may
There’s no shortage of vegan friendly hot sauces that reference “ass burning” in their name that were left out of this study.
Indeed. May also means May Not.
Bonus: Anything compared to the standard western diet (heavily processed, lots of carbs) - does better. The base line is so low any intervention actually appears beneficial.
So is the PBDP better then eating fast food and gunk every day? Sure. Is it optimal compared to other potential eating patterns - May… be?
One problem lots of papers have is confusing a inflammatory response with anti-inflammatory. i.e. a hormetic effect of consuming a inflammatory compound that elicits a anti-inflammatory response… it’s still inflammatory, and the net effect is anti-inflammatory in the context of a healthy person with a large “inflammation budget”, but someone sick who is battling systemic inflammation already wouldn’t see any benefit since their body is already on red alert, and the inflammatory compound would just inflame them more.
I just hate these soft-language bait headlines when reporting on scientific studies. If the article was “going from shitty fast food diet to plant-based shitty fast food diet results in statistically healthier outcomes”, that would be interesting and newsworthy. But the whole “doing this thing may affect other thing” allows the reader to apply their biases to whatever they’re reading.
Yeah, so I took a quick read of it… It’s even better, it’s not plant based vs omnivore… it’s actually Whole food (plant or animal) plus exercise vs standard processed diet and no exercise.
I know right? I have to avoid many of the most common food crops specifically because of inflammation. Wheat, soy, and nuts.
I agree with the other sentiment here though, it’s the processing and additives.
I have to avoid many of the most common food crops specifically because of inflammation. Wheat, soy, and nuts.
How do you measure your inflammation? periodic blood draw lab tests? What diet did you end up with for the lowest inflammation?
For myself I can just feel it. Arthritic pain etc. When I eat a lot of anything containing wheat. Pizza for one. My left ankle will swell up painfully for a week sometimes. I still have pizza from time to time. But I know I will suffer for it.
I did however go to a rheumatologist a couple years ago and get a blood test to discover what was causing me issues yes. Since then I’ve generally gone on a more keto diet. With lots of fruits and vegetables which I don’t react to. But mainly cutting out as much of the processed foods and trouble foods as I can.
Direct link to the paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.numecd.2026.104631
Due to the limited number of RCTs with a pure diet only intervention, we decided to include studies with mixed interventions, for example, PBDPs paired with exercise prescriptions.
mixed variables - so its not just PBDP’s its PBDP’s plus exercise.
Studies were excluded if they were…an inappropriate control was used not an omnivorous diet
That was a interesting exclusion - So a non-plant based non-omnivorous diet, a zero-carb carnivore RCT? I wonder why that exclusion specifically
in PBDP (Plant Based Dietary Pattern) they include : Vegan, lacto-ovo-vegetarian, and “wholefood, plant-based” – which includes meats and seafoods.
… So this study is saying a whole food (plant or animal) eating pattern PLUS exercise shows lower inflammation markers then a standard processed food eating pattern & no-exercise… I mean, sure, yeah… no big shock there.
Significant differences between groups at baseline; median CRP was 10 mg/l lower in those on vegan diet than those on the reference diet.
Wait? What? How can a RCT have significantly different CRP levels at baseline? That means it wasn’t a RCT… Because if there was a vegan group before the trail, then they couldn’t get randomized into different interventions… Yet this paper says its a meta-analysis of RCTs…
Again, plant-based uses more spices…eg indian food…and eg ginger, curcuma, garlic, cinnamon, cabbage, mint, chilli peppers, cumin, coriander seed all have anti-inflamatory properties. Meat…the only anti-something I know is that chicken broth seems to help with flu?
PS: they may also reinforce each other: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/04/260408225950.htm
Indeed. Eating plants makes you resilient against many stresses at the cellular level. Hence the lower inflammation.
It’s basically like exercise but at a metabolic level.
Some plant compounds stress your body directly making it stronger long term.
Some plant compounds (polyphenols) signal the stresses the plant has experienced to our body. And our body prepares survival mechanisms against it.
