Vegetarian diets as a possible therapeutic approach to patients with metabolic syndrome: A brief review

Cátia Pinheiro; João Costa Leite; Rita Negrão; Elisa Keating

doi:10.1097/j.pbj.0000000000000098

Vegetarian diets as a possible therapeutic approach to patients with metabolic syndrome: A brief review

Porto Biomed J. 2020 Dec 10;5(6):e098. doi: 10.1097/j.pbj.0000000000000098. eCollection 2020 Nov-Dec.

Authors

Cátia Pinheiro^{1

2}, João Costa Leite^{2

3}, Rita Negrão^{1

4}, Elisa Keating^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department Biomedicine-Unit of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto.
² CINTESIS - Center for Health Technology and Services Research.
³ Faculty of Health Sciences, Fernando Pessoa University.
⁴ I3S, Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde-Metabolism, Nutrition & Endocrinology Group, Porto, Portugal.

Abstract

Approximately 25% of the adult worldwide population is estimated to have metabolic syndrome. Vegetarian diets have demonstrated effectiveness in improving each risk factor for developing metabolic syndrome, as compared with conventional dietary patterns and are useful in the prevention of metabolic syndrome. The present study reviews published literature concluding that following a vegetarian diet with the adequate nutritional support appears to be a mean to improve patients' metabolic condition and to decrease the risk of developing metabolic syndrome.

Keywords: metabolic syndrome; nutrition; vegan diet; vegetarian diet.

Publication types

Review