ReviewDiabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy2020
Effects of Plant-Based Diets on Weight Status: A Systematic Review.
Review in Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers, 9 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
51 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Health Effects of Plant-Based Diets in People with Overweight or Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2026Pooled it
- Associations between plant-based dietary patterns and risks of cognitive impairment and dementia: A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease · 2026Pooled it
- Vegan diet and nutritional status in infants, children and adolescents: A position paper based on a systematic search by the ESPGHAN Nutrition Committee.Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Vegetarian Diet and Dietary Intake, Health, and Nutritional Status in Infants, Children, and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- Are Plant-Based Diets Detrimental to Muscular Strength? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Sports medicine - open · 2025Pooled it
- Prevention of Obesity among Adults: Evidence- and Consensus-Based Guideline.Obesity facts · 2025Guideline
- Cardiovascular health and cancer risk associated with plant based diets: An umbrella review.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Vegetarian diets on anthropometric, metabolic and blood pressure outcomes in people with overweight and obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2023Pooled it
- Associations Between Ultra-Processed Food (UPF) Consumption and Weight Change and Obesity Risk Among Consumers of Plant-Based Diets: A Systematic Review.Journal of the American Nutrition AssociationPooled it
- Trial
- Cardiometabolic Effects of Omnivorous vs Vegan Diets in Identical Twins: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2023Trial
- The association of plant or animal food origin and processing level with BMI and waist circumference: a prospective cohort study of the UK Biobank.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
- Plant-based diet quality, fat mass, and cardiovascular disease: A mediation analysis of mid-aged adults in the UK Biobank.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Article
- Plant-based caloric restriction diets versus conventional calorie-restricted diets for weight loss and metabolic health in obese adults: a 12-week randomized, open-label, non-inferiority trial.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Dietary Fiber Intake and Weight Status in Young Austrian Adults.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Vegan and vegetarian males and females have higher orthorexic traits than omnivores, and are motivated in their food choice by factors including ethics and weight control.Nutrition and health · 2025Article
- Plant-based diet, inflammation biomarkers and body composition among women with breast cancer: the Pathways Study.The British journal of nutrition · 2025Article
- Overweight and obesity among adolescents in Saudi Arabia: a multi-school cross-sectional study.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Plant-Based vs. Animal-Based Diets: Appetitive Traits and Dietary Patterns in Adults Based on Cross-Sectional Surveys.Nutrients · 2025Article
- The VEGPREV study: effectiveness of four plant-based diets on weight loss, metabolic syndrome components and appetitive traits in overweight and obese individuals: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
There is an increasing number of people who convert to a plant-based diet. The desire for health benefits, including weight management, is often a contributing factor behind this dietary choice. The purpose of this review was to evaluate intervention studies assessing the effects of different plant-based diets on body mass index and weight. A literature search was conducted in PubMed until December 2019. Twenty-two publications from 19 studies were included. The majority of them were randomized controlled trials comparing a low-fat vegan diet to an omnivore diet in participants with overweight, type 2 diabetes mellitus and/or cardiovascular disease. All studies reported weight reductions, of which seven revealed significant differences, and four revealed non-significant differences between the intervention and the control groups. The results suggest that plant-based diets may improve weight status in some patient groups. Due to restrictions in fat intake in many studies, followed by reduced energy intake, the effects of the different interventions differ depending on the specific plant-based diets investigated. Future research should aim to include a representative study population and apply study diets without dietary restrictions.
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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.