Vegetarian diets can help reduce diabetes and other chronic illnesses, the French health and safety agency has concluded, in the first study specifically examining diets free of animal products. While vegetarians and vegans are a minority in France, the numbers are on the rise.
The risk/benefit analysis leans in favour of a vegetarian diet, according to Anses, the French health and safety agency, which reviewed dozens of scientific studies and concluded that vegetarian and vegan diets can help reduce the incidence of several diseases.
The agency cautioned, however, that those who do not eat meat or animal products should be careful not to miss out on certain nutrients.
Anses defines a vegetarian diet as one without animal flesh, and a vegan diet as one which does not include any animal products, such as cheese or eggs.
The agency's studies drive public health recommendations in France in terms of nutrition, which could inform things such as school meals.
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Growing minority
Anses said it had chosen to look specifically at vegetarian and vegan diets, because an increasing number of people in France are foregoing meat and animal products.
Between 2 and 5 percent of French people identify as vegetarian or vegan, according to various studies, with younger people increasingly drawn to these diets for health or environmental reasons and concern for animal welfare.
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This growing interest has raised concerns from the meat and dairy industries, who have begun warning of the "dangers" of vegetarian and vegan diets.
Anses aims to show that there is broad consensus around the benefits, while also warning of potential drawbacks.
Risks and benefits
The agency looked at 130 studies published in international scientific journals throughout 2019, and found that a vegetarian diet could be beneficial to treat and prevent several diseases.
“This review showed the vegetarian diet is associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, compared with a non-vegetarian diet,” the Anses study said.
There are also signs of reduced risk of heart disease, ovulation-related reproductive disorders, and several cancers.
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Vegetarian diets do, however, increase the risk of bone fractures in those who do not consume enough calcium.
Vegetarians, like most of the French population, also have trouble getting enough vitamin D and omega 3, but – unlike meat eaters – often also lack iron, iodine and B vitamins, especially B12 for vegans.
The second part of the study provides specific dietary recommendations for vegetarians and vegans to stay healthy.
Those recommendations are intended to inform public health decisions on nutrition, to encourage the fortification of foods with iron or other vitamins, which is being considered on a European level.
