; and (4) support groups.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38849944/
Cancers
All Cancers
- Diet & Lifestle [2017, Nov]
A Meta-Analysis of: 86 cross-sectional and 10 cohort prospective studies of over 56,000 subjects.
This comprehensive meta-analysis concluded that a “[v]egan diet conferred a significant reduced risk (-15%) of incidence from total cancer.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26853923/ - Diet & Lifestyle: Vegan [2013, Feb]
A Review Study of: 2,939 participants of the Adventist Health Study-2 match with COX cancer registry.
This meta-review found that “[w]hen analyzing the association of specific vegetarian dietary patterns, vegan diets showed statistically significant protection for overall cancer incidence in both genders combined and for female-specific cancers.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23169929/
Breast Cancer
- Risk Factors [2013, Apr]
A Case-Controlled Study of: 188 women in hospital.
This controlled study with 188 patients concluded that “[t]he study suggests that non vegetarian diet is the important risk factor for Breast Cancer and the risk of Breast Cancer is more in educated women as compared with the illiterate women.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23878422/ - Plant-Based Diet & Lifestyle [2013, Dec]
A Comparitive Study of: 91,779 women including 4,190 with invasive breast cancer.
This cohort says that “[t]he finding that greater consumption of a plant-based dietary pattern is associated with a reduced breast cancer risk, particularly for ER-PR- tumors, offers a potential avenue for prevention.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24108781/ - Vegan & Vegetarian Diet & Lifestyle [2013, Feb]
This meta-review study found that a “[v]egan diet seems to confer lower risk for overall and female-specific cancer than other dietary patterns. The lacto-ovo-vegetarian diets seem to confer protection from cancers of the gastrointestinal tract.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23169929/
Digestive Cancers
- Diet & Lifestyle [2022, June]
A Meta-Analysis of: cohort or case-control studies on more than 3,000,000 subjects.
In this Meta-Analysis Based on over 3 million subjects looking at a plant-based diet vs digestive cancers. They concluded: “[p]lant-based diets were protective against cancers of the digestive system, with no significant differences between different types of cancer,” and that “[t]he overall analysis concluded that plant-based diets played a protective role in the risk of digestive system neoplasms. Subgroup analyses demonstrated that the plant-based diets reduced the risk of cancers, especially pancreatic, colorectal , rectal and colon cancers, in cohort studies. The correlation between vegan and other plant-based diets was compared using Z-tests, and the results showed no difference.”
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/
articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.892153/
Prostate Cancer
- Risks: Dairy [2019, Oct]
A Peer Review Study of: 29 cohort studies > 550,000 people; 13 case-control studies, 4 meta-analyses, and 1 population study.
PCa = Prostate Cancer.
“This review of the literature suggests that consumption of higher amounts of plant-based foods may be associated with decreased PCa risk, and consumption of higher amounts of dairy products may be associated with increased PCa risk.“
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31633743/ - Diet & Liefstyle [2016, Jan]
A Cohort study of: 26,346 male participants of the Adventist Health Study-2.
“Vegan diets may confer a lower risk of prostate cancer. This lower estimated risk is seen in both white and black vegan subjects, although in the latter, the CI is wider and includes the null.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26561618/
Diabetes
Fruit – Fruit Risk to Diabetes
The Mayo Clinic
“It’s a common myth that if you have diabetes you shouldn’t eat certain foods because they’re “too sweet.” Some fruits do contain more sugar than others, but that doesn’t mean you can’t eat them if you have diabetes.”
- Whole Fruit Risk [2023, Mar]
A Nation-wide Cohort Study of: 79,922 individual subjects aged 40 or older.
This study had an average follow rate of 3.8 years, and found that “Each 100 g/d higher fruit intake was associated with 2.8% lower risk of diabetes, majorly benefiting NGT subjects with 15.2% lower risk, while not significant in prediabetes.” And that “[t]hese findings suggest that higher frequency and amount of fresh fruit intake may protect against incident T2D, especially in [normal glucose tolerance indivisulals], but not in prediabetes, highlighting the dietary recommendation of higher fresh fruit consumption to prevent T2D in normoglycemia population.”
“Similarly, the inverse association was present in normoglycemia individuals with a 48.6% lower risk of diabetes when consuming fruits > 7 times/week comparing to those < 1 time/week, but not in prediabetes.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9941276
- Fruit & Fruit Juice Risk [2021, Oct]
A Review Study of: peer reviewed medical and scientific articles & literature.
“In conclusion, this study has shown that fruit consumption mitigates the risk of type 2 diabetes. The finding that appropriate fruit intake reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes is useful knowledge for healthy individuals also. A low level of fructose consumption does not affect circulating glucose concentration and dietary fiber prevents postprandial hyperglycemia; therefore, the consumption of dietary fiber and a small amount of fructose may help to prevent type 2 diabetes. Further studies are required to understand why fruit juice does not reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and to investigate whether fruit intake is useful for maintaining good glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. Biting into an apple may be protective against type 2 diabetes.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8504907/
- Fruit & Fruit Juice Risk [2013, Jul]
A Meta Review Study of: 187,382 subjects over 3,464,641 person-years of follow-up (roughly 18 years).
This meta-study showed that “[g]reater consumption of specific whole fruits, particularly blueberries, grapes, and apples, is significantly associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, whereas greater consumption of fruit juice is associated with a higher risk.”
https://bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5001
- Whole Fruit Risk During Pregnancy [2023, May]
A Systematic Review & Meta-analysis of: 12 studies with 32,794 participants.
* GDM = Gestational Diabetes Mellitus
“The findings suggest that higher fruit consumption may reduce the risk of GDM, with a 3% reduction in the risk of GDM for every 100 g/d increase in fruit intake. Higher-quality prospective studies or randomized clinical trials are required to validate the effect of different variations of fruits, vegetables, and fruit juice consumption on the risk of GDM.”
https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12937-023-00855-8
Type 2 Diabetes
- Vegan Diet & Lifestyle [2010, Apr]
A Review Study of: cohort and placebo controlled trials on more than 60,000 subjects.
“These studies have also shown that carefully planned vegan diets can be more nutritious than diets based on more conventional diet guidelines, with an acceptability that is comparable with that of other therapeutic regimens. Current intervention guidelines from professional organizations offer support for this approach. Vegetarian and vegan diets present potential advantages in managing type 2 diabetes that merit the attention of individuals with diabetes and their caregivers.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20425575/
- Vegetarian Diet & Lifestyle [2011, May]
A Randomized Controlled Trial of: 74 subjects.
This 24-week, randomized, open, parallel design trial of 74 patients with Type 2 diabetes concludes that “[a] calorie-restricted vegetarian diet had greater capacity to improve insulin sensitivity compared with a conventional diabetic diet over 24 weeks. The greater loss of visceral fat and improvements in plasma concentrations of adipokines and oxidative stress markers with this diet may be responsible for the reduction of insulin resistance.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21480966/
Heart Disease
All Heart Diseases
- Plant Based Diet & Lifestyle [2014, Jul]
A Clinical Observational Study of: 198 subjects.
“Most of the volunteer patients with CVD responded to intensive counseling, and those who sustained plant-based nutrition for a mean of 3.7 years experienced a low rate of subsequent cardiac events. This dietary approach to treatment deserves a wider test to see if adherence can be sustained in broader populations. Plant-based nutrition has the potential for a large effect on the CVD epidemic.“
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25198208/
Ischemic Heart Disease
- Vegetarian Diet & Lifestyle [2017, Nov]
A Meta-Analysis of: 86 cross-sectional and 10 cohort prospective studies of over 56,000 subjects.
“This comprehensive meta-analysis reports a significant protective effect of a vegetarian diet versus the incidence and/or mortality from ischemic heart disease (-25%) […]”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26853923/
Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Low-Fat & Gluten-Free Vegan Diet [2023, Jul]
A SANRA Narrative Review of: more than 1 million peer-reviewed articles from PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar.
This review study notes that “[r]esearch data show that a low-fat vegan diet recovers some RA symptoms, such as pain rating, joint tenderness and swelling. Moreover, a randomized clinical trial showed that a gluten-free vegan diet reduced the level of immunoglobulin G in patients with RA, thereby improving the signs and symptoms of RA. In studies conducted with RA patients on a vegan or vegetarian diet, a remarkable development in disease symptoms was observed.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
PMC10377866/
- Vegan Diet [2019, Sep]
A SANRA Narrative Review of: more than 75,000 subjects from peer-reviewed cohort studies found on PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar.
This review study states that “[s]everal studies have shown improvements in RA symptoms with diets excluding animal products. Studies have also shown that dietary fiber found in these plant-based foods can improve gut bacteria composition and increase bacterial diversity in RA patients, thus reducing their inflammation and joint pain. Although some of the trigger foods in RA patients are individualized, a vegan diet helps improve symptoms by eliminating many of these foods.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31552259/
- Raw Vegan Diet [2017, Nov]
A SANRA Narrative Review of: 194 peer-reviewed studies found on PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar.
This review study gives a complete dietary outline and internal references: “[w]e believe that an ideal meal can include raw or moderately cooked vegetables (lots of greens, legumes), with addition of spices like turmeric and ginger (123), seasonal fruits (183), probiotic yogurt (184); all of which are good sources of natural antioxidants and deliver anti-inflammatory effects. The patient should avoid any processed food, high salt (185), oils, butter, sugar, and animal products (186). Dietary supplements like vitamin D (187, 188), cod liver oil (189, 190), and multivitamins (191) can also help in managing RA. This diet therapy with low impact aerobic exercises can be used for a better degree of self-management of RA with minimal financial burden (192–194).”
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition
/articles/10.3389/fnut.2017.00052/