PARIS, October 29, 2025: A French observational study of more than 63,000 adults has found that the cardiovascular health benefits of a plant-based diet depend significantly on the nutritional quality and degree of industrial processing of the foods consumed. Researchers from the INRAE (National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment), Inserm (French Institute of Health and Medical Research), Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and Cnam (Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers) used data from the NutriNet‑Santé cohort and published their findings in the journal The Lancet Regional Health, Europe.
The cohort included 63,835 adults tracked for an average of 9.1 years, with some participants monitored for up to 15 years. Dietary intake data were collected via online questionnaires covering at least three days of consumption and then analysed to determine plant-versus animal-based food proportions, overall nutritional quality (such as levels of fat, sugar, salt, vitamins, minerals) and the extent of food processing via a classification system for processed foods. Results indicate that individuals whose diets were high in minimally processed, nutrient-dense plant-based foods including fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, legumes and whole grains without additives had about a 40 percent lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease compared with those whose diets relied more heavily on animal-based products.
On the other hand, participants whose diets focused on plant-based foods that were ultra-processed or of low nutritional value for example, industrial breads, packaged soups, ready-made meals made with plant-derived ingredients did not show a significant reduction in cardiovascular disease risk. In fact, in the subgroup with the highest consumption of such ultra-processed plant-based foods, the risk was approximately 40 percent higher compared with those eating minimally processed, nutrient-rich plant-based foods. The study employed novel dietary indices that accounted concurrently for plant-versus animal-food balance, nutritional quality and processing level.
Minimally processed foods linked to reduced heart risk
These indices included a healthy plant-based diet index (hPDI) and an unhealthy plant-based diet index (uPDI), each further adjusted by the degree of processing to form “unprocessed” or “ultra-processed” versions. According to the authors, the findings underscore that the protective association commonly attributed to plant-based diets is not uniform and hinges on both the intrinsic nutritional value of the plant foods and their processing. They emphasise that dietary recommendations should incorporate both food quality and processing level alongside dietary pattern.
The NutriNet-Santé cohort, launched in 2009 and coordinated by the Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (CRESS-EREN) at INRAE/Inserm/Cnam/Université Sorbonne Paris Nord/Université Paris Cité, has produced more than 300 scientific publications to date. The full citation of the paper is: Prioux C, Kesse-Guyot E, Srour B, et al. “Cardiovascular disease risk and the balance between animal-based and plant-based foods, nutritional quality, and food-processing level in the French NutriNet-Santé cohort: a longitudinal observational study.” The Lancet Regional Health, Europe (2025). – By EuroWire News Desk.