Effects of Plant-Based Diets on Weight Status: A Systematic Review
Open accessAbstract
There is an increasing number of people who convert to a plant-based diet. The desire for health benefits, including weight management, is often a contributing factor behind this dietary choice. The purpose of this review was to evaluate intervention studies assessing the effects of different plant-based diets on body mass index and weight. A literature search was conducted in PubMed until December 2019. Twenty-two publications from 19 studies were included. The majority of them were randomized controlled trials comparing a low-fat vegan diet to an omnivore diet in participants with overweight, type 2 diabetes mellitus and/or cardiovascular disease. All studies reported weight reductions, of which seven revealed significant differences, and four revealed non-significant differences between the intervention and the control groups. The results suggest that plant-based diets may improve weight status in some patient groups. Due to restrictions in fat intake in many studies, followed by reduced energy intake, the effects of the different interventions differ depending on the specific plant-based diets investigated. Future research should aim to include a representative study population and apply study diets without dietary restrictions.
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A larger body of evidence from randomized clinical trials suggests that vegetarian and other plant-based dietary patterns lower weight and improve lipid management, glucose metabolism, blood pressure, and cardiometabolic health.
“A larger body of evidence from randomized clinical trials suggests that vegetarian and other plant-based dietary patterns lower weight29,30,31 and improve lipid management,30,32,33 glucose metabolism,33,34 blood pressure,35,36,37 and cardiometabolic health.38”
From Cardiometabolic Effects of Omnivorous vs Vegan Diets in Identical Twins: A Randomized Clinical Trial (2023) · cites this paper as [29]
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- Authors
- Tran, E., Dale, H. F., Jensen, C., & Lied, G. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Bergen (NO)
- Haukeland University Hospital (NO)
- Corresponding author
- Dale, Hanna Fjeldheim
- Venue
- Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2020-09
- Volume
- Volume 13
- Pages
- 3433-3448
- ISSN
- 1178-7007 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7533223
- OpenAlex
- W3090092678
- Cited by
- 108
- References
- 46
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 9
- FWCI
- 2.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Diabetes Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Diet and metabolism studies
- Keywords
- plant-based diet, vegan diet, weight loss, body mass index, overweight, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, low-fat diet, energy intake, dietary fat restriction
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