People who eat a plant-based diet include vegans, vegetarians and those who eat mostly vegetables but still consume meat. Properly balanced plant-based diets provide all the nutrients you need. Gathering the necessary groceries to reap the benefits of a plant-based diet is easier than ever with the addition of sizable natural-food sections in mainstream supermarkets and the proliferation of farmers markets, according to the Office of Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm.
Life Expectancy
More than 1,900 vegetarians and health-conscious individuals participated in an 11-year study conducted by the Department of Epidemiology at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg to determine their mortality pattern in contrast with the general population. The results published the September 1992 issue of the medical journal "Epidemiology" showed "mortality from all causes was reduced by one-half compared with the general population." Mortality for cardiovascular diseases was one-third that of the general population. Respiratory deaths were reduced by approximately 50 percent. Cancer showed a gender differential and was reduced by half in men but only by one-third in women.
Type 2 Diabetes
Plant-based meal-planning offers an effective management strategy to improve type 2 diabetes, according to a review conducted by members of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. The results of the review, published in a 2010 issue of the online journal "The Diabetes Educator," concluded type 2 diabetes patients who made the necessary dietary changes to abide by a plant-based diet reduced their risk of diabetic complications, including cardiac, weight and glycolic control problems.
Blood Pressure
Randomized controlled trials show convincing evidence that following an ovo-lacto vegetarian diet leads to a reduction in blood pressure, according to a report from the University Department of Medicine at the Royal Perth Hospital in Australia. An ovo-lacto vegetarian does not eat meat but does consume eggs and dairy products. Conclusions reported in a 1987 issue of the medical journal "Nephron" report those on a vegetarian diet have a decreased prevalence of high blood pressure.
Weight Loss
Overweight postmenopausal women achieved significant weight loss by adopting a low-fat plant-based diet, according to a study conducted by the Department of Medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. The results, published in the September 2005 issue of "The American Journal of Medicine," say that although there were no limits on the amount of food the women could eat and no exercise requirements, the participants still lost weight.
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