Plant-based diets may help patients with diabetes, heart disease live longer
Embracing a healthy plant-based diet can help patients with obesity, diabetes and heart disease live longer, according to new research presented during ACC.25, the annual conference of the American College of Cardiology (ACC).
The study’s authors focused on data from nearly 78,000 adults with cardiometabolic disorders in the United States, United Kingdom and China. Data came from the UK Biobank Study, National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES) and Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Study. The average participant age for those three groups were 57, 59 and 84 years old, respectively.
Study participants were asked a series of questions about their diet, receiving a score based on the number of healthy plant-based foods—vegetables, fruits, whole grains or legumes, to name a few examples—they ate on a regular basis.
Overall, the group determined that closely following a healthy plant-based diet resulted in a 17% to 24% lower risk of death from any cause, cardiovascular disease or cancer. Diets that did not adhere to the requirements of a healthy plant-based diet, on the other hand, increased a person’s risk of death from any cause, cardiovascular disease or cancer by 28% to 36%.
“Among populations with cardiometabolic disorders, higher adherence to a healthful plant-based diet was significantly associated with a lower risk of total, cardiovascular and cancer mortality,” lead author Zhangling Chen, MD, PhD, a researcher with the department of cardiovascular medicine at the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University in China, said in an ACC statement. “More intake of healthy plant-based foods, less intake of unhealthy plant-based foods and less intake of animal-based foods are all important.”
Chen also presented a separate study that explored that same NHANES data and examined on the drinking patterns of all patients, not just those with cardiometabolic conditions. He noted that drinking tea, coffee and low-fat milk and avoiding sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages, whole-fat milk and fruit juice can reduce a person’s risk of dying at a young age.
Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.