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A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition and Public Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2022) | Viewed by 39270

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Leonie-Helen Bogl

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Guest Editor

1. Department of Health Professions, Bern University of Applied Sciences, 3005 Bern, Switzerland
2. Department of Epidemiology, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, 1090, Vienna, Austria

Dr. Klazine Van der Horst

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Guest Editor

Department of Health Professions, Bern University of Applied Sciences, 3005 Bern, Switzerland

Dr. Karin Haas

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Guest Editor

Department of Health Professions, Bern University of Applied Sciences, 3005 Bern, Switzerland

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Vegan diets are gaining increasing popularity in society, especially among young women with higher education levels who live in urban areas. In general, vegan diets are presumed to be healthy and studies on vegan adults have shown multiple health benefits, such as a lower risk of obesity, cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. On the other hand, vegans may have an increased risk of deficiencies in certain nutrients, such as protein, iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B12, iodine, and n-3 fatty acids. In addition, the associations between vegan diets and certain health outcomes, such as osteoporosis and mental health, are yet to be studied. Further, there are concerns as to whether the dietary specifications required can be met for specific groups like children and pregnant women, and the long-term health effects among these groups are unknown. In most previous research, vegans have been considered as a homogenous group, but as with diet quality among omnivores, emerging evidence suggest that plant-based diets can be healthy or unhealthy with opposing health effects.

Vegan food products have recently flooded the food market, some of them belonging to the group of ultra-processed foods, and the health effects of these products remain to be discussed. Therefore, research on vegans is very timely, and the aim of this Special Issue is to present the current knowledge on vegans and vegan diets with a broad focus. Possible topics include, but are not limited to, attitudes and nutritional knowledge of vegans, eating behaviors and eating disorders among vegans, dietary intake and nutritional status of vegans, vegan diets and chronic disease risk, as well as vegan diets and environmental sustainability.

We welcome different types of submissions, including original research articles (both qualitative and quantitative research), systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Dr. Leonie-Helen Bogl
Dr. Klazine Van der Horst
Dr. Karin Haas
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

vegan
vegan diets
vegetarian diets
vegan children
plant-based diets
dietary intake
diet quality
nutritional status

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 1502 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Vegetarian and Vegan Diets: Beliefs and Attitudes of General Practitioners and Pediatricians in France

by Cécile Villette, Pauline Vasseur, Nathanael Lapidus, Marion Debin, Thomas Hanslik, Thierry Blanchon, Olivier Steichen and Louise Rossignol

Nutrients 2022, 14(15), 3101; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14153101 - 28 Jul 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2962

Abstract

Studies suggest a decreasing trend in the consumption of meat products and a growing interest in vegetarian diets. Medical support may be relevant, especially when switching to a vegan diet. Our objective was to describe the beliefs and attitudes of primary care physicians toward vegetarian diets. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among general practitioners and pediatricians thorough a questionnaire including socio-demographic characteristics, specific care to vegetarians, and the risks and benefits of vegetarian diets according to physicians. Out of the 177 participating physicians, 104 (59%) have seen at least one vegetarian patient in consultation in the last three months. Half of the physicians declared that they would dissuade their patients from switching to a vegan diet (n = 88, 51%) and 14% (n = 24) from switching to an ovo-lacto-vegetarian (OLV) diet. Most physicians (n = 141, 88%) did not feel informed enough about these diets. Physicians thought that the most frequent deficiencies for OLV and vegan diets were iron (76% and 84%, respectively) and protein (45% and 79%, respectively). These results highlight the fact that French primary care physicians feel concerned by this subject and need more information on these diets. Specific recommendations would be useful to support their practice and relationship with vegetarians. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Frontier: Vegan Diets and Human Health)

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13 pages, 1132 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparison of Five Oxidative Stress Biomarkers in Vegans and Omnivores from Germany and Finland

by Stefan Dietrich, Anna-Liisa Elorinne, Nick Bergau, Klaus Abraham, Tilman Grune, Juha Laakso, Daniela Weber, Cornelia Weikert and Bernhard H. Monien

Nutrients 2022, 14(14), 2918; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14142918 - 16 Jul 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2355

Abstract

When the amount of reactive oxygen species produced by human metabolism cannot be balanced by antioxidants, this phenomenon is commonly referred to as oxidative stress. It is hypothesised that diets with high amounts of plant food products may have a beneficial impact on oxidative stress status. However, few studies have examined whether a vegan diet is associated with lower oxidative stress compared to an omnivorous diet. The present cross-sectional study aimed to compare the levels of five oxidative stress biomarkers in vegans and omnivores. Data of 36 vegans and 36 omnivores from Germany and of 21 vegans and 18 omnivores from Finland were analysed. HPLC coupled with mass spectrometry or fluorescence detection and ELISA methods were used to measure the oxidative stress biomarkers malondialdehyde (MDA), protein carbonyls and 3-nitrotyrosine in plasma and 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and 8-iso-prostaglandin F2α (8-iso-PGF2α) in 24 h urine. Analyses of variance and covariance, considering potential confounders, were used. Vegans and omnivores showed no differences in MDA and protein carbonyl concentrations. In Finnish but not in German vegans, the concentrations of 3-nitrotyrosine were lower compared to those in omnivores (p = 0.047). In Germany, vegans showed lower excretion levels of 8-iso-PGF2α than omnivores (p = 0.002) and with a trend also of 8-OHdG (p = 0.05). The sensitivity analysis suggests lower 8-iso-PGF2α excretion levels in women compared to men, independently of the dietary group. The present study contributes to expanding our knowledge of the relationship between diet and oxidative stress and showed that 3-nitrotyrosine, 8-OHdG and 8-iso-PGF2α tended to be lower in vegans. Furthermore, studies are recommended to validate the present findings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Frontier: Vegan Diets and Human Health)

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13 pages, 304 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Dietary and Plasma Phospholipid Profiles in Vegans and Omnivores—Results from the RBVD Study

by Juliane Menzel, Alessa Longree, Klaus Abraham, Matthias B. Schulze and Cornelia Weikert

Nutrients 2022, 14(14), 2900; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14142900 - 14 Jul 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2176

Abstract

Over the last few years, the vegan diet has become increasingly popular in Germany. It has been proposed that this diet is generally lower in fat, but less is known about the impact on fatty acid (FA) profiles. Therefore, the cross-sectional “Risks and Benefits of a Vegan Diet” (RBVD) study (n = 72) was used to investigate dietary FA intake as well as plasma phospholipid FA in vegans (n = 36) compared to omnivores (n = 36). Vegans had a significantly lower dietary intake of total fat (median 86 g/day, IQR 64–111) in comparison to omnivores (median 104 g/day, IQR 88–143, p = 0.004). Further, vegans had a lower intake of saturated fatty acids (SFA) (p < 0.0001) and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) (p = 0.001) compared to omnivores. Vegans had a higher intake in total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), omega-3 and omega-6 PUFA compared to omnivores, but without statistical significance after Bonferroni correction. According to plasma phospholipid profiles, relatively lower proportions of SFA (p < 0.0001), total trans fatty acids (TFA) (p = 0.0004) and omega-3-FA (p < 0.0001), but higher proportions of omega-6-FA (p < 0.0001) were observed in vegans. With the exception of omega-3 PUFA, a vegan diet is associated with a more favorable dietary fat intake and more favorable plasma FA profiles and therefore may reduce cardiovascular risk. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Frontier: Vegan Diets and Human Health)

17 pages, 2399 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Obese Vegetarians and Omnivores Show Different Metabolic Changes: Analysis of 1340 Individuals

by Eric Slywitch, Carine Savalli, Antonio Cláudio Duarte and Maria Arlete Meil Schimith Escrivão

Nutrients 2022, 14(11), 2204; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14112204 - 26 May 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4557

Abstract

Our study evaluated the association between the increase in body mass index (BMI) in men and women (menstruating and non-menstruating) (n = 1340) with different dietary groups (omnivores, semi-vegetarians, lacto-ovo-vegetarian, and vegans) and the measurement of the biochemical markers high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), ferritin, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C), and insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR). Increasing BMI values in all groups and dietary profiles were related to a significant increase in hs-CRP (p < 0.0001), ALT (p = 0.02), ferritin (p = 0.009), and HbA1C (p < 0.0001), with no difference between dietary groups (p < 0.05). The increase in BMI increases the levels of HOMA-IR (p < 0.0001) and GGT (p < 0.05), with higher values found in men when compared to women (p < 0.0001 for HOMA- IR and p = 0.0048 for GGT). The association between ALT and BMI was different between dietary groups, as it showed a decrease in vegan women who do not menstruate compared to other dietary groups (p = 0.0099). When including only obese individuals (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m², n = 153) in the analysis, we observed lower concentrations of GGT and ferritin in vegetarians than in omnivores, regardless of gender and menstrual blood loss (p = 0.0395). Our data showed that for both vegetarians and omnivores, the higher the BMI, the worse the metabolic parameters. However, regarding obesity, vegetarians showed better antioxidant status (lower GGT elevation) and lower inflammatory status (lower ferritin elevation), which may provide them with potential protection in the development of morbidities associated with overweight. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Frontier: Vegan Diets and Human Health)

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8 pages, 236 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Nutritional Profiles of Non-Dairy Plant-Based Cheese Alternatives

by Winston J. Craig, A. Reed Mangels and Cecilia J. Brothers

Nutrients 2022, 14(6), 1247; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14061247 - 16 Mar 2022

Cited by 30 | Viewed by 10674

Abstract

With the growing interest in non-dairy products, there has been a surge of interest in consumers seeking plant-based cheese alternatives spurred by a desire to improve individual health and achieve a more sustainable food supply. The aim of this study was to conduct a cross-sectional survey of non-dairy cheese alternatives available in the United States and to evaluate their nutritional content. A total of 245 non-dairy plant-based cheese alternatives were analyzed using their nutritional facts labels. The various cheese alternatives were based upon coconut oil (n = 106), cashews and coconut (n = 61), cashews (n = 35), oats (n = 16), almonds (n = 7), soy (n = 6), palm fruit oil (n = 5), and other blends (n = 9). Only 3% of these cheese alternatives had 5 g or more of protein, while 19%, 14%, and 1% were fortified with calcium, vitamin B12, and vitamin D, respectively. Almost 60% had high levels of saturated fat, while 15% had low sodium levels. The products based on cashews alone more commonly had the highest protein levels and the lowest sodium and saturated fat levels. Those containing coconut oil more commonly had higher saturated fat and sodium levels and were most frequently fortified with vitamin B12. Few of these products could be considered good dietary sources of either protein or calcium. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Frontier: Vegan Diets and Human Health)

18 pages, 1294 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cross-Sectional Study of the Prevalence of Cobalamin Deficiency and Vitamin B12 Supplementation Habits among Vegetarian and Vegan Children in the Czech Republic

by Martin Světnička, Anat Sigal, Eliška Selinger, Marina Heniková, Eva El-Lababidi and Jan Gojda

Nutrients 2022, 14(3), 535; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14030535 - 26 Jan 2022

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 5739

Abstract

Vegetarian (VG) and vegan (VN) diets in childhood are of growing interest due to their perceived health and environmental benefits. Concerns remain due to the possible disruption of healthy growth and development of children because of the scarcity of evidence-based studies. Among the nutrients of special concern is vitamin B12. Therefore, the Czech Vegan Children Study (CAROTS) decided to examine the relationship between B12 metabolism parameters and B12 intake through diet and supplementation. We analyzed laboratory parameters within n = 79 VG, n = 69 VN, and n = 52 omnivores (OM) children (0–18 years old). There were no significant differences in levels of holotranscobalamin (aB12), folate, homocysteine (hcys), or mean corpuscular volume. However, there was a significant difference in levels of cyanocobalamin (B12) (p = 0.018), even though we identified only n = 1 VG and n = 2 VN children as B12 deficient. On the other hand, we identified n = 35 VG, n = 28 VN, and n = 9 OM children with vitamin B12 hypervitaminosis (p = 0.004). This finding was related to a high prevalence of over-supplementation in the group (mean dose for VG 178.19 ± 238.5 µg per day; VN 278.35 ± 394.63 µg per day). Additionally, we found a significant (p < 0.05) difference between B12, aB12, and hcys levels of supplemented vs. non-supplemented VG/VN children. This can show that the intake of vitamin B12 via diet in the VG group might not be sufficient. Secondly, we analyzed a relation between supplement use in pregnancy and breastfeeding and its impact on vitamin B12 levels of children aged 0–3 years. Out of n = 46 mothers, only n = 3 (e.g., 6.5%) were not supplemented at all. We have not identified any clinical manifestation of B12 deficiency and only n = 1 child with low serum cobalamin, a child who did not receive vitamin B12 supplementation and whose mother took only low doses of vitamin B12 (25/µg/day).To conclude, we did not observe any life-threatening or severe consequences of laboratory-stated vitamin B12 deficiency; thus, our group was well supplemented. On the other hand, we have identified many subjects with vitamin B12 hypervitaminosis of unknown impact on their health. Further research and new guidelines for B12 supplementation among VG and VN children are needed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Frontier: Vegan Diets and Human Health)

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Review

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35 pages, 897 KiB

Open AccessReview

Placing a Well-Designed Vegan Diet for Slovenes

by Boštjan Jakše

Nutrients 2021, 13(12), 4545; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13124545 - 18 Dec 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 8968

Abstract

Interest in vegan diets has increased globally as well as in Slovenia. The quantity of new scientific data requires a thorough synthesis of new findings and considerations about the current reserved position of the vegan diet in Slovenia. There is frequently confusion about the benefits of vegetarian diets that are often uncritically passed on to vegan diets and vice versa. This narrative review aims to serve as a framework for a well-designed vegan diet. We present advice on how to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks associated with the vegan diet and lifestyle. We highlight the proper terminology, present the health effects of a vegan diet and emphasize the nutrients of concern. In addition, we provide guidance for implementing a well-designed vegan diet in daily life. We conducted a PubMed search, up to November 2021, for studies on key nutrients (proteins, vitamin B₁₂, vitamin D, omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)), calcium, iron, zinc, iodine and selenium) in vegan diets. Given the limited amount of scientific evidence, we focus primarily on the general adult population. A well-designed vegan diet that includes a wide variety of plant foods and supplementation of vitamin B₁₂, vitamin D in the winter months and potentially EPA/DHA is safe and nutritionally adequate. It has the potential to maintain and/or to improve health. For physically active adult populations, athletes or individuals with fast-paced lifestyles, there is room for further appropriate supplementation of a conventional vegan diet according to individuals’ health status, needs and goals without compromising their health. A healthy vegan lifestyle, as included in government guidelines for a healthy lifestyle, includes regular physical activity, avoidance of smoking, restriction of alcohol and appropriate sleep hygiene. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Frontier: Vegan Diets and Human Health)

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