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Thompson AS, Candussi CJ, Tresserra-Rimbau A, Jennings A, Bondonno NP, Hill C, Sowah SA, Cassidy A, Kühn T. A healthful plant-based diet is associated with lower type 2 diabetes risk via improved metabolic state and organ function: A prospective cohort study. Diabetes Metab 2024; 50:101499. [PMID: 38036055 DOI: 10.1016/j.diabet.2023.101499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Revised: 11/15/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Plant-based diets are becoming increasingly popular due to favourable environmental footprints and have been associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Here, we investigated the potential mechanisms to explain the lower T2DM risk observed among individuals following plant-based diets. METHODS Prospective data from the UK Biobank, a cohort study of participants aged 40 to 69 years at baseline, was evaluated. Associations between healthful and unhealthful plant-based indices (hPDI and uPDI) and T2DM risk were analysed by multivariable Cox regression models, followed by causal mediation analyses to investigate which cardiometabolic risk factors explained the observed associations. RESULTS Of 113,097 study participants 2,628 developed T2DM over 12 years of follow-up. Participants with the highest hPDI scores (Quartile 4) had a 24 % lower T2DM risk compared to those with the lowest scores (Quartile 1) [Hazard Ratio (HR): 0.76, 95 % Confidence Interval (CI): 0.68-0.85]. This association was mediated by a lower BMI (proportion mediated: 28 %), lower waist circumference (28 %), and lower concentrations of HBA1c (11 %), triglycerides (9 %), alanine aminotransferase (5 %), gamma glutamyl transferase (4 %), C-reactive protein (4 %), insulin-like growth factor 1 (4 %), cystatin C (4 %) and urate (4 %). Higher uPDI scores were associated with a 37 % higher T2DM risk [HR: 1.37, 95 % CI:1.22- 1.53], with higher waist circumference (proportion mediated: 17 %), BMI (7 %), and higher concentrations of triglycerides (13 %) potentially playing mediating roles. CONCLUSION Healthful plant-based diets may protect against T2DM via lower body fatness, but also via normoglycaemia, lower basal inflammation as well as improved kidney and liver function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alysha S Thompson
- The Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
| | - Catharina J Candussi
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Anna Tresserra-Rimbau
- The Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom; Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Gastronomy, XIA, School of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, INSA, University of Barcelona, 08921 Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y la Nutrición (CIBEROBN), Institute of Health Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Amy Jennings
- The Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
| | - Nicola P Bondonno
- The Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom; Danish Cancer Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark; Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Claire Hill
- Centre for Public Health, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom
| | - Solomon A Sowah
- Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, UK
| | - Aedín Cassidy
- The Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
| | - Tilman Kühn
- The Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom; Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
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