What Science Says About the Health Benefits of Plant-Based Diets

Whether to eat meat or not can be a very personal decision. The choice is often tied to our beliefs about humans’ relationship with animals, as well as to our upbringing, values and identity.There are multiple reasons that someone might decide to reduce their meat consumption or ditch it from their diets completely. And over the last decade, there’s been a growing trend of people going meatless all the time, or just sometimes, for their health. It’s a shift that raises some important questions: Is a diet without meat truly better for you? And, if so, what is it about plant-based diets that our bodies love?The answer isn’t as simple as saying meat is bad and plants are good.What is a Plant-Based Diet?Plant-based diets come in many stripes. And though the diet plans that completely omit meat probably get the most attention, they’re relatively uncommon. Around 3 percent of Americans consider themselves vegans, and 5 percent consider themselves vegetarians, according to some reports.Most vegetarians eat a lacto-ovo diet, which means they eat fruits and veggies, beans, nuts, grains and soy, as well as animal byproducts like eggs, dairy and honey. Vegans are vegetarians that don’t eat anything that comes from an animal. But there are some “beegans” out there — vegans who eat honey. Other plant-based diets incorporate some meat or fish: The pescatarian diet is similar to the lacto-ovo vegetarian diet, but with the addition of fish. There’s also the flexitarian diet, which encompasses a spectrum of “semi-vegetarianism”: heavy on plants and light on meat and animal products. Even the Mediterranean diet is technically plant-based, and it’s one of the most-studied — and deemed healthy — ways of eating.Studies on Plant-Based DietsA number of studies have shown that a diet low in meat is linked to longer lifespans. But the matter is far from settled, as some studies haven’t found a significant difference in life expectancy between meat eaters and vegetarians.But there is growing evidence that plant-based diets are associated with benefits like lower blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and reduced body weight. These improved health measures often translate to less r
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