Plant Based Diets Are The Best… Or Are They?

People choose a vegetarian or Plant Based diet for a number of reasons. Sometimes it’s for the sake of the way animals are treated or the environment. But it is also common to choose a plant-based diet because it is considered to be healthier.

And that’s for good reason. Research over many years has linked plant-based diets to lower rates of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers (compared to diets high in meat and other animal products. ). Dietary guidelines and recommendations from nutrition experts reflect this, encouraging the adoption of diets (such as the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet) that are high in fruits and vegetables and limit the consumption of red meat.

Popular herbal diets include

• a vegetarian diet, which does not include meat
• a vegan diet, a type of vegetarian diet that excludes not only meat, but also animal products, such as milk or eggs
• a pescatarian diet, which is largely vegetarian but also includes seafood.
• Plant-based diets carry some risk of insufficient intake of protein, vitamins and minerals. But these risks are easily overcome by choosing the right vegetarian foods and, if necessary, supplements. For example, soy, quinoa, and nuts are good sources of protein, and tofu, lentils, and spinach are good sources of iron.

But a new study, published in the medical journal The BMJ, raises the possibility that despite the health benefits demonstrated by previous research, plant-based diets could pose a previously unrecognized health risk.

Vegetarians and vegans may have an increased risk of stroke
Researchers in the UK have analyzed the risk of stroke and other health problems over two decades in nearly 50,000 people based on the diets they were on. Types of stroke were also analyzed, including cerebral hemorrhages (hemorrhagic stroke) and strokes without bleeding (ischemic stroke). Compared to meat eaters:

rates of heart disease (such as angina or heart attack) were 13% lower in pescatarians
– heart disease rates were 22% lower among vegetarians
– stroke rates were 20% higher in vegetarians. However, the overall risk was low, equal to three additional cases per 1,000 people over 10 years.
– the higher risk of stroke in vegetarians was mainly due to hemorrhagic stroke
– the increased risk of stroke has not been observed in pescatarians.

If confirmed, these results will complicate the way we look at plant-based diets. Are there any serious and underrated drawbacks to these diets that should make us think twice before choosing them? Or is the increased risk of stroke more than outweighed by the heart and other health benefits?