A recent study from University College Dublin sheds light on how different types of plant-based diets can significantly impact metabolic health. The research, which involved 170 healthy adults, differentiated between healthful and unhealthful plant-based diets using plant-based diet indexes (PDI).
The findings revealed that healthful plant-based diets are associated with lower Body Mass Index (BMI), lower fasting glucose levels, and higher levels of High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (HDL-C). Conversely, unhealthful plant-based diets were linked to higher BMI, higher fasting glucose, higher triacylglycerol levels, and lower HDL-C levels.
These results underscore the importance of the quality of plant-based foods in promoting metabolic health. The study highlights that not all plant-based foods confer the same benefits, emphasizing the need for careful dietary choices to optimize health outcomes. For more details, you can read the full article here.