Plant-based milk alternatives (PBMA) has gained popularity in recent times due to their perceived superior nutritional values and its alignment with environmental and ethical concerns. However, it is ...important to recognize the nutrient deficiency in PBMA mainly vitamin B12, minerals, essential amino acids, and fatty acids, which can be a concern for individuals relying solely on PBMA. Nevertheless, the use of microorganisms presents an intriguing opportunity to address these limitations and enhance the nutritional profile of PBMA. Furthermore, this approach offers additional benefits in terms of gut health, promoting a more natural and holistic dietary experience. In this review, we will explore the potential of microorganisms in augmenting the nutritional values of a vegan diet. By examining the role of microorganisms in fortifying plant-based milk with essential nutrients, this review aims to provide consumers with valuable insights to make informed decisions, particularly those who adhere strictly to veganism as a way of life.
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•Higher bioavailability of nutrients in plant-based milk (PBM) through fermentation.•Fermentation maximizes the removal of anti-nutritional factors in PBM.•P. freudenreichii and Lb. reuteri, can supplement vitamin B12 in fermented PBM.•Bifidobacterium and S. thermophilus enhance bioactivity of fatty acids in PBM.
Abstract
Context
The obesity epidemic is a main driver of the chronic disease epidemic; however, present treatment approaches have suboptimal efficacy.
Objectives
To assess the efficacy of ...plant-predominant (vegan, vegetarian, plant-based whole foods PBWFs) diets in treating obesity and its main cardiometabolic sequelae: hyperlipidemia (HLD); indices of insulin resistance, glycemic control, and diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2); and cardiovascular disease (CVD), including hypertension (HTN).
Data Sources
A systematic search of multiple databases was conducted for articles published between November 2019 and February 2020; databases searched included: PubMed, Medline (Ovid), Cochrane, CENTRAL, and CINAHL.
Data Extraction and Analysis
All interventional trials (randomized controlled trials RCTs and trials of non-randomized experimental design) that met the inclusion criteria (English language, duration of at least 4 weeks, primary end point congruent with above objectives, no major flaws in research design that would prevent interpretation) were included in the review. A total of 3135 articles were scanned and 84 were selected. The articles were collated and summarized in 2 evidence tables. Risk of bias for RCTs was assessed using the Cochrane Risk-of-Bias tool 2 as a guide. For non-randomized trials, higher risk of bias was assumed, and the JBI Critical Appraisal tool was used as a guide to determine inclusion.
Results
Plant-based diets, in general, demonstrated improved weight control and cardiometabolic outcomes related to lipids, cardiovascular end points, blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, A1C, and fasting glucose, and a lower risk of diabetes compared with usual diets and in some cases standard health-oriented diets such as the American Heart Association (AHA), American Diabetic Association (ADA), and Mediterranean diets. Preliminary studies suggest plant-predominant diets practiced as part of healthy lifestyle interventions may stabilize or even reverse DM 2 and CVD. The acceptability and sustainability of plant-predominant diets where measured were generally similar to other health-oriented diets.
Conclusion
Plant-predominant diets can play a major role in reversing the obesity and chronic disease epidemics. In the setting of sustained lifestyle intervention programs, they may arrest or even reverse DM2 and CVD. Further higher-level RCTs are needed to confirm and expand on these findings.
Obesity and diabetes have reached epidemic proportions. Evidence suggests that besides dietary habits and physical activity, other environmental factors, such as gut microbes, are recognized as ...additional partners implicated in the control of energy homeostasis. Studies on the human gut microbiota have shown that the general population can be stratified on the sole basis of three dominant bacteria (i.e., the concept of enterotypes), while some others have suggested categorizing the population according to their microbiome gene richness. Both aspects have been strengthened by recent studies investigating the impact of nutrients (e.g., dietary fibers, fat feeding) and dietary habits (i.e., vegans versus omnivores) of different populations. Using preclinical models, quite a few novel mechanisms have been proposed in these gut microbiota–host interactions, including the role of novel bacteria, the regulation of antimicrobial peptide production, the maintenance of the gut barrier function and intestinal innate immunity. In this review, we discuss several of the aforementioned aspects. Nonetheless, determining the overall mechanisms by which microbes dialogue with host cells will require further investigations before anticipating the development of next‐generation nutritional interventions using prebiotics, probiotics, synbiotics, or even specific nutrients for promoting health benefits.
Summary
In parallel with an increased focus on climate changes and carbon footprint, the interest in plant‐based diets and its potential health effects have increased over the past decade. The ...objective of this systematic review and meta‐analysis was to examine the effect of vegan diets (≥12 weeks) on cardiometabolic risk factors in people with overweight or type 2 diabetes. We identified 11 trials (796 participants). In comparison with control diets, vegan diets reduced body weight (−4.1 kg, 95% confidence interval (CI) −5.9 to −2.4, p < 0.001), body mass index (BMI) (−1.38 kg/m2, 95% CI −1.96 to −0.80, p < 0.001), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (−0.18% points, 95% CI −0.29 to −0.07, p = 0.002), total cholesterol (−0.30 mmol/L, 95% CI −0.52 to −0.08, p = 0.007), and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (−0.24 mmol/L, 95% CI −0.40 to −0.07, p = 0.005). We identified no effect on blood pressure, high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides. We found that adhering to vegan diets for at least 12 weeks may be effective in individuals with overweight or type 2 diabetes to induce a meaningful decrease in body weight and improve glycemia. Some of this effect may be contributed to differences in the macronutrient composition and energy intake in the vegan versus control diets. Therefore, more research is needed regarding vegan diets and cardiometabolic health.
Resumen Objetivo: determinar la asociación entre la dieta vegana y la autopercepción del estado periodontal en una población vegana de Lima Metropolitana, Perú. Materiales y métodos: un total de 240 ...personas (120 veganas y 120 no veganas) fueron encuestadas en este estudio durante los meses de agosto a diciembre del año 2020 de manera virtual. Para evaluar la autopercepción del estado periodontal y los hábitos de higiene oral se utilizó el autorreporte de enfermedad periodontal, que se encuentra validado con una alfa de Cronbach de 0,77. Además se registraron otras variables como la edad, el sexo, el nivel socioeconómico, el grado de estudio y el consumo de tabaco. Se utilizó la regresión de Poisson con estimador robusto de la varianza para la asociación de las variables y se reportaron razones de prevalencia en un modelo crudo y ajustado. El nivel de confianza fue del 95 % y el de significancia fue de p < 0,05. Resultados y conclusiones: se encontró asociación estadísticamente significativa entre la apariencia de encías rojizas y/o hinchadas (RP = 0,67; IC 95 %: 0,25-0,54) y la mala percepción del estado de las encías (RP = 0,43; IC 95 %: 0,33-0,56) con la dieta vegana. Por último, para la dimensión del sangrado de encías durante el cepillado no se observaron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre las personas veganas y las no veganas.
Background
The number of individuals following a vegetarian diet has increased in the last 50 years. Although the causal connection between orthorexic behaviors and vegetarianism remains widely ...assumed, evidence in support of this assumption has been largely inconsistent.
Objective
The purpose of the study was to conduct a review of the relationship between vegetarian diet and orthorexic eating behavior and to give future directions in this area.
Methods
A search of the literature within PubMed/Medline was conducted. The search terms were “orthorexia”, “orthorexic”, “orthorexia and vegetarian”, “orthorexia and vegan” and “orthorexia and vegetarianism”. Out of 117 journal articles, 14 met the predefined inclusion criteria and were analyzed.
Results
The results demonstrated that following a vegetarian diet was found to be related to orthorexic eating behaviors (in 11 out of 14 studies).
Conclusion
Further longitudinal research is needed to investigate whether following a vegetarian diet serves as a risk factor in the development of orthorexia nervosa.
Level of evidence
Level V, narrative review.
A plant-based eating pattern is associated with a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes and is highly effective in its treatment. Diets that emphasize whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and ...legumes and exclude animal products improve blood glucose concentrations, body weight, plasma lipid concentrations, and blood pressure and play an important role in reducing the risk of cardiovascular and microvascular complications. This article reviews scientific evidence on the effects of plant-based diets for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes. The mechanisms by which plant-based diets improve body weight, insulin sensitivity, and β-cell function are described. Practical considerations including education, nutrition adequacy, and adjusting medications will enhance the success of patients who have diabetes.
This article examines the evidence on plant-based nutrition for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes, mechanisms, and considerations when recommending such diets.
Sportsmen may choose to include vegetarian diet in their dietary regime for a variety of ways like its beneficial health impact, due to religious restrictions or to protect animals for environmental ...integrity. These diets are loaded with a wide variety of phytochemicals with superior health benefits safeguarding against chronic diseases. Besides their role in health management these foods also play a key role in enhancing different sports performances owing to contained with instant energy providing carbohydrates that are crucial for competitive sports performance. Furthermore, they are also richly enriched with antioxidants that are essential for high-end sports performance. However, few vegetarian diets are the source of anti-nutritional entities like high fiber content, chelating agents, phytates, and tannic acid. These interfere with the bio-availability of crucial dietary components like iron, zinc, proteins. Therefore, a sound nutritional approach is required while planning plant-based dietary regimes for sports performance. This review will systematically focus on the impact of vegetarian diets on sports performance in the light of currently available research findings in this field to provide a guiding hand to sports specialists and nutritional experts in planning the vegetarian dietary plans for optimizing the sports performance. In addition, this review explains the bio-availability and enhancement strategies of different vegetarian diet-based nutrients through different energy metabolism pathways.
The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions embodied in 61 different categories of food are used, with information on the diet of different groups of the population (omnivorous, vegetarian and vegan), to ...calculate the embodied GHG emissions in different dietary scenarios. We calculate that the embodied GHG content of the current UK food supply is 7.4kg CO2eperson−1day−1, or 2.7tCO2eperson−1y−1. This gives total food-related GHG emissions of 167MtCO2e (1Mt=106 metric tonnes; CO2e being the mass of CO2 that would have the same global warming potential, when measured over 100 years, as a given mixture of greenhouse gases) for the entire UK population in 2009. This is 27% of total direct GHG emissions in the UK, or 19% of total GHG emissions from the UK, including those embodied in goods produced abroad. We calculate that potential GHG savings of 22% and 26% can be made by changing from the current UK-average diet to a vegetarian or vegan diet, respectively. Taking the average GHG saving from six vegetarian or vegan dietary scenarios compared with the current UK-average diet gives a potential national GHG saving of 40MtCO2ey−1. This is equivalent to a 50% reduction in current exhaust pipe emissions from the entire UK passenger car fleet. Hence realistic choices about diet can make substantial differences to embodied GHG emissions.
► We calculate the greenhouse gas emissions embodied in different diets. ► The embodied GHG content of the current UK food supply is 7.4kgCO2eperson−1day−1. ► Changing to a vegetarian or vegan diet reduces GHG emissions by 22–26%. ► Changing to a vegetarian or vegan diet would reduce UK GHG emissions by 40MtCO2ey−1.
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