SynthesisPloS one2018
Cardiometabolic risk factors in vegans; A meta-analysis of observational studies.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
58 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Cardiovascular health and cancer risk associated with plant based diets: An umbrella review.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- The Role of Diet in the Prevention of Hypertension and Management of Blood Pressure: An Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses of Interventional and Observational Studies.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2024Pooled it
- Vegetarian Dietary Patterns and Cardiometabolic Risk in People With or at High Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JAMA network open · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of vegan diets on cardiometabolic health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of Plant-Based Diets on Weight Status in Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- Vegan Diet and the Gut Microbiota Composition in Healthy Adults.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- Vegan dietary pattern for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- The effects of plant-based diets on the body and the brain: a systematic review.Translational psychiatry · 2019Pooled it
- Change to a Plant-Based Diet Has No Effect on Strength Performance in Trained Persons in the First 8 Weeks-A 16-Week Controlled Pilot Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Trial
- Trial
- High plant protein intake decreases all-cause mortality in the "Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra" (SUN) cohort European journal of nutrition.European journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- Dietary Acid Load Across Vegans, Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarians, Fish-Eaters, and Meat-Eaters, and Its Association with Body Mass Index: A Secondary Analysis from an Italian Survey (The INVITA Study).Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The effect of a vegan diet with or without resistance exercise on thigh muscle volume in older adults. Research protocol of the Vold-study: a 12-week randomized controlled trial.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- Comparing diet-related attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors of vegan and omnivorous adults: results from a cross-sectional survey study in Germany.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Vegan and Plant-Based Diets in the Management of Metabolic Syndrome: A Narrative Review from Anti-Inflammatory and Antithrombotic Perspectives.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Plant-Based Diet Quality Is Associated with Cardiometabolic Health in Adults: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Australian Health Survey.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Impact ofFrontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- A Plant-Based Food Guide Adapted for Low-Fat Diets: The VegPlate Low-Fat (VP_LF).Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Dietary patterns among children and adolescents in Germany consuming vegetarian, vegan or omnivore diets: results of the VeChi Youth Study.European journal of nutrition · 2024Article
- The influence of a vegan diet on body composition, performance and the menstrual cycle in young, recreationally trained women- a 12-week controlled trial.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere is increasing evidence that plant based diets are associated with lower cardiovascular risk.
objectiveTo evaluate effects of a vegan compared to an omnivorous diet on cardio-metabolic risk factors.
methodsMeta-analysis of observational studies published between 1960 and June 2018 that reported one or more cardio-metabolic risk factors in vegans and controls eating an omnivorous diet were undertaken. Macro-nutrient intake and cardio-metabolic risk factors were compared by dietary pattern. The Newcastle Ottawa Scale (NOS) was used to assess the quality of each study. The inverse-variance method was used to pool mean differences. Statistical analyses were performed using RevMan software version 5•2 (The Nordic Cochrane Centre, The Cochrane Collaboration, Copenhagen.
results40 studies with 12 619 vegans and 179 630 omnivores were included. From food frequency questionnaires in 28 studies, vegans compared to omnivores consumed less energy (-11%, 95% confidence interval -14 to -8) and less saturated fat (- 51%, CI -57 to -45). Compared to controls vegans had a lower body mass index (-1.72 kg/m2, CI -2.30 to -1.16), waist circumference (-2.35 cm, CI -3.93 to -0.76), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (-0.49 mmol/L CI -0.62 to -0.36), triglycerides (-0.14 mmol/L, CI -0.24 to -0.05), fasting blood glucose (-0.23 mmol/, CI -0.35 to -0.10), and systolic (-2.56 mmHg, CI -4.66 to -0.45) and diastolic blood pressure (-1.33 mmHg, CI -2.67 to -0.02), p<0.0001 for all. Results were consistent for studies with < and ≥ 50 vegans, and published before and after 2010. However in several large studies from Taiwan a vegan diet was not associated with favourable cardio-metabolic risk factors compared to the control diets.
conclusionIn most countries a vegan diet is associated with a more favourable cardio- metabolic profile compared to an omnivorous diet.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.