Plant-based eating pattern linked with lower heart disease risk among older women.
A long-running study involving nearly 67,000 older women found that eating a plant-based diet was linked with a lower chance of developing heart-related health problems over time. Researchers followed participants for about 20 years and found that women whose meals more closely matched the Planetary Health Diet had fewer cases of heart disease, stroke, and heart failure than those whose eating habits were the least similar to the plan. The Planetary Health Diet focuses on foods such as vegetables, fruits, beans, lentils, whole grains, nuts, and healthy oils like olive oil. At the same time, it limits red meat, processed meat, foods with added sugar, refined grains, and foods high in saturated fat. While the eating plan has often been discussed for its environmental benefits, this research suggests it may also support better heart health, especially among older women.
The findings were presented at the American Society for Nutrition’s annual meeting by Donya Shahamati, a public health doctoral student at the University of California, Irvine. According to the research, women whose plant-based diets most closely matched the Planetary Health Diet had about a 28 percent lower chance of developing cardiovascular disease than women whose diets were the least similar. Even women who followed the diet only part of the time experienced lower risks than those with the lowest scores.
Researchers said the results suggest that making small improvements to daily meals may still provide health benefits. A complete change in eating habits was not necessary to see a difference. Simple steps, such as filling more of the dinner plate with vegetables, choosing oatmeal or whole-grain cereal instead of sugary breakfast foods, replacing butter with olive oil or avocado, or having a meat-free meal once each week, could move a person’s eating pattern closer to the Planetary Health Diet.
The study included 66,892 women who took part in the Women’s Health Initiative, a large national research project funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. At the beginning of the study, all participants were free of cardiovascular disease. They also completed detailed questionnaires about their eating habits and lifestyle in the four-year space between 1994 and 1998. Researchers assigned each woman a Planetary Health Diet Index score based on how closely her food choices matched the eating plan.
Participants were divided into five groups according to their scores. Over the following two decades, researchers tracked which women developed heart disease, suffered a stroke, or experienced heart failure. The analysis also took into account other factors that can affect heart health, including age, race, education, income, smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, body weight, and total calorie intake. After adjusting for those differences, the connection between healthier eating and lower cardiovascular risk remained. The research also found that every 10-point increase in a participant’s diet score was linked with an additional drop in heart disease risk. That finding suggests that gradual improvements may still matter, even if someone does not follow the eating plan perfectly.
Although the results are encouraging, the researchers noted that this was an observational study only. That means it found a relationship between eating habits and heart health but cannot prove that the diet itself directly prevented disease. Other lifestyle choices or factors not measured in the study may also have played a part. As heart disease remains one of the leading causes of death among women, the findings add to growing evidence that everyday food choices may play an important part in supporting healthy aging.
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Planetary Health Diet lowers cardiovascular risk in older women
Plant-forward planetary health diet linked to lower heart disease risk
