Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41763012›Full record

SynthesisThe journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease2026

Associations between plant-based dietary patterns and risks of cognitive impairment and dementia: A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.

Jui-Hsiu Tsai, Tou-Yuan Tsai, Hua Li, Cheng-Yu Wang, Yu-Kang Tu, Huei-Kai Huang, Hsin Ma, Yu-Lin Hsieh, Chuan-Sheng Hung, Shih-Chieh Shao and 3 more

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Jui-Hsiu TsaiDepartment of Psychiatry, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan; School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
Tou-Yuan TsaiSchool of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan; Emergency Department, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan; Center for Health Data & Advanced Translational Analytics, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan; Department of Medical Education, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan; Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Hua LiEmergency Department, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan; Center for Health Data & Advanced Translational Analytics, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan.
Cheng-Yu WangFamily Medicine Department, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan.
Yu-Kang TuInstitute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Institute of Health Data Analytics and Statistics, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Health Data Research Center, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Huei-Kai HuangSchool of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan; Department of Family Medicine, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien, Taiwan; Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien, Taiwan.
Hsin MaInstitute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Yu-Lin HsiehDepartment of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Chuan-Sheng HungDepartment of Computer Science and Engineering, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Shih-Chieh ShaoSchool of Pharmacy, Institute of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
Eric H ChouDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center, Fort Worth, TX, USA.
Chin-Lon LinSchool of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan; Department of Cardiology, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan.
Ming-Nan LinSchool of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan; Family Medicine Department, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan. Electronic address: mingnan.lin@gmail.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEvidence remains inconclusive regarding plant-based diets preventing cognitive impairment and dementia, as certain plant-based foods, including refined carbohydrates, sweets, sugar-sweetened beverages, and trans fats, may increase dementia risk.

objectivesTo quantitatively synthesize prospective cohort studies on associations between adherence to plant-based diets and the risks of cognitive impairment and dementia.

designSystematic review and meta-analysis. This study adhered to the PRISMA guidelines and was registered on PROSPERO (No: CRD42024501334).

settingStudies published until December 2025 were systematically identified using AgeLine, CINAHL, Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science.

participantsThe study population comprised adults aged ≥ 20 years with no cognitive impairment at baseline.

interventionStudies were enrolled if the participants (1) assessed dietary patterns characterized by higher plant-based food consumption and decreased or ceased consumption of animal-based foods or (2) used established dietary indices, including overall plant-based diet index (PDI), healthful plant-based diet index (hPDI), and unhealthful plant-based diet index (uPDI). MEASUREMENTS: Data extraction, risk of bias assessment, and the GRADE approach for assessing certainty of evidence were performed independently by three reviewers. A random-effects model with restricted maximum likelihood was used to calculate pooled risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals. The dose-response meta-analysis used two-stage dose-response regression.

resultsThe meta-analysis based on seven studies (number of participants: 221,380; number of cases of incident cognitive impairment and dementia: 5668) indicated that participants with greater adherence to plant-based diets had significantly lower risks of cognitive impairment and dementia (pooled risk ratio, 0.74; 95% confidence interval, 0.56-0.97; I

conclusionsThis meta-analysis suggests that adherence to plant-based diets, particularly those rich in healthful plant foods, may be associated with a lower risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. However, given the residual heterogeneity and the inherent limitations of observational study designs, large randomised controlled trials are warranted to establish causality.

Indexed as

Cognitive DysfunctionDementiaDiet, VegetarianDiet, Plant-BasedHumansRisk FactorsCognitive impairmentDementiaMeta-analysisPlant-based dietSystematic review

Identifiers

PMID41763012
PMCPMC12964011

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Registered trials

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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.