Vegetarian diets, low-meat diets and health: A review

Claire T. McEvoy, Norman Temple, Jayne V. Woodside

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

215 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective To review the epidemiological evidence for vegetarian diets, low-meat dietary patterns and their association with health status in adults. Design Published literature review focusing primarily on prospective studies and meta-analyses examining the association between vegetarian diets and health outcomes. Results Both vegetarian diets and prudent diets allowing small amounts of red meat are associated with reduced risk of diseases, particularly CHD and type 2 diabetes. There is limited evidence of an association between vegetarian diets and cancer prevention. Evidence linking red meat intake, particularly processed meat, and increased risk of CHD, cancer and type 2 diabetes is convincing and provides indirect support for consumption of a plant-based diet. Conclusions The health benefits of vegetarian diets are not unique. Prudent plant-based dietary patterns which also allow small intakes of red meat, fish and dairy products have demonstrated significant improvements in health status as well. At this time an optimal dietary intake for health status is unknown. Plant-based diets contain a host of food and nutrients known to have independent health benefits. While vegetarian diets have not shown any adverse effects on health, restrictive and monotonous vegetarian diets may result in nutrient deficiencies with deleterious effects on health. For this reason, appropriate advice is important to ensure a vegetarian diet is nutritionally adequate especially for vulnerable groups.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2287-2294
Number of pages8
JournalPublic Health Nutrition
Volume15
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec. 2012

Keywords

  • Dietary patterns
  • Health
  • Meat
  • Vegetarian

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Vegetarian diets, low-meat diets and health: A review'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this