10 hours ago
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1142620
EXCERPT: The review synthesizes evidence across five areas where plant-based diets are most often flagged as “nutrients of concern”:
Iron. Vegans and vegetarians rely on less efficiently absorbed non-heme iron, but longer-term studies show the gut compensates by absorbing a greater fraction of it, partly explained by lower circulating hepcidin, the hormone that gates iron absorption. Total iron intake among vegetarians and vegans is also often as high as, or higher than, that of omnivores, since staple plant foods such as legumes, whole grains, and fortified cereals are iron-dense.
Creatine and carnosine. These compounds, found almost exclusively in animal foods, are also made by the body from amino acid precursors. Vegetarians run lower baseline muscle stores but generally maintain normal function and respond more robustly to creatine supplementation when it's used, evidence the authors say reflects lower baseline saturation rather than deficiency.
Protein. Well-planned plant-based diets that meet total protein recommendations preserve lean mass and strength comparably to omnivorous diets in controlled trials.
Fermentable fiber. Early bloating and gas from a higher-fiber diet typically ease over weeks as gut bacteria shift toward taxa that ferment complex carbohydrates more efficiently, a pattern documented since early controlled feeding studies of legume consumption.
Polyphenols. Gut bacteria convert plant compounds, from soy isoflavones to walnut ellagitannins, into more bioactive metabolites; long-term vegans show markedly higher levels of several of these microbial byproducts than people eating a standard omnivorous diet.
The authors are careful to note that adaptation has limits. Pregnancy, chronic inflammation, inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, and severe or prolonged dietary insufficiency can all outpace the body's regulatory capacity, which is why the review calls for individualized counseling rather than either blanket reassurance or blanket concern.
“This isn't an argument that nutrient composition doesn't matter, it clearly does, especially for patients whose adaptive capacity is already stretched thin,” Dr. Kahleova said. “It's an argument for asking a better clinical question: not just what is this person eating, but how long have they been eating this way, and does their physiology show signs of having adapted? In my own randomized trial of a fiber-rich, plant-based diet in adults with type 1 diabetes, we saw insulin requirements fall in ways that track with exactly this kind of adaptive, whole-body response rather than a simple nutrient swap. That's the kind of clinical population where testing the limits of adaptation matters most, and where I think this framework will do the most good.” (MORE - missing details, no ads)
PAPER: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology15171520
EXCERPT: The review synthesizes evidence across five areas where plant-based diets are most often flagged as “nutrients of concern”:
Iron. Vegans and vegetarians rely on less efficiently absorbed non-heme iron, but longer-term studies show the gut compensates by absorbing a greater fraction of it, partly explained by lower circulating hepcidin, the hormone that gates iron absorption. Total iron intake among vegetarians and vegans is also often as high as, or higher than, that of omnivores, since staple plant foods such as legumes, whole grains, and fortified cereals are iron-dense.
Creatine and carnosine. These compounds, found almost exclusively in animal foods, are also made by the body from amino acid precursors. Vegetarians run lower baseline muscle stores but generally maintain normal function and respond more robustly to creatine supplementation when it's used, evidence the authors say reflects lower baseline saturation rather than deficiency.
Protein. Well-planned plant-based diets that meet total protein recommendations preserve lean mass and strength comparably to omnivorous diets in controlled trials.
Fermentable fiber. Early bloating and gas from a higher-fiber diet typically ease over weeks as gut bacteria shift toward taxa that ferment complex carbohydrates more efficiently, a pattern documented since early controlled feeding studies of legume consumption.
Polyphenols. Gut bacteria convert plant compounds, from soy isoflavones to walnut ellagitannins, into more bioactive metabolites; long-term vegans show markedly higher levels of several of these microbial byproducts than people eating a standard omnivorous diet.
The authors are careful to note that adaptation has limits. Pregnancy, chronic inflammation, inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, and severe or prolonged dietary insufficiency can all outpace the body's regulatory capacity, which is why the review calls for individualized counseling rather than either blanket reassurance or blanket concern.
“This isn't an argument that nutrient composition doesn't matter, it clearly does, especially for patients whose adaptive capacity is already stretched thin,” Dr. Kahleova said. “It's an argument for asking a better clinical question: not just what is this person eating, but how long have they been eating this way, and does their physiology show signs of having adapted? In my own randomized trial of a fiber-rich, plant-based diet in adults with type 1 diabetes, we saw insulin requirements fall in ways that track with exactly this kind of adaptive, whole-body response rather than a simple nutrient swap. That's the kind of clinical population where testing the limits of adaptation matters most, and where I think this framework will do the most good.” (MORE - missing details, no ads)
PAPER: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology15171520