Could not eating meat improve our health? A University of Leicester study is trying to answer that question with rather more discipline than the average dinner-table argument.
The Plant Your Health trial plans to follow 450 adults for 12 months, comparing vegetarian, vegan and usual diets while tracking cholesterol, blood pressure, blood glucose, body composition, psychological wellbeing and dietary carbon footprints.
Leicester study puts plant-based diets to a proper test
The target group is deliberately specific: adults aged 18 to 50 who are living with overweight or obesity and currently eat meat at least five days a week. That matters because the researchers are not studying committed vegans who can identify six forms of tempeh at twenty paces.
They want people whose normal diet includes meat, then to see what changes when some of them stop eating it.
Participants will follow one of three approaches: a vegetarian diet excluding meat and fish but allowing dairy and eggs; a strict vegan diet; or their usual diet. The study is funded with £1.95 million from the Chellaram Foundation and led by Professors Tom Yates and Kamlesh Khunti at the University of Leicester.
Could giving up meat change cholesterol and blood pressure?
The appeal of the study is its breadth. Rather than hanging everything on weight loss, the researchers will measure LDL-cholesterol, blood pressure, blood glucose and body composition, alongside psychological wellbeing. They will also examine the dietary carbon footprint of each approach.
That should make the results more useful than a simple contest over who loses the most kilos. Health is annoyingly fond of nuance. A diet can affect cardiovascular risk markers, metabolic health, mood, body composition and sustainability in different ways, and a year is long enough to ask whether changes survive beyond the enthusiastic opening weeks.
Professor of Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Health at the University of Leicester, Tom Yates said: “This study would suit anyone who has been wondering whether ditching meat could be beneficial to their health, and is happy to commit to changing their diet for 12 months.
Not only will participants receive supermarket vouchers over the course of the study to help support food costs, they will also receive regular guidance from trained dietitians, cooking classes and in-depth health checks at study visits.”
Why this 12-month vegan and vegetarian trial matters
Short-term plant-based studies are useful, but diet research has an awkward habit of becoming less tidy once real life arrives: work lunches, family meals, convenience, cravings, cost and the occasional bacon sandwich. The longer follow-up is therefore important.
Professor Louise Goff, lead Dietitian, noted: “Although we know plant-based nutrition provides health benefits over the short term, there are a lack of well-conducted research studies over the longer-term in sufficient numbers.
This study is the largest trial on plant-based nutrition to date and will provide the gold standard evidence needed to inform public health”
That claim will ultimately be judged by the study’s design, completion rates and published results, but the ambition is clear: produce evidence strong enough to inform advice beyond the already converted.
Researchers want evidence, not dietary tribalism
Professor of Primary Care Diabetes and Vascular Medicine at the University of Leicester, Kamlesh Khunti added: “We are all incredibly excited to be embarking on this landmark study, investigating a large number of important health measures and whether they are affected by vegan or vegetarian diets.
We are thankful to the Chellaram Foundation for their contribution to this work, and look forward to welcoming people onto the study. Recruitment will allow for both self-referral and invitation from primary care. Through a further strand of this work, we aim to produce globally relevant evidence that informs public health policy, dietary guidelines, and supports healthier, more sustainable nutrition at the population level.”
The funder also frames the research in both health and environmental terms. The Chellaram Foundation stated: “We at the Chellaram Foundation are very happy to be a partner for this upcoming randomised controlled trial on vegetarianism and cardiovascular health in obese and overweight people.
“This study will use a rigorous clinical design to provide clear evidence on a vegetarian diet from a healthcare perspective. This research represents an essential step in understanding how compassionate food choices can create a more sustainable world.”
The useful distinction here is between advocacy and evidence. The foundation may have an interest in compassionate food choices; the trial still has to show, through measured outcomes, whether vegetarian or vegan diets produce meaningful health differences in the people being studied.
Who can take part in the Plant Your Health study?
The study is seeking people aged 18 to 50 who are living with overweight or obesity and currently eat meat at least five days a week. Participants need to be willing to follow the assigned dietary approach for 12 months.
Support includes supermarket vouchers to help with food costs, guidance from trained dietitians, cooking classes and detailed health checks at study visits. The supplied study information directs interested volunteers to uhl-tr.plantyourhealth@nhs.net or the Leicester Diabetes Centre Plant Your Health research page.
The NIHR BRC Leicester is hosted by University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust in partnership with the University of Leicester, Loughborough University and University Hospitals of Northamptonshire NHS Group.
For anyone hoping for a neat verdict on meat, plants and health, patience is part of the menu. The interesting part will not be which diet wins the loudest argument, but which changes still show up in the data after 12 months of ordinary life.
