Lower risk of diabetes to bone fractures: What are the benefits and drawbacks of being vegetarian?
Vegetarian and vegan diets are associated with both health benefits and risks, which is why it’s important for people thinking of eating plant-based foods to pay attention to balancing their meals, a group of experts has said in two new reports.
Experts from France’s Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (Anses) said there’s moderate evidence that suggests vegetarian diets are linked to a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared with non-vegetarian diets.
There’s also some weaker evidence that vegetarian diets could lead to a reduced risk of heart disease, ovulation disorders, certain cancers, eye problems, and gastrointestinal issues.
Some more tenuous evidence suggests, however, that plant-based diets could lead to a higher risk of bone fractures or congenital urethral malformations – though some experts posit there is not enough information on the possible link.
The two new reports – which include a wide-ranging scientific literature review and dietary recommendations – are the result of five years of work for Anses experts who said that vegetarian diets are becoming more popular in France.
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“We know that it's a diet that is increasingly popular [so] Anses first carried out a systematic review of published studies to identify the link between vegetarian diets and health and established dietary benchmarks to enable vegetarians to optimise their nutritional intake,” Perrine Nadaud, deputy head of the French agency’s nutritional risk assessment unit, told Euronews Health.
‘Less favourable’ levels of vitamins
The scientific literature review included 131 studies on vegetarian diets’ impact on health, while the dietary recommendations were created with an optimisation tool that considers nutrition, possible food contamination, and eating habits.
For associations based on weaker evidence, Nadaud said the experts were still able to come to a determination, but that “new studies published in the future could make us adjust this conclusion a bit”.
The review also found that vegetarians had “less favourable” levels of iron, iodine, vitamins B12 and D, and calcium-phosphate balance compared to non-vegetarians, with vegans also having a “less favourable nutritional status for vitamin B2”.
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Not getting enough of some of these vitamins, for instance, could put someone at a higher risk of bone fractures.
The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) says that with “good planning and an understanding of what makes up a healthy, balanced vegan diet, you can get all the nutrients your body needs”.
But they warn that without proper planning, vegans could miss out on “essential nutrients”.
Vegetarianism in France
An IFOP survey in 2021 found that the vegetarian population in France remained “marginal” at around 2.2 per cent, but at least 8 per cent of people were attempting to limit how much meat they consumed. It noted that meat is part of the country’s culinary culture.
Some of the main reasons those surveyed had for limiting their meat consumption include concern for animals and the impact of eating meat on the environment.
A study published in the journal Nature in 2023 found that eating less meat reduced a person’s environmental impact on greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use, and biodiversity.
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What should vegetarians or vegans be sure to eat?
As part of its dietary recommendations, the French agency says that vegetarians and vegans should consume fruits, vegetables, legumes such as lentils, starchy carbohydrates or bread, nuts and seeds, brewer’s yeast, dairy products, or a fortified vegan equivalent every day.
They noted that vegetarians can have a hard time meeting nutritional needs for certain Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D, and for vegans, it can be difficult to meet these needs for vitamin B12 and zinc in men.
“This is why we are developing these dietary guidelines: to help vegetarians improve their diets,” said Nadaud.
