Improving the Quality of a Plant-Based Diet Linked to 10% Lower Risk of Death

People who filled more of their plates with healthy plant foods over a 12-year period were 10% less likely to die during the following 16 years than people whose diets stayed the same, according to a new Harvard study.

The team at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, led by Dr. Megu Baden, tracked 49,407 women in the Nurses' Health Study and 25,907 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, adding up to more than a million person-years of follow-up. The results are published in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association.

Each 10-point rise in the healthful plant-based diet score was linked to a 9% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. That score rewards whole grains, fruit, vegetables, nuts, legumes, vegetable oils and tea or coffee. Quality matters, though: people who shifted toward refined grains, sugary drinks and sweets had a 12% higher risk of death.

The authors conclude:

Improving plant-based diet quality over a 12-year period was associated with a lower risk of total and CVD mortality, whereas increased consumption of an unhealthful plant-based diet was associated with a higher risk of total and CVD mortality.

The best part is that the benefit came from changing diets in adulthood, so swapping in beans, oats and an extra portion of veg counts whenever you start.

It builds on last year's finding that healthy plant-based diets are linked to a lower risk of death in US adults, and on the American College of Cardiology's backing for plant protein.

It's never too late to add more plants!