Theoretical Food and Nutrient Composition of Whole-Food Plant-Based and Vegan Diets Compared to Current Dietary Recommendations (original) (raw)
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Food, plant food, and vegetarian diets in the US dietary guidelines: conclusions of an expert panel
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2009
We summarize conclusions drawn from a panel discussion at the ''Fifth International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition'' about the roles of and emphasis on food, plant food, and vegetarianism in current and future US dietary guidelines. The most general recommendation of the panel was that future dietary guidelines, following the lead of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, should emphasize food-based recommendations and thinking to the full extent that evidence allows. Although nutrient-based thinking and Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) may help ensure an adequate diet in the sense that deficiency states are avoided, the emphasis on DRIs may not capture many important nutritional issues and may inhibit a focus on foods. More generally, in the context of the conference on vegetarian nutrition, this report focuses on the history and structure of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, on various plant food-oriented recommendations that are supported by literature evidence, and on mechanisms for participating in the process of forming dietary guidelines. Among recommendations that likely would improve health and the environment, some are oriented toward increased plant food consumption and some toward vegetarianism. The literature on health effects of individual foods and whole lifestyle diets is insufficient and justifies a call for future food-oriented research, including expanding the evidence base for plant-based and vegetarian diets. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee's role should be carried forward to creation of a publicly accessible icon (eg, the current pyramid) and related materials to ensure that the science base is fully translated for the public.
2014 Advances in Nutrition Sustainable Diets
The confluence of population, economic development, and environmental pressures resulting from increased globalization and industrialization reveal an increasingly resource-constrained world in which predictions point to the need to do more with less and in a "better" way. The concept of sustainable diets presents an opportunity to successfully advance commitments to sustainable development and the elimination of poverty, food and nutrition insecurity, and poor health outcomes. This study examines the determinants of sustainable diets, offers a descriptive analysis of these areas, and presents a causal model and framework from which to build. The major determinants of sustainable diets fall into 5 categories: 1) agriculture, 2) health, 3) sociocultural, 4) environmental, and 5) socioeconomic. When factors or processes are changed in 1 determinant category, such changes affect other determinant categories and, in turn, the level of "sustainability" of a diet. The complex web of determinants of sustainable diets makes it challenging for policymakers to understand the benefits and considerations for promoting, processing, and consuming such diets. To advance this work, better measurements and indicators must be developed to assess the impact of the various determinants on the sustainability of a diet and the tradeoffs associated with any recommendations aimed at increasing the sustainability of our food system. Adv. Nutr. 5: 418-429, 2014.
Public Health Nutrition, 2020
Objective: To describe characteristics of self-identified popular diet followers and compare mean BMI across these diets, stratified by time following diet. Design: Cross-sectional, web-based survey administered in 2015. Setting: Non-localised, international survey. Participants: Self-selected followers of popular diets (n 9019) were recruited to the survey via social media and email announcements by diet community leaders, categorised into eight major diet groups. Results: General linear models were used to compare mean BMI among (1) shortterm (<1 year) and long-term (≥1 year) followers within diet groups and (2) those identifying as 'try to eat healthy' (TTEH) to all other diet groups, stratified by time following the specific diet. Participants were 82 % female, 93 % White and 96 % non-Hispanic. Geometric mean BMI was lower (P < 0•05 for all) among longerterm followers (≥1 year) of whole food, plant-based (WFPB), vegan, whole food and low-carb diets compared with shorter-term followers. Among those following their diet for 1-5 years (n 4067), geometric mean BMI (kg/m 2) were lower (P < 0•05 for all) for all groups compared with TTEH (26•4 kg/m 2): WFPB (23•2 kg/m 2), vegan (23•5 kg/m 2), Paleo (24•6 kg/m 2), vegetarian (25•0 kg/m 2), whole food (24•6 kg/m 2), Weston A. Price (23•5 kg/m 2) and low-carb (24•7 kg/m 2). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that BMI is lower among individuals who made active decisions to adhere to a specific diet, particularly more plant-based diets and/or diets limiting highly processed foods, compared with those who simply TTEH. BMI is also lower among individuals who follow intentional eating plans for longer time periods. Keywords Popular diet Body mass index Body weight Vegan Vegetarian Plant-based Paleo A growing segment of the public identifies as following a specific popular diet for a variety of reasons, including to improve health, prevent chronic disease or lose weight (1,2). A popular diet can be defined as a dietary pattern promoted through cookbooks, diet books or popular media coverage, as opposed to a researcher-generated dietary pattern such as the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet (3). Data from specialised retail food products (4) , Google keyword search activity (see Appendix 1) (5) and certain consumer surveys (6,7) confirm there is ongoing interest in particular diets. These diets include vegan/vegetarian, Paleo, low-carb and a variety of 'whole
Food Policy, 2014
The objective of this study was to explore the synergies between nutritionally healthy and ecologically sustainable diets. The aim was to explore the possibilities for future integrated dietary guidelines that support consumers to make informed dietary choices based on both ecological and nutritional values. We developed a score system for health and sustainability. Subsequently, we tested six different diets: current average Dutch, official 'recommended' Dutch, semi-vegetarian, vegetarian, vegan and Mediterranean. For the sustainability rating, we used the Life Cycle Assessment, measuring the impacts on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and land use (LU). For the health rating, we used ten nutritional indicators. By comparing the overall scores we found that the consumption of meat, dairy products, extras, such as snacks, sweets, pastries, and beverages, in that order, are largely responsible for low sustainability scores. Simultaneously, these food groups contribute to low health scores. We developed a matrix that illustrates that the health and sustainability scores of all six diets go largely hand in hand. provides a visualisation of the position of the six diets in the full health and sustainability spectrum. This matrix with scores can be considered a first step in the development of a tool to measure both sustainability and health issues of specific food patterns. In selecting the diets, we examined two directions: health focus diets and the animal protein reduction diets. The Mediterranean diet is generally the health focus option with a high sustainability score. We conclude that guidelines oriented in between the two directions (i.e., semi-and pesco-vegetarian) are the option with the optimal synergy between health and sustainability.
Frontiers in Nutrition
ImportanceConsuming a whole food plant-based diet (WFPBD) is a promising, low-risk strategy for reducing risk of prevalent chronic disease and certain cancers, with synergistic benefits for climate and environment. However, few US adults report consuming a WFPBD. Understanding the reasons for this inconsistency is important for developing and implementing interventions for promoting a WFPBD. However, no research to elucidate decisional balance driving current consumption patterns in the US exists.ObjectiveThis research aims to validate an online survey to assess decisional balance for the consumption of a WFPBD, describe attitudes and beliefs toward adopting a WFPBD, and evaluate socio-demographic differences in decisional balance for consuming a WFPBD among a convenience sample of US adults.DesignOnline cross-sectional data collection followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), validation of internal consistency, and examination of invariance across socio-demographic variables....
Evaluation of Popular Diets for Sustainability
World Nutrition
According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021 report, between 720 and 811 million people in the world faced hunger. Therefore, transforming food systems for food security, improved nutrition and affordable healthy diets for all is important issue in the fight against hunger. Healthy diets can also play a considerable role in increasing the sustainability of food systems. But can all healthy diets also be considered sustainable diets? Sustainable diets are low in environmental effects, culturally acceptable, accessible, economically viable, nutritionally adequate, safe, and healthy. As can be understood from the definition, being healthy can actually be considered as one of the conditions necessary for the sustainability of diets. While examining diets in terms of sustainability, aspects such as environmental effects, cultural acceptability and economic accessibility should also be evaluated. The aim of this review is to evaluation sustainability of popular ...
Healthcare
Climate change can have economic consequences, affecting the nutritional intake of populations and increasing food insecurity, as it negatively affects diet quality parameters. One way to mitigate these consequences is to change the way we produce and consume our food. A healthy and sustainable diet aims to promote and achieve the physical, mental, and social well-being of the populations at all life stages, while protecting and safeguarding the resources of the planet and preserving biodiversity. Over the past few years, several indexes have been developed to evaluate dietary sustainability, most of them based on the EAT-Lancet reference diet. The present review explains the problems that arise in human nutrition as a result of climate change and presents currently available diet sustainability indexes and their applications and limitations, in an effort to aid researchers and policy actors in identifying aspects that need improvement in the development of relevant indexes. Overall...
Comparative Analysis of Flexitarian, Vegetarian and Vegan Diets
Élelmiszervizsgálati Közlemények
Background: Healthy eating is one of the main factors of maintaining health. Certain diets such as flexitarian, vegetarian and vegan can be associated with a healthy lifestyle. These diets have recently become more common. Aim: This review aims to summarize the characteristics of a flexitarian, vegetarian, and vegan diet by comparing these specific nutritional trends through the processed literature. Methods: Electronic searches were performed on the Google Scholar database, Medline, PubMed, and Science Direct. The manuscript summarizes publications on flexitarian, vegetarian, and vegan diets. Furthermore, it examines the relationships between different nutritional trends as well. Result: The summarized vegan (100% plant-based diet), vegetarian (plant-rich diet), and flexitarian (plantbased with high-quality meat consumption diet) have become the focus of results through this literature. Conclusion: Flexitarian, vegetarian and vegan diets contribute to a healthy lifestyle and sustai...
Opportunities for Maximizing the Dietary Quality of Fad Diets
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The quality of American diets, measured by the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), has remained stable and low since 2005. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020–2025 call for research analyzing dietary patterns to determine how guidelines might be altered to increase healthy eating. The present paper seeks to determine the dietary quality of popular fad dietary patterns among Americans. A definition of “fad diet” was created, and Google Trends© was searched for popular diets to determine popular dietary patterns based on the fad diet definition. Finally, eight dietary patterns were identified for inclusion. One-week sample menus were created for each dietary pattern, maximizing alignment with the DGAs but staying within the dietary pattern parameters, and then scored according to the HEI 2015 to determine the dietary quality. Total HEI scores ranged from 26.7 (Carnivore) to 89.1 (Low-FODMAP); the six highest total HEI scores were in the range of 77.1–89.1 out of 100 points. This analyti...