Plant-Based Diets Linked to Reduced Risk of Chronic Diseases, Study Finds

A recent study examining the impact of dietary choices on chronic diseases has yielded significant findings, suggesting a strong correlation between plant-based diets and reduced risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes. The research used data from a large cohort of French participants, analyzing the environmental pressures associated with different dietary choices and their effects on overall health. The study's results indicate that diets with lower environmental pressures are linked to substantial health benefits, underscoring the importance of environmentally sustainable food systems in promoting both health and environmental sustainability.

Key Takeaways:

• The study utilized data from 34,077 participants in the NutriNet-Sante French cohort to examine the associations between dietary environmental pressures and risk of chronic diseases.
• A comprehensive analysis of the data revealed a positive correlation between dietary environmental pressures and the risk of all tested chronic diseases, except stroke.
• The results showed a significant increase in the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes with each 1-SD increment in dietary environmental pressures, with a relative risk of 1.15 for cancer, 1.50 for coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes, but no association with stroke or death.
• The study concluded that diets with low overall environmental pressures are associated with important health benefits, suggesting that food systems with lower environmental impacts could be key drivers of both environmental and health sustainability.
• The research was conducted in the context of two projects, BioNutriNet and TRANSFood, supported by the French National Research Agency (ANR-13-ALID-0001 and ANR-21-CE21-0011-01).

Statistics:

• The study analyzed data from 34,077 participants in the NutriNet-Sante French cohort.
• The mean median follow-up period was 8.39 years (IQR = 5.62, person-year).
• The researchers estimated that diets with lower environmental pressures are linked to a reduced risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes.
• The study found a significant increase in the risk of all tested chronic diseases, except stroke, with each 1-SD increment in dietary environmental pressures.

Sources:

• Association between dietary environmental pressures and major chronic diseases: assessment from the prospective NutriNet-Sante cohort. The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, 2025;59:101481. The Lancet Regional Health - Europe is a publication of Elsevier, Radarweg 29, 1043 Nx Amsterdam, Netherlands.
• NewsRx. Studies in the Area of Chronic Disease Reported from Aurelien Chayre and Co-Researchers (Association between dietary environmental pressures and major chronic diseases: assessment from the prospective NutriNet-Sante cohort). Cancer Weekly. November 4, 2025; p 550.