A recent French study found that following a plant-based diet may be the key to protecting heart health, but with specific conditions, namely nutritional quality and degree of industrial processing.
A research team from the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRAE), the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) and the French Sorbonne University revealed that the real benefit of plant foods is only achieved when they are high in nutritional value and low in processing, while ultra-processed foods lose their health value regardless of their plant origin.
The study – published in the Lancet Regional Health journal – relied on an analysis of data from 63,835 adults, who were followed for an average period of 9.1 years, with some participants followed for up to 15 years. Through detailed questionnaires about the diet, the researchers evaluated not only the ratio of plant to animal foods, but also included their nutritional quality in terms of the content of fat, sugar, salt, antioxidant vitamins, and the degree of industrial processing.
The results revealed significant differences in the rates of cardiovascular disease between different plant-based diets, as the risk of developing these diseases decreased by 40% in adults who relied on high-quality, low-processed plant foods, such as vegetables, fresh fruits, legumes, and unprocessed whole grains.
In contrast, no reduction in risk was observed in people who ate ultra-processed plant foods, even if they were of high nutritional quality, such as brown bread, ready-made soups, ready-made dishes, and commercially prepared salads.
The riskiest was in a diet based on low-quality, ultra-processed plant foods, such as potato chips, sweetened drinks, sweets and sugary breakfast cereals, where the risk of cardiovascular disease was 40% higher than those who consumed fresh, minimally processed plant foods.
These results show that focusing on simply increasing the amount of plant foods in the diet is not enough to improve health, but rather attention must be paid to the quality and degree of processing of these foods. The study also supports public health policies that encourage the choice of high-quality fresh, frozen or canned plant foods without harmful additives, while reducing the consumption of ultra-processed foods even if they are of plant origin.