Plant-Based Diets in the Reduction of Body Fat: Physiological Effects and Biochemical Insights

Najjar, Rami; Feresin, Rafaela

doi:10.3390/nu11112712

Cited by 68 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 149 publications

(167 reference statements)

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“…Vegan diet advice mechanism/s of action is/are unclear, but a complex interplay between avoiding offending meat byproducts and increasing vegetable antioxidants compounds is speculated [33,34]. Alternatively, beneficial modulation of the gut microbiota due to the increased assumption of fermentable fibers might be as relevant on improving liver enzymes [35,36]. Compliance to such a restrictive diet might be a prescription limitation as well as long term efficacy of vegan diet advice on liver function and histology.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegan Diet Advice Might Benefit Liver Enzymes in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: an Open Observational Pilot Study

Chiarioni

Popa

Dalbeni³

et al. 2021

JGLD

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Background and Aims: The Western diet is rich in saturated fats, refined sugars and meat consistent with a high-energy load and secondary risk of increased metabolic diseases including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, no data are available on potential benefit of vegan diets in NAFLD and/or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). We aimed to study prospectively the effect of a vegan diet, excluding all animal products on liver chemistry in a group of consecutive NAFLD patients. Methods: This was a prospective, pilot study run on 40 consecutive patients affected by NAFLD. Eight subjects refused to join the study for poor diet palatability, leaving 32 patients (19 males, mean age 50 years), with abnormal measures of liver function who agreed to adhere to a vegan diet for six months. The caloric intake was tailored by the dietitian to obtain a weight loss ≥5% of body weight in overweight patients [body-mass index (BMI) ≥25] and ranged from 1500 Kcal to 1800 Kcal. Patients were contacted monthly by phone to reinforce diet and lifestyle advice and were seen at the gastrointestinal clinic when doubtful about diet advice. Results: At six-month follow-up, 6 subjects did not attend the clinic leaving only 26 patients for data analysis. Initial anthropometric values were mean weight 78 kg (range 52-95), mean body mass index (BMI) 26.8 Kg/m2 (range 20.3-31.2). Liver function tests showed mean ALT value 99 U/L (SD±45), mean AST value 54 U/L (SD±44), mean GGT value 160 U/L (SD±122), pre-treatment. After six months mean body weight was 73 Kg (range 52-87), mean BMI was 25.2 Kg/m2 (range 20.3-29.7) (p<0.001 compared to baseline for both parameters). Liver enzymes improved to a mean of ALT value 36 U/L (SD±21), AST value 27 U/L (SD±10) and GGT value 55 U/L (SD±57), respectively (p<0.001 compared to baseline for all enzymes). Normalization of liver function tests as a whole was observed in 20/26 patients (76.9%). A loss of ≥ 5% of body weight was observed in 12 patients (46.1%), but it did not correlate with the normalization of liver function tests (p=0.5). Conclusions: Our data provide preliminary evidence of improved liver enzymes in NAFLD patients with a strict vegan diet and although our study sample is limited, decreased body weight did not seem critical to the outcome.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegan Diet Advice Might Benefit Liver Enzymes in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: an Open Observational Pilot Study

Chiarioni

Popa

Dalbeni³

et al. 2021

JGLD

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“…Plants have lower essential amino-acid content such as leucine, isoleucine and valine, lysine and methionine compared to animal sources of protein and are less digestible compared to animals, so the final amount of amino-acid extracted for anabolic use is lower [ 33 ]. However, combining legumes and cereals for instance can counter these limitations and avoid amino-acid imbalance [ 34 ], and plant-based diets actually reduce body weight and body fat, which is interesting to treat obesity [ 35 ]. In favor of whether plant-based diets benefit obese patients, Navas-Carretero and colleagues exploited the Food4Me study [ 36 ].…”

Section: Using Proteins To Treat Obesitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Protein, amino acids and obesity treatment

Simonson

Boirie‌

Guillet

2020

Rev Endocr Metab Disord

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Dietary proteins have been used for years to treat obesity. Body weight loss is beneficial when it concerns fat mass, but loss of fat free massespecially muscle might be detrimental. This occurs because protein breakdown predominates over synthesis, thus administering anabolic dietary compounds like proteins might counter fat free mass loss while allowing for fat mass loss. Indeed, varying the quantity of proteins will decrease muscle anabolic response and increase hyperphagia in rodents fed a low protein diet; but it will favor lean mass maintenance and promote satiety, in certain age groups of humans fed a high protein diet. Beyond protein quantity, protein source is an important metabolic regulator: whey protein and plant based diets exercize favorable effects on the risk of developing obesity, body composition, metabolic parameters or fat free mass preservation of obese patients. Specific amino-acids like branched chain amino acids (BCAA), methionine, tryptophan and its metabolites, and glutamate can also positively influence parameters and complications of obesity especially in rodent models, with less studies translating this in humans. Tuning the quality and quantity of proteins or even specific amino-acids can thus be seen as a potential therapeutic intervention on the body composition, metabolic syndrome parameters and appetite regulation of obese patients. Since these effects vary across age groups and much of the data comes from murine models, long-term prospective studies modulating proteins and amino acids in the human diet are needed.

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“…40 Plant-based diets are usually low in fats, particularly saturated fats, 40 as a natural consequence of the elimination of animal products. 41 Consequently, these diets are less energy dense than omnivore diets. 21,23 Furthermore, higher intakes of fiber tend to result in increased satiety, reduced hunger, and therefore reduced intakes of energy.…”

Section: Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, beneficial effects of plant-based diets with a higher intake of plant-based proteins and a lower intake of animal proteins are suggested to include mechanisms related to improved gut-microbiota composition, reduced trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) levels and improved insulin sensitivity. 41…”

Section: Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

<p>Effects of Plant-Based Diets on Weight Status: A Systematic Review</p>

Tran

Dale

Jensen

et al. 2020

DMSO

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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 plantbased diets investigated. Future research should aim to include a representative study population and apply study diets without dietary restrictions.

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Plant-Based Diets in the Reduction of Body Fat: Physiological Effects and Biochemical Insights

Cited by 68 publications

References 149 publications

Vegan Diet Advice Might Benefit Liver Enzymes in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: an Open Observational Pilot Study

Vegan Diet Advice Might Benefit Liver Enzymes in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: an Open Observational Pilot Study

Protein, amino acids and obesity treatment

<p>Effects of Plant-Based Diets on Weight Status: A Systematic Review</p>

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