Plant‐Based Dietary Patterns and Parkinson's Disease: A Prospective Analysis of the UK Biobank

Abstract

BackgroundPlant‐based diets have been associated with a lower risk of several chronic diseases, but the relationship with PD is unknown.ObjectivesWe examined the association of three different plant‐based diets with PD incidence in the UK Biobank cohort.MethodsWe conducted a prospective study among 126,283 participants from the UK Biobank cohort. Three plant‐based diet indices (overall plant‐based diet index, PDI; healthful plant‐based diet index, hPDI; and unhealthful plant‐based diet index, uPDI) were derived from 24‐hour dietary recalls based on 17 food groups. Multivariable Cox regression models were used to estimate the risk of PD across quartiles of the PDIs and for each of the food groups that constituted the score. Further analyses were carried out to assess potential heterogeneity in associations between hPDI and PD across strata of some hypothesized effect modifiers.ResultsDuring 11.8 years of follow‐up (1,490,139 person‐years), 577 cases of PD incidence were reported. After multivariable adjustment, participants in the highest hPDI and overall PDI quartile had lower risk of PD (22% and 18%, respectively), whereas a higher uPDI was associated with a 38% higher PD risk. In food‐based analyses, higher intakes of vegetables, nuts, and tea were associated with a lower risk of PD (28%, 31% and 25%, respectively). Stratifying by Polygenic Risk Score (PRS), results were significant only for those with a lower PRS for PD.ConclusionsFollowing a healthful plant‐based diet and in particular the inclusion of readily achievable intakes of vegetables, nuts and tea in the habitual diet are associated with a lower risk of PD. © 2023 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

The Role of Diet in Parkinson’s Disease

“…Limited prior epidemiological studies have suggested lower rates of PD in societies mostly following vegetarian and vegan diets [29][30][31]. A recent UK biobank analysis found an association between a healthful plant-based diet and reduced PD risk (HR = 0.78 (95% CI: 0.61-0.99)), whereas an unhealthy plant-based diet was associated with a higher risk to develop PD (HR = 1.38 (95% CI: 1.08-1.74)) [32]. One recent trial of a 14-day ovo-lacto vegetarian diet in 16 patients with PD demonstrated significant improvements in UPDRS Part III scores [33].…”

Nourishing Neurons: Exploring the Role of Plant-Based Diets in Parkinson’s Disease Prevention

“…In a notable publication, the “Plant-Based Dietary Patterns and Parkinson’s Disease: A Prospective Analysis of the UK Biobank” large-scale prospective study attempted to analyze data from the UK Biobank to assess the impact of plant-based diets on the incidence of Parkinson’s disease [5]. The UK Biobank is a large-scale biomedical database and research initiative established to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of a wide range of diseases and conditions.…”