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A new study has found that following a healthy plant-based diet could reduce the risk of cancer and cardiometabolic disease among middle-aged and older adults.
It focused specifically on whether plant-based dietary patterns can influence the likelihood of multimorbidity – two or more long-term health conditions – after developing an initial non-communicable disease (NCD), such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease.
Read More: Half Of US Adults Believe Plant-Based Diets Can Improve Health, Survey Finds
The research was funded by the South Korean Government’s Ministry of Science and ICT and published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity in August. Researchers from Austria’s University of Vienna and the Republic of Korea’s Kyung Hee University collaborated with France’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) for the project, which included a large-scale multinational study featuring 400,000 people aged 37 to 70 from six different European countries.
The researchers investigated participants’ dietary habits and disease trajectories and found that plant-based diets are associated with reduced multimorbidity risk. They also found that “higher adherence” to a nutritious plant-based diet – as opposed to a flexitarian diet – was associated with lower risks of a first disease of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes.
“This finding was consistent in adults younger than 60 years and those 60 years or older,” wrote the study authors. “Emphasising plant-based diets composed of healthy plant foods and small amounts of animal-based foods could be beneficial to reducing the burden of cancer and cardiometabolic multimorbidity among middle-aged and older adults.”
Read more: Nearly A Quarter Of Consumers Identify As ‘Meat Reducers’ Or Flexitarians
Plant-based diets and disease risk
Several recent studies have linked plant-based diets with a reduced risk of developing certain chronic health conditions and diseases, including cancer. An observational study, also published in August, suggested that eating plant-based foods may cut a person’s cancer risk by up to 25 percent in some cases.
Healthy plant-based diets are also thought to reduce the risk of death from cardiometabolic disorders, as well as the risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE).
In May, another study found that vegans were generally “more in line” with nutritional recommendations, most notably consuming more high-quality carbohydrates, more fiber, and less saturated fat – all areas that promote health – compared to typical omnivores.
