Does an omnivore diet increase cardiometabolic risks compared to a vegan diet? If you have been paying attention to the media lately they would have you believe meat is bad for you. See the recent 2023 JAMA identical twin trial, Cardiometabolic Effects of Omnivorous vs Vegan Diets in Identical Twins. But what can we conclude if we take a deep dive into the study?

The real question is how well was this study done. Nutritional research is known for introducing bias and making improper conclusions.

The problem with this study is that the groups were not comparable. The vegan group consumed substantially less saturated fat, more polyunsaturated fat, more dietary fiber, AND lower calories. Is a 200 calories deficit combined with a diet lower in saturated fat, higher in polyunsaturated fat, and with 10 grams of extra fiber going to give you the results we see in this study (lower LDL, lower fasting insulin, and weight loss)? Yes, most likely.

What is upsetting is that even the authors don’t acknowledge much about this. They also bury the data and do not make it apparent. I had to dig into pages and pages of supplementary data to find this information about fat distribution and fiber.

If you are interested in a nutritional consultation, call Patient 1st Health and Wellness in Lewes DE at (302) 841-0788 today!