Eating a diet heavy in unhealthy plant-based foods could increase your risk of heading to an early grave, a major analysis of Brits suggests.
Dutch scientists, who analysed data from 70,000 Brits, found people who frequently ate vegan desserts, bread and roast potatoes were more likely to be frail in mid-life — a reliable indicator of early death.
In comparison, those who ate plant-based diets loaded with fresh fruit and vegetables and low-fat alternatives like tofu were far physically stronger.
Frailty is a medical term for those who struggle to bounce back from common health troubles, like bad colds or an injury resulting from an accident like a fall.
Each step of worsening frailty is said to be linked to an 80 per cent increased risk of death upon hospital admission, according to studies.
While new the study observed an increased risk of frailty in all people eating more unhealthy plant-based foods, the risk was significantly higher in poorer men.
Published their findings in The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, the scientists found poorer British men eating more unhealthy vegan or vegetarian foods had a 18 per cent higher chance of frailty, compared to the average person in the study.
They suggested higher intake of fizzy drinks in this group may to be blame for this increased risk but added that further research is needed.
Eating a higher amount of unhealthy plant-based foods could increase your risk of heading to an early grave, a major analysis of Brits suggests. Stock image
In the analysis, researchers examined diet, income and health data from just over 73,000 Brits between 40 and 70 years-of-age, with an average age of 55.
Each participant was given a score based on their dietary information and assigned points for unhealthy and healthy plant-based foods.
Foods like fresh fruit and vegetables and meat substitutes like tofu were classed as healthy plant-based foods.
In contrast those like white-bread, fried or roast potatoes and vegan desserts were classed as unhealthy.
Researchers also recorded the number of animal products eaten on a daily basis and issued a negative point for each.
This data was then compared to each participants’ frailty assessment, as well as income.
Frailty was defined in the study if a person met at least three out of five criteria.
These included: Weight loss within the previous year, feeling tired or having low energy on more than half the days in the past fortnight, none or little exercise per week and either slower than usual walking pace or lower grip strength than expected for participants’ sex and weight.
Low income was set as having below £18,000 household income per year.
Every 10 points of eating healthy plant-based foods, like fresh fruit and vegetables was linked to a 3 per cent lower chance of frailty in the study
The analysis found that every 10-point increase in the unhealthy plant-based food score was linked to a 7.7 per cent increase in frailty.
But this increased to 18 per cent when the scientists looked at men of lower household income specifically.
This they said, could in theory double the chance of these men suffering from frailty, though the study itself didn’t provide examples of typical scores.
For reasons that remain unclear this observed increase in frailty wasn’t observed in poorer women.
In contrast, every 10 points of eating healthy plant-based foods was linked to a 3 per cent lower chance of frailty across the study group.
The scientists added that a ‘remarkable’ finding was that eating more unhealthy plant-based foods didn’t seem to increase frailty risk among higher income Brits, those defined as having a household income in excess of £52,000 per year.
They theorised that the difference in frailty between the healthy and unhealthy plant-based diets could be due to the contrasting nutrient levels in these foods.
A diet packed with fresh fruit and vegetables contains more vitamins and minerals essential to the healthy functioning of the body than one full of refined grains like white bread and fizzy drinks, despite both being vegetarian, they noted.
They also highlighted that women in the study, on average, consumed more calcium from dairy than men, and this could potentially help ward off frailty.
Calcium is considered a key mineral for boosting bone and muscle health.
Figures by Hannah Ritchie at Oxford University’s Our World in Data reveals just how much salt and fat are in many meat alternatives compared to the real thing. The researchers compared the nutritional contents of 100g of meat products and vegan products all available from UK supermarkets
Additionally, the experts noted that frail men in low-income households specifically had the highest consumption of fizzy drinks per person in the study.
‘Future research may explore how dairy and a reduction of soda consumption may fit into a healthful plant-based diet to contribute to lower frailty risk,’ they said.
They added that their research suggested men on lower incomes may be a particularly vulnerable group that could benefit from dietary interventions.
Lower income has long been related to poorer health outcomes. Outside of diet, factors like increased risk of mental health problems due to economic challenges and barriers to accessing health care are considered contributors to this trend.
While the new research represents a large-scale analysis, the authors acknowledged their study had a number of limitations.
Firstly, they highlighted how the number of Brits who met the definition of frailty in the study was low — at only about 1,000 of the 73,000 participants.
The experts added the sample of participants were generally healthier, wealthier and less diverse than British population in general, which could influence the results.
Experts have repeatedly raised the alarm about the unhealthy vegan foods, particularly meat substitutes.
Meat-free alternatives of the UK’s fast-food favourites can be more salty, sugar-laden and fatty, MailOnline can reveal. Only McDonald’s plant-based option — the McPlant — appears healthier than its closest beef-based option, the famous Quarter Pounder with Cheese. The graphic shows the calorie, salt, sugar and fat content of the traditional and vegan options at each chain, with green indicating which product has a the lowest level, red signalling the higher figure and yellow meaning they are identical
Some scientists have said more needs to done to counteract the ‘health-halo’ effect surrounding meat substitutes, with consumers being mistakenly led into thinking they are healthier than traditional meat-based options.
Earlier this year British experts found those who ate fake sausages, burgers and mince seemingly had worse blood pressure than their meat-consuming counterparts.
Meanwhile another recent study revealed that opting for ultra-processed plant foods, like vegan sausages and burgers, as well as cakes and crisps, was linked to a 15 per cent higher risk of suffering heart attacks and strokes.
Interest in a plant-based diet has soared in recent years, with vegans citing ethical, environmental or health reasons.
The exact numbers of vegans now in the UK is almost impossible to establish.
But one recent survey suggested around 600,000 people are believed to be on a plant-based diet.
