Photo: Ella Olsson from Stockholm, Sweden via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, cropped.
A healthy plant-based diet is linked to a 21% lower risk of chronic kidney disease, according to a new study of more than 100,000 British adults.
Researchers at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, led by Javier Maroto-Rodríguez and Dr. Mercedes Sotos-Prieto, compared six diet quality scores in 106,870 UK Biobank participants followed for a median of 9.3 years, during which 2,934 developed chronic kidney disease. The study is published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Comparing the top and bottom thirds, the healthful plant-based diet was linked to 21% lower risk, the DASH diet to 23% lower and the Mediterranean diet to 16% lower. An unhealthy plant-based diet, heavy in refined grains, sweets and sugary drinks, was linked to 27% higher risk.
The authors conclude in the paper:
In British adults, higher adherence to the aMED, DASH, and hPDI patterns was associated with lower risk of CKD, whereas greater adherence to the uPDI and DII patterns was associated with greater risk.
Plant-based done right means whole foods: wholegrains, fruit, vegetables, nuts and legumes.
It echoes a 2019 study linking a healthy plant-based diet to 14% lower risk of chronic kidney disease, and this summer Adventist researchers linked vegetarian diets to half the risk of dying from kidney failure.
Kidneys love plants!