Plant-based DASH diet beneficial in obese patients with metabolic syndrome

Dropping animal protein for plant proteins in the dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) diet appears to have favourable effects on cardiometabolic risk factors in patients with obesity and metabolic syndrome, according to a double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial.

In the trial, researchers randomized 90 obese patients (aged 30–70 years) with metabolic syndrome to undergo a DASH diet intervention that was either based on plant or animal proteins for 8 weeks. They collected fasting blood samples to evaluate the biochemical markers. Other variables such as blood pressure, weight, and waist circumference were measured at the beginning and end of the trial.

Patients in both DASH diet intervention arms achieved significant reductions in the fasting plasma glucose, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, triglyceride (TG) concentrations, weight, and waist circumference.

However, the reductions seen in both fasting plasma glucose and systolic blood pressure were much larger in the plant-based DASH diet group than in the animal-based DASH group following adjustment for weight change.

There were no significant improvements observed within or between groups in terms of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

Proteins from plant-based compared with animal-based food sources have been shown to have different effects on cardiovascular disease risk factors, but no matter the source, dietary protein each provides a different composite of nonprotein compounds that can also affect CVD risk factors. Furthermore, higher consumption of protein-rich foods may result in lower intakes of other nutrients, which may simultaneously influence outcomes. [Adv Nutr 2015;6:712-728]

According to previous epidemiologic and intervention studies, the potential mechanisms responsible for any specific effects of plant and animal protein are similarly multifactorial and involve the amino acid content of particular foods, contributions from other nonprotein compounds provided concomitantly by the whole food, and interactions with the gut microbiome. [Adv Nutr 2015;6:712-728]