These rates took into account factors including socioeconomic status and a family history of dementia.

Unprocessed meats weren’t off the hook, either. Eating a full serving of steak, lamb, or other unprocessed meat each day was associated with a 16% higher risk of subjective cognitive decline (the perception of one’s own memory worsening).

The good news? Swapping nutrient-rich nuts and legumes for one daily serving of processed red meats was associated not only with a 19% lower risk of dementia but also with a 21% lower risk of subjective cognitive decline and a slower rate of cognitive aging.

Why Red Meat May Harm Brain Health

Several biological factors may explain the connections. Previous research demonstrates that consuming red meat boosts the body’s concentration of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), a harmful compound produced by gut bacteria. Elevated TMAO levels appear to increase neuroinflammation and damage the blood-brain barrier, potentially contributing to cognitive impairment.

Additionally, studies have linked meat-heavy diets with cardiovascular diseases. These conditions may contribute to an increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia by reducing blood flow to the brain, changing brain structure, triggering inflammation, and promoting the buildup of harmful proteins.

“Dietary guidelines tend to focus on reducing risks of chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes, while cognitive health is less frequently discussed, despite being linked to these diseases,” says corresponding author Daniel Wang, M.D., Sc.D., of the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham health care system. Wang says he hopes that the results will “encourage greater consideration of the connection between diet and brain health.”

The Bottom Line

The Harvard study doesn’t prove that red and processed meat cause dementia; other lifestyle factors may have played a role, and the study’s population was unique in that all participants were health care professionals. However, the new research adds to growing evidence that what we eat plays a big role in how our brains age—and that a plant-forward diet may offer protection against cognitive decline.

To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer. For meal-planning support, check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path.

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Every year in the U.S., nearly 90,000 people are diagnosed with Parkinson’s, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor symptoms like tremors and muscle rigidity, along with non-motor issues such as cognitive decline and mood disorders.

The Gut-Brain Connection: How Parkinson’s May Begin in the Digestive System

Within the past decade, research has indicated that Parkinson’s begins in the gastrointestinal tract and spreads via the vagus nerve, a long cranial nerve, to the brain. This may explain why many patients report gastrointestinal symptoms, such as constipation, years before receiving a Parkinson’s diagnosis.

In light of these discoveries, physicians are increasingly recommending dietary changes as part of Parkinson’s treatment, in addition to prescribing medications. In a new study, published in December 2024 in Neuroscience, researchers compared the neuroprotective effects of various diets—including Mediterranean, vegan, carnivore, paleo, and ketogenic—with regards to Parkinson’s disease.

The study found that the largely plant-based Mediterranean diet showed the greatest promise, correlating with a slower disease progression and lower rate of Parkinson’s occurrence. The vegan diet also appeared beneficial.

How a Plant-Based Diet May Slow Parkinson’s Progression

As noted in the new review, plant-rich diets may help protect against neurodegenerative diseases by lowering oxidative stress and inflammation. Oxidative stress, an imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants in the body, can lead to cell damage and contribute to neuron loss. Meanwhile, inflammation can damage the nerve cells that control movement.

The paper sheds further light on growing awareness of the gut microbiome’s important role in this progressive disease, something even neurologists had not considered until recently, explains Sergio Ramirez-Salazar, M.D., MPH, a cognitive neurologist at Dartmouth Health Medical Center who was not involved in the study.

“Definitely, the diet has a direct role,” Ramirez-Salazar says. “We’ve found that through the vagus nerve, there is a direct connection between the brain and the gut in Parkinson’s.” He adds, “It’s interesting, because [before], we didn’t know the microbiome was playing an important role in not only neurological conditions, but other types of diseases.”

Healthy vegan diets and Mediterranean diets emphasize higher consumption of fruits and vegetables, which are rich in antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E, polyphenols, and carotenoids. These help reduce oxidative stress and support healthy cell function, particularly in the mitochondria, where energy is produced. Additionally, plant-based foods contain compounds that can reduce inflammation, further lowering the risk of cell damage linked to Parkinson’s. Researchers noted that historically, in regions where plant-based diets are common, such as East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, there are lower rates of Parkinson’s disease.

“What recent studies have shown is that green, leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds, and also tea can help a microbiome prosper,” Ramirez-Salazar says.

On the flip side, the study authors noted that consuming more red and processed meat is associated with an increased incidence of metabolic syndrome, which has been linked to a higher Parkinson’s disease risk. High-protein, meat-heavy diets can interfere with the absorption of carbidopa and levodopa, key medications that help increase dopamine levels and reduce Parkinson’s symptoms like stiffness and tremors.

Furthermore, meat lacks fiber, which is critical for gut motility and microbial balance. As such, constipation, already common among Parkinson’s Disease patients, may be more prevalent among heavy meat eaters.

“I would say every single movement disorder specialist would say try to stay away from a huge carnivore diet because that is going to affect the absorption of the medication,” Ramirez-Salazar says.

Ramirez-Salazar, along with the Parkinson’s Foundation, recommends a whole-food, plant-based diet for individuals who wish to reduce their risk of Parkinson’s and those who have been diagnosed with the disease.

He also emphasizes that diet is just one piece of the puzzle—exercise, sleep, and other lifestyle factors also play a crucial role in managing Parkinson’s. “It’s an interplay,” he says.

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The Dietary Guidelines not only counsel individual Americans on how to eat; they also set budgeting priorities for the millions of dollars that the U.S. government invests in food programs. The federal government redevelops the Dietary Guidelines every five years, under the guidance of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC). This year’s committee is made up of 20 nutrition and public health experts, who say that they arrived at their 2025–2030 recommendations using a scientifically rigorous, multi-year process to “examine the relationship between diet and health across all life stages.”

A Shift Toward Plant-Based Proteins

In addition to recommending more plant-forward, nutrient-dense eating patterns overall, the committee specifically recommends updating the Dietary Guidelines so that plant-based sources of protein are listed before animal-based sources—a reprioritization in line with a trove of research linking animal protein with adverse health outcomes, including higher rates of Type 2 diabetes and early death. The recommended guidelines would also expand the number of plant-based foods considered to be “protein foods.” Under the current guidelines, the only plant foods categorized as such are soy products, nuts, and seeds. The new recommendation would add beans, peas, and lentils to this group, and list them, along with soy products, ahead of meat (including poultry), eggs, and seafood.

Neal Barnard, M.D., president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a public health advocacy nonprofit of 17,000 doctors, praises the shift in priorities. “If these recommendations are included in the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, it will increase the consumption of healthy plant-based sources of protein like beans, peas, lentils, and other legumes, which can help Americans maintain healthy weight, lower blood pressure, and improve heart health,” says Barnard. “Highlighting these foods is important because they are lower in saturated fat than meat, eggs, and seafood while also containing fiber, a nutrient of which many Americans are not eating enough.”

Reducing Sodium and Rethinking Dairy

Throughout the report, the DGAC emphasizes the importance of consuming foods in nutrient-dense (i.e., whole) or less-processed forms, without added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium. It also calls on the U.S. government to set mandatory sodium reduction targets for commercial food manufacturers, instead of the voluntary targets that are in place now.

Taking a page out of Canada’s book, the DGAC also recommends making water the drink of choice in the new guidelines—a significant change, given the Dietary Guidelines’ history of promoting dairy. “There are no nutrients in dairy milk that cannot be found in other food sources,” Barnard says, noting that dairy products are the leading source of saturated fat in the American diet. During the last Dietary Guidelines update, in 2020, the American Medical Association called for meat and dairy to be deemed optional, writing in a statement that “dairy and meat products are promoted in federal nutrition policies even though they are not nutritionally required.”

Once submitted to the USDA and Health and Human Services Department, the DGAC’s full report will be available here. In the meantime, you can view a presentation of the committee’s forthcoming recommendations here.

To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer. For meal-planning support, check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path.

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Conducted by researchers at Ohio State University’s College of Public Health, the analysis looked at the self-reported diets of a nationally representative group of more than 34,000 American adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Researchers scored each participant’s diet using the dietary inflammatory index (DII), a tool designed to assess inflammation in the diet. The index ranges from -9 to 8, with a score of 0 indicating a neutral diet, lower than 0 indicating an anti-inflammatory diet, and higher than 0 indicating a pro-inflammatory diet.

After completing their assessment, they found that 57% of participants had inflammatory diets. Thirty-four percent had anti-inflammatory diets, and the remaining 9% ate diets with a neutral impact on inflammation. The findings were published in the journal Public Health Nutrition on Sept. 27.

“The overall balance of diet is most important,” the study’s lead author, Rachel Meadows, said in a statement. “Even if you’re eating enough fruits or vegetables, if you’re having too much alcohol or red meat, then your overall diet can still be pro-inflammatory.”

Because factors such as financial adversity can limit access to fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods, Meadows’ team was also interested in identifying how socio-economic factors correlated with dietary inflammation. They found that Black Americans, men, younger adults, and people with lower education and income were more likely than average to have pro-inflammatory diets.

What Is the Dietary Inflammatory Index?

First developed a decade ago, the dietary inflammatory index (DII) is based on more than 50 years of scientific research around the ways foods and other dietary components, including alcohol, spices, and tea, influence inflammatory markers, such as C-reactive protein.

According to the DII, garlic, turmeric, ginger, and high-fiber foods (i.e., whole grains, fruits, beans, and vegetables) are highly anti-inflammatory. By contrast, the DII indicates that meat, vegetable oils, and refined carbohydrates are pro-inflammatory.

A 2021 umbrella review including data from more than 4 million participants found that the DII was a useful predictor of health outcomes, with pro-inflammatory diets leading to higher rates of chronic diseases.

“Moving toward a diet with less inflammation could have a positive impact on a number of chronic conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even depression and other mental health conditions,” Meadows said.

Inflammation is a necessary tool for healing the body from infection and injury, but excess inflammation can lead to serious health problems over time. Healthy lifestyle choices can prevent and mitigate this type of inflammation.

“There are a lot of factors that contribute to chronic inflammation, and they all interact—even sleep is a key component,” said Meadows. “Diet can be used as a tool to combat that.”

To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer. For meal-planning support, check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path.

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Beyond crowding out inflammatory foods such as processed meats and refined grains, fiber-rich foods help curb chronic inflammation in a variety of ways. Here’s how fiber works its magic.

1. Fiber Feeds Healthy Gut Bacteria

As much as 80% of the immune system resides in the gut barrier lining your intestinal walls. Prebiotic fiber acts as food for the beneficial gut bacteria so they can multiply, increasing the healthy diversity of the microbiome and suppressing inflammatory microbes. “When you [feed] these [beneficial] microbes, they do a number of magical things,” Bulsiewicz says.

For example, when fiber reaches your intestines, the gut microbes produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which have the capacity to heal your gut barrier in a cycle that renews every three to four days. A healthy gut barrier acts like a bouncer for your body, letting in nutrients and ushering pathogens, toxins, and other inflammation-causing undesirables straight to the exit.

2. Keeps Visceral Fat in Check

The SCFAs produced by fiber-fed microbes trigger the release of a gut hormone called GLP-1— the same hormone mimicked in Ozempic and other popular weight-loss drugs—that sends the message to your brain that you’re full. This may be why clinical studies have found that higher-fiber diets are linked to significantly lower body weight. High-fiber diets are also tied to lower levels of visceral fat, the deep fat that wraps around the inner abdominal organs and “churns out ‘hidden’ inflammation at all hours of the day,” says Shilpa Ravella, M.D., gastroenterologist and author of A Silent Fire: The Story of Inflammation, Diet, and Disease. A study in the journal Gut found that faster gut transit time and a healthy microbiome, both byproducts of fiber, are associated with lower levels of visceral fat.

3. Promotes Healthy Blood Vessels

High cholesterol levels and hypertension injure the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels supplying blood to and from the heart. As the body attempts to heal these wounds, it triggers an inflammatory immune response. Studies have found that higher-fiber diets are linked to lower cholesterol and blood pressure, sparing the cardiovascular system this strain and inflammation. Soluble fiber, which is abundant in plant foods, especially beans, green peas, apples, and avocados, actually binds to cholesterol in the small intestine, sweeping it out of the body before it can get into your bloodstream.

A healthy gut barrier, courtesy of fiber, also limits the release of bacterial endotoxins, thus limiting vascular inflammation. “We need to be eating a wide variety of plants in order to optimize the gut microbiome and to be able to prevent or treat inflammation in the body,” Ravella says.

4. Regulates Blood Sugar

Spikes in blood sugar trigger an immune response, causing the body to produce more inflammatory molecules. Because of its physical structure, fiber slows blood sugar absorption and blunts glucose spikes. “This is why eating fruit is not the same thing as eating candy,” says Bulsiewicz. And by producing SCFAs, fiber stimulates receptors in the body that help increase sensitivity to insulin, the hormone released by your pancreas in response to sugar.

In a study published in the journal Nature in February 2024, researchers measured the metabolic responses in 1,000 people after eating a meal. The microbiome was one of the most meaningful predictors of insulin sensitivity, “more powerful than your body shape, more powerful than your age, more powerful than the meal you just ate, and way more important than your genetics and gender,” Bulsiewicz says.

Other Inflammation Fighters

Alongside a fiber-rich diet, keep these strategies in your inflammation-fighting toolbox.

Eat fermented foods

In a 2021 randomized controlled trial out of Stanford University, people who added fermented foods to their daily diet increased microbiota diversity and decreased inflammatory markers.

Exercise

Even when it doesn’t lead to weight loss, regular exercise increases the diversity of the microbiome, decreases inflammatory visceral fat, and reduces inflammatory cytokines.

Manage stress

Chronic stress leads to chronic low-level inflammation. Keep stress in check by getting enough sleep, nurturing social connections, and incorporating practices such as meditation and yoga.

To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer. For meal-planning support, check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path.

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Studying the Effects of Olive Oil in Plant-Based Diets

Olive oil first gained a reputation as a health food in the 1990s, with the popularization of the Mediterranean diet—a plant-forward eating pattern that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, with modest amounts of dairy, eggs, fish, and poultry, and with olive oil serving as the primary source of added fat. Cultures with Mediterranean diets have lower rates of heart disease, metabolic disease, Type 2 diabetes, and other chronic health conditions. But which aspects of the Mediterranean diet confer the greatest health benefit is an area of ongoing investigation. While a number of studies have corroborated the benefits of emphasizing fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and minimizing red meat, the role of olive oil is less clear.

“There is a lot of important data from Mediterranean diet studies that show that a primarily plant-based diet with [extra virgin olive oil] is better than an animal-based diet,” says cardiologist Monica Aggarwal, M.D., who co-authored the new study. But, as Aggarwal and her co-authors note in the study, there has been little data around whether a plant-based diet without oil might offer even greater heart-health benefits. So Aggarwal and a team of researchers from the University of Florida and National Institutes of Health set out to investigate.

Dubbed the Recipe for Heart Health Trial, the study included 40 adults at risk for cardiovascular disease. None of the participants were plant-based before the study; all were omnivores. The researchers split them into two groups: One group consumed a whole-food, plant-based (WFPB) diet that included 4 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil daily. The other group consumed a WFPB diet that was virtually oil free, containing no more than 1 teaspoon of olive oil daily. After four weeks, the researchers had them switch diets. They received gift cards for groceries and attended dietitian-led virtual cooking classes throughout.

Before and after each phase of the trial, the researchers ran blood work and measured aspects of cardiometabolic health including cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (an inflammation marker that can predict the risk of heart disease).

Compared with their blood work at the start of the study, participants saw improvements in cholesterol and other heart health markers while on both plant-based diets, but they saw greater improvements on the low-oil plant-based diet. And when participants switched from the low-oil phase to the higher-oil phase, they saw increases in cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, and hs-CRP.

The authors conclude that “although both inclusion and exclusion of extra virgin olive oil within a whole food, plant-based vegan diet support cardiometabolic disease risk reduction compared with a standard omnivorous pattern, decreased intake of extra virgin olive oil may yield increased lipid lowering than relatively greater consumption.”

Debunking Olive Oil’s Health Food Halo

This latest study adds to growing evidence that olive oil—which is pure liquid fat, with most other nutrients, including fiber, stripped away—is not a health food.

Prominent whole-food, plant-based physicians such as Caldwell Esselstyn, M.D., have long recommended consuming low-fat WFPB diets with little to no added oils for optimal heart health. In 2019, Esselstyn authored an editorial in the International Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention highlighting scientific evidence linking oil consumption with damage to the arteries.

A 2022 study made headlines when it found that participants who consumed olive oil on a daily basis were less likely to die of cardiovascular disease and all other causes than those who never or rarely consumed olive oil. But that study only analyzed death rates based on different types of added fat in the diet. It did not look at diets with little to no added fat. As Neal Barnard, M.D., president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, explained at the time on The Exam Room by the Physicians Committee podcast: “Olive oil is better than chicken fat, beef fat, cheese fat, dairy fat. … Chicken fat is 30% saturated fat. Beef is 50% saturated fat. But for olive oil it’s all the way down to 14%. That’s good,” Barnard said. “But what if instead I get a nonstick pan and I don’t use any fat at all? That’s best of all because every gram of fat, no matter where it’s from, has 9 calories, and our research has shown that when people get away from these fats in general they do best of all.”

The Less Oil the Better

Matthew Lederman, M.D., co-author of The Forks Over Knives Plan, says that the new study’s findings are in line with results he’s seen among patients who adopt oil-free plant-based diets, with even greater improvements among those who adhere to a low-fat plant-based diet in which only 10%–15% of calories come from fat. “We can see total cholesterols drop 50 points [in weeks],” says Lederman.

Lederman hopes that the recently published research will help shift the perception of olive oil. “This study is not saying you can’t ever have oil, but don’t try and kid yourself that it’s a health food,” he says. For those who aren’t ready to cut out oil completely, Lederman recommends minimizing it as much as possible. “Use it as a last resort,” he says. “Push yourself to make dishes using other sources of rich fatty flavors and textures, like avocados, nuts, seeds, olives. Get it from a whole food if you can.”

To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer. For meal-planning support, check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path.

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A joint undertaking between researchers at the University of Bologna in Italy and the Stanford University School of Medicine, the comprehensive review, published last week in PLOS One, looked at meta-analyses from 2000 to 2023 to evaluate the impact of vegetarian and vegan diets on the risk of cancer and cardiometabolic diseases. After pooling data from 48 meta-analyses involving hundreds of thousands of participants across a range of demographics (including children), the researchers noted some overarching trends: Vegetarians and vegans were significantly less likely to develop cardiovascular disease and cancer. They also tended to have better cardiometabolic health overall, with less inflammation, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and leaner BMIs than people who ate meat.

“Overall, vegetarian and vegan diets are significantly associated with better lipid profile, glycemic control, body weight/BMI, inflammation, and lower risk of ischemic heart disease and cancer,” the authors wrote.

Plant-based diets appeared especially beneficial for preventing prostate and gastrointestinal cancers. Among omnivores, those who ate a lot of red processed meats saw a higher risk of gastrointestinal cancers. “Our umbrella review seems consistent with other primary evidence that links the consumption of red processed meats to an increased risk of cancers of the gastrointestinal tract,” the authors noted.

What Makes This Review so Significant?

While a number of studies have linked plant-based diets with improved health outcomes, the new PLOS One report is particularly compelling because it’s an umbrella review. Primary research, such as observational studies and randomized clinical trials, gather essential data. Meta-analyses synthesize previously published studies to identify meaningful associations. Umbrella reviews go a step further, synthesizing meta-analyses to offer a comprehensive summary of available evidence.

The authors acknowledge the review’s limitations, such as potential confounding variables within the observational studies. “It should be remarked that, in the majority of the cases, people adopting plant-based diets are more prone to engage in healthy lifestyles that include regular physical activity, reduction/avoidance of sugar-sweetened beverages, alcohol and tobacco,” they noted.

Still, based on their findings, they conclude that plant-based diets are “one of the effective preventive strategies for the two most impactful chronic diseases on human health in the 21st century.”

To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer. For meal-planning support, check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path.

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For the comprehensive review, published in the British medical journal BMJ, researchers pooled data from 14 studies, which encompassed 9,888,373 participants in all, to look at connections between ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and different health outcomes, including Type 2 diabetes, anxiety, cancer, and early death. For their definition of ultra-processed foods, the researchers referred to the NOVA system, which classifies foods according to their level of processing. They included only studies published within the last three years, and excluded any studies that received funding from manufacturers of UPFs.

Upon completing their analyses, they found that consumption of highly processed foods was linked to a higher risk of 32 of the 45 adverse health outcomes under investigation. The researchers noted that the most convincing evidence involved mental health and cardiometabolic health: Participants who ate more highly processed foods were 53% more likely to suffer from anxiety and/or depression and 50% more likely to die of cardiovascular disease. They were also 12% more likely to have Type 2 diabetes.

Harmful to All of the Body’s Systems

In an editorial appearing in the same issue of BMJ, Carlos A. Monteiro, who developed the NOVA food classification system used in this and numerous other nutrition studies, commented on the findings: “Overall, the authors found that diets high in ultra-processed food may be harmful to most—perhaps all—body systems.”

Also known as highly processed foods, UPFs make up more than 50% of daily calories consumed in the U.S. Common examples include sweetened breakfast cereals, salty snack foods, soda, and store-bought pastries. UPFs have come under increased scrutiny in recent years, with other studies linking diets high in these foods to dementia and inflammatory bowel disease, among other issues. Made primarily with synthesized and extracted ingredients, UPFs tend to be high in calories, sugar, salt, and fat and low in fiber and other nutrients.

To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer. For meal-planning support, check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path.

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In a study published last week in ERJ Open Research, researchers analyzed data from more than 14,000 people to evaluate whether the amount of plant-based foods versus animal-based foods in one’s diet could influence the risk of developing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a disorder in which the upper airway becomes partially or completely blocked during sleep. Left untreated, OSA can cause chronic sleep deprivation and raise the risk of heart disease, irregular heart rhythms, Type 2 diabetes, and other conditions.

For the study, researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES), a long-term project that collects diet and health information from participants on an ongoing basis.

The researchers scored each participant’s diet based on their reported intake of “healthy” plant-based foods, “unhealthy” plant-based foods, and animal-based foods. To isolate the impact of diet quality, the analysis adjusted for factors such as age, calorie intake, tobacco and alcohol use, and the presence of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes.

The Findings

The study found that participants who ate more “healthy” plant-based foods and more plant-based foods in general were 17% and 19% less likely to develop sleep apnea, respectively, compared with participants who ate fewer of these foods. The biggest difference was seen among male participants: Men whose diets were the most plant-based were 29% less likely to develop sleep apnea than those who ate the least plant-based.

While plant-based diets overall were associated with decreased sleep-apnea risks, participants who reported eating the highest amounts of unhealthy plant-based foods saw a 22% increase in risk.

In considering what might explain these trends, the study authors point out that low-fat, high-fiber plant-based diets have been linked to lower rates of obesity and inflammation. Excess body weight can increase pressure on upper airways, and obesity is a prime risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea. It’s estimated that 70% of people diagnosed with the condition are obese, and that 40% of obese people have sleep apnea.

Asked why the “healthy” plant-based diet appeared to confer slightly less benefit than the general plant-based diet, study author Yohannes Adama Melaku, Ph.D., said the modest difference might be attributed to several factors. “It’s possible that the broader variety of foods in a general [plant-based diet] offers a wider range of nutrients and phytochemicals, which may contribute to this effect,” said Melaku. “Additionally, the way ‘healthy’ is defined in the hDPI [healthy plant-based diet index] might exclude certain plant foods that have beneficial properties for reducing sleep apnea risk.” (Notably, all of the plant-based foods deemed “unhealthy” were ultraprocessed foods except for one: potatoes. Because of their starch content, the hPDI lumps potatoes in with refined grains—but recent research is challenging that designation.)

Plant-Based Diets for Sleep Apnea: Mounting Evidence

The study adds to a growing body of evidence that a healthy plant-based diet may not only reduce the risk of developing sleep apnea but also help relieve symptoms in those who already have the disorder.

In a small interventional study published last year, 14 patients with OSA switched from a standard American diet to a whole-food, plant-based diet for three weeks; at the end of the study, participants reported reductions in sleepiness that were comparable to those seen with the use of stimulant medications commonly prescribed for OSA. The study authors speculated that this may be because WFPB diets are very low in saturated fat, which is abundant in the standard American diet and has been associated with daytime sleepiness.

A 2021 study of more than 9,000 participants found that people who reported eating fruit at least once a day were 26% less likely to suffer from OSA than those who reported eating fruit just three times a week or less. This was after adjusting for body mass index and other confounding variables. A review published earlier this month looked at available research on plant-rich diets and sleep and concluded that “plant-rich diets, characterized by their high fiber content, melatonin precursors, isoflavones and positive effects on the gut microbiome, hold promise in improving sleep quality and addressing sleep-related disorders, including OSA and obesity-associated sleep disturbances.”

It’s estimated that 30 million Americans have OSA, but only 6 million have been officially diagnosed. People suffering from OSA typically wake up multiple times every hour throughout the night, but they’re roused so briefly that they often have no recollection of it later on. Snoring and daytime sleepiness are hallmarks of the disorder, though some people will experience no noticeable symptoms. OSA is most often diagnosed through polysomnography (sleep study).

To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer. For meal-planning support, check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path.

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The meta-analysis, led by Germany-based diabetes researchers and published in the November 2023 issue of BMC Medicine, analyzed data from 37 studies that included, collectively, more than 500,000 participants over an average of 19 years. The goal was to identify links between diet and cardiometabolic health outcomes.

After adjusting for calorie intake, alcohol use, smoking, and other factors, the researchers found that replacing one daily portion of processed meat with whole grains correlated with a 36% lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Swapping in nuts for the processed meat was associated with a 27% reduction in CVD risk, while legumes were associated with a 23% reduction.

While the biggest gains were seen when swapping out processed meat, the researchers found that eating whole plant foods in lieu of red meat, dairy, and eggs also appeared to confer benefits. For instance, replacing a single serving of eggs with whole grains was associated with a 21% reduction in Type 2 diabetes risk. Replacing that same serving of eggs with nuts, meanwhile, translated to a 17% reduction in CVD, an 18% reduction in Type 2 diabetes, and a 15% reduction in all-cause mortality.

“Our findings suggest that a shift in diet from a high consumption of animal-based foods, especially red and processed meat, to plant-based foods (e.g., nuts, legumes, and whole grains) is associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality, CVD, and T2D,” the authors concluded.

Every Portion Counts

The analysis adds to the growing body of evidence that even relatively modest shifts toward a healthy plant-based diet can pay dividends. A 2020 study found that eating just one additional daily serving of fruits and vegetables was associated with a 25% lower risk of Type 2 diabetes. Two 2021 studies found dose-response relationships between healthy plant-based dietary patterns and a reduction in CVD risk. Other studies have found the inverse to be true, as well, linking added servings of red and processed meat with incremental upticks in CVD and T2D risk.

To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer. For meal-planning support, check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path.

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