ArticleFoods (Basel, Switzerland)2021
Impact of Plant-Based Meat Alternatives on the Gut Microbiota of Consumers: A Real-World Study.
Article in Foods (Basel, Switzerland), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 97 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mapping the evidence of novel plant-based foods: a systematic review of nutritional, health, and environmental impacts in high-income countries.Nutrition reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of Substituting Meats with Plant-Based Analogues on Health-Related Markers: A Systematic Review of Human Intervention Studies.Nutrients · 2024Pooled it
- Effect of Plant-Based Diets on Gut Microbiota: A Systematic Review of Interventional Studies.Nutrients · 2023Pooled it
- Increasing plant protein sources in the diet modulates gut microbiota and tryptophan metabolism in men at cardiometabolic risk.Gut microbes · 2026Trial
- Assessing the effects of alternative plant-based meatsJournal of nutritional science · 2022Trial
- Plant-based meat alternatives: understanding the benefits and trade-offs for human and environmental health.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Review
- Plant-based analogues to meat and dairy for sustainable food systems.The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society · 2026Review
- Gut microbiota pathways linking primary sclerosing cholangitis to colorectal cancer: theFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- The nutritional composition and impact on UK dietary intakes of meat and plant-based meat alternatives.NPJ science of food · 2025Article
- A Nutritional Evaluation of Plant-Based Meat and Sausage Analogues.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Food as Medicine for Hypertension: Microbiota as Mediators.Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979) · 2025Review
- Toward Nutritionally Sound Plant-Based Meat Analogues: Expert Consensus from a Delphi Study.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Vegetarianísh-How "Flexitarian" Eating Patterns Are Defined and Their Role in Global Food-Based Dietary Guidance.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Multiomics approach reveals the comprehensive interactions between nutrition and children's gut microbiota, and microbial and host metabolomes.Nutrition journal · 2025Article
- The Influence of Vegan, Vegetarian, and Omnivorous Diets on Protein Metabolism: A Role for the Gut-Muscle Axis?Nutrients · 2025Review
- Plant-Based Meat Alternatives on the Island of Ireland: Changes in the Market and Comparisons with Conventional Meat.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Plant-Based Burgers in the Spotlight: A Detailed Composition Evaluation and Comprehensive Discussion on Nutrient Adequacy.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Ultra-Processed Food and Gut Microbiota: Do Additives Affect Eubiosis? A Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2024Review
- Fast-Food Outlets in Hospitals Affiliated With U.S. Medical Schools.American journal of lifestyle medicine · 2024Article
- Impact of Novel Foods on the Human Gut Microbiome: Current Status.Microorganisms · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Eating less meat is increasingly seen as a healthier, more ethical option. This is leading to growing numbers of flexitarian consumers looking for plant-based meat alternatives (PBMAs) to replace at least some of the animal meat they consume. Popular PBMA products amongst flexitarians, including plant-based mince, burgers, sausages and meatballs, are often perceived as low-quality, ultra-processed foods. However, we argue that the mere industrial processing of ingredients of plant origin does not make a PBMA product ultra-processed by default. To test our hypothesis, we conducted a randomised controlled trial to assess the changes to the gut microbiota of a group of 20 participants who replaced several meat-containing meals per week with meals cooked with PBMA products and compared these changes to those experienced by a size-matched control. Stool samples were subjected to 16S rRNA sequencing. The resulting raw data was analysed in a compositionality-aware manner, using a range of innovative bioinformatic methods. Noteworthy changes included an increase in butyrate metabolising potential-chiefly in the 4-aminobutyrate/succinate and glutarate pathways-and in the joint abundance of butyrate-producing taxa in the intervention group compared to control. We also observed a decrease in the Tenericutes phylum in the intervention group and an increase in the control group. Based on our findings, we concluded that the occasional replacement of animal meat with PBMA products seen in flexitarian dietary patterns can promote positive changes in the gut microbiome of consumers.
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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.