Healthy Plant-Based Diet May Cut Burden of Multimorbidity of Cancer and Cardiometabolic Diseases

MONDAY, Sept. 8, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Among middle-aged and older adults, a healthy plant-based diet may reduce the burden of cancer and cardiometabolic diseases, according to a study published online Aug. 19 in The Lancet Healthy Longevity.

Reynalda Córdova, Ph.D., from the University of Vienna, and colleagues conducted a prospective cohort study using data from European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) and the U.K. Biobank across six European countries to examine the associations of plant-based diets with the risk for multimorbidity, defined as co-occurrence of at least two chronic diseases (cancer, cardiovascular disease, or type 2 diabetes). The study included 407,618 participants (226,324 from EPIC and 181,294 from U.K. Biobank).

The researchers found 6,604 cancer-cardiometabolic multimorbidity events were reported in both cohorts combined during follow-up. A 10-point increment in the healthful plant-based diet index (hPDI) score was associated with lower multimorbidity risk (hazard ratios [HRs], 0.89 and 0.81 in EPIC and U.K. Biobank, respectively). In both cohorts, this inverse association was marginally weaker in older than middle-aged adults. A 10-point increment of the hPDI score was associated with multivariable-adjusted HRs of 0.71 and 0.86 in adults aged younger than 60 years and in those aged 60 years and older in the U.K. Biobank. The corresponding HRs were 0.86 and 0.92 in EPIC. A positive association was seen for higher adherence to an unhealthy plant-based diet with multimorbidity risk in the U.K. Biobank, but this was not seen in EPIC.

“Shifting towards a more plant-based diet can already have a positive impact,” Córdova said in a statement.

Abstract/Full Text