IJERPH, Vol. 18, Pages 9998: A Vegan Diet Is Associated with a Significant Reduction in Dietary Acid Load: Post Hoc Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial in Healthy Individuals

IJERPH, Vol. 18, Pages 9998: A Vegan Diet Is Associated with a Significant Reduction in Dietary Acid Load: Post Hoc Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial in Healthy Individuals International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph18199998 Authors: Alexander Müller Amy Marisa Zimmermann-Klemd Ann-Kathrin Lederer Luciana Hannibal Stefanie Kowarschik Roman Huber Maximilian Andreas Storz The composition of diet strongly affects acid–base homeostasis. Western diets abundant in acidogenic foods (meat and cheese) and deficient in alkalizing foods (fruits and vegetables) increase dietary acid load (DAL). A high DAL has been associated with numerous health repercussions, including cardiovascular disease and type-2-diabetes. Plant-based diets have been associated with a lower DAL; however, the number of trials exploring this association is limited. This randomized-controlled trial sought to examine whether an isocaloric vegan diet lowers DAL as compared to a meat-rich diet. Forty-five omnivorous individuals were randomly assigned to a vegan diet (n = 23) or a meat-rich diet (n = 22) for 4 weeks. DAL was determined using potential renal acid load (PRAL) and net endogenous acid production (NEAP) scores at baseline and after 3 and 4 weeks, respectively. After 3 weeks, median PRAL (−23.57 (23.87)) and mean NEAPR (12.85 ± 19.71) scores were significantly lower in the vegan group than in the meat-rich group (PRAL: 18.78 (21.04) an...
Source: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research