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A new study of over 20,000 diverse individuals has found important connections between diet and gut health. Vegans and others who eat an abundance of plants had gut microbiomes correlating with good cardiovascular health. Meanwhile, most omnivores had gut microbiomes correlating with poor cardiovascular health.
References: Fackelmann, G., Manghi, P., Carlino, N. et al. Gut microbiome signatures of vegan, vegetarian and omnivore diets and associated health outcomes across 21,561 individuals. Nat Microbiol. Published online January 6, 2025. doi:10.1038/s41564-024-01870-z
People who eat vegan diets have the healthiest intestinal bacteria, according to a new study published in the journal Gut. The researchers looked at 153 Italian participants, one-third of whom were vegan, vegetarian, or omnivorous, and classified the healthiest eating diets, referred to as Mediterranean diets in the study, as those that included the most fiber-rich foods—fruits, vegetables, legumes, and grains. Eighty-eight percent of the vegans adhered to the healthiest patterns, 65 percent of the vegetarians, and 30 percent of the omnivores. The more adherence to the healthy dietary pattern, the healthier the intestinal microbiota. Healthy gut flora are associated with decreased risk of disease.
Reference: De Filippis F, Pellegrini N, Vannini L, et al. High-level adherence to a Mediterranean diet beneficially impacts the gut microbiota and associated metabolome. Gut. Published online September 28, 2015.
Reference: Asnicar F, Berry SE, Valdes AM, et al. Microbiome connections with host metabolism and habitual diet from 1,098 deeply phenotyped individuals. Nat Med. Published online January 11, 2021. doi: 10.1038/s41591-020-01183-8.D