High-protein plant foods such as soy beans and other legumes have greater protein delivery energy efficiency than cereals, which have a lower protein concentration
Plant-based diets are characterised by a high intake of plant-based foods. The exact composition of healthy, balanced plant-based diets can differ, but commonly include:
• high consumption of vegetables, fruit and wholegrains
• dairy alternatives, nuts, seeds, legumes
• some unsaturated fat
• refined grains, sugar-sweetened foods and beverages
• lower salt and lower saturated fat
Studies that have explored the relationship between plant-based dietary patterns with an emphasis on plant foods, such as vegetarian, vegan or Mediterranean-style diets, have shown them to be linked with reduced risk of heart disease, strokes and type 2 diabetes when compared to less healthy dietary patterns. Scientific research also indicates that healthy plant-based diets can have beneficial effects on risk of disease by, for example, lowering blood pressure, reducing blood cholesterol and promoting a healthy bodyweight.
Plant-based diets tend to be higher in many foods that are important in our diets, such as fruit and vegetables, wholegrains, nuts, seeds and pulses. As a result, these diets tend to provide higher amounts of dietary fibre, whilst being lower in saturated fat and free sugars, than other dietary patterns. This may underlie many of the health benefits observed. But we also know that people who adopt such diets are often more health conscious and adopt other healthier lifestyle factors. For instance, they are likely to be more physically active, less likely to smoke, consume less alcohol and are more likely to have a higher income and education. This may also help to explain some of the observed health benefits.
Food-based dietary guidelines recommend that plant foods (for example fruit and vegetables and wholegrains such as oats, wholemeal bread, brown rice, wholewheat pasta) should make up a large part of what we eat. We should also include sources of healthy fats in our diets – such as nuts, seeds, oily fish, unsaturated oils and spreads made from them, as well as including good choices of protein – for example, beans, peas and lentils.
Nutritional adequacy in any dietary pattern is important, and can be provided by a plant-based diet. Plant foods provide important nutrients including fibre, vitamins and minerals, protein and unsaturated fats. However, it is important to note that animal food sources make an important contribution to some nutrients in the UK diet. For example, vitamin B12 and vitamin D are naturally absent from most plant foods, although they may be present in fortified foods such as breakfast cereals, fat spreads and alternative dairy products; long chain omega-3 fats are found in highest amounts in oily fish (vegetarian supplements made from algae are available) and iodine is found in highest amounts in seafood, dairy foods and eggs. Dairy foods are also important contributors to most people’s calcium intake, particularly in children.
A healthy, balanced plant-based diet would typically include wholegrains, fruits and vegetables, nuts, legumes and unsaturated oils, whereas less healthy plant-based diets may include more sugar-sweetened beverages, refined grains, fried potato crisps or chips and sweets. In addition, despite their health halos some plant foods may not be healthy if consumed in high amounts such as coconut oil (high in saturated fats) and agave or maple syrups (high in free sugars).
Plant-based diets are dietary patterns that have a greater emphasis on foods derived from plants (such as fruits and vegetables, wholegrains, pulses, nuts, seeds and oils).
Although you may think of plant-based diets as being vegetarian or vegan, they do not have to be plant-only. Such diets do not have to completely exclude animal foods such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy products, but proportionally more foods are chosen from plant sources. Other examples of plant-based dietary patterns include the Mediterranean Diet, the Nordic Diet and the Eatwell Guide (the UK’s Healthy eating model)
