Research Roundup

Issue No. 2 · April 4th, 2026

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Welcome to Issue No. 2 of the FNL Research Roundup!

This week we've rounded up the latest research on dietary patterns and chronic disease risks. Everything from plant-based diets, the Mediterranean diet, MIND diet, and microbiome supporting diets. Hope you enjoy!

Plant based diets

Vegetarian and Vegan Diets Associated with Lower Overall Cancer Risk Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis | European Journal of Epidemiology | 9 studies

Key Findings: This meta-analysis found that vegetarians had a 13% lower overall cancer risk compared to non-vegetarians, while vegans had a 23% lower total cancer risk.

Practice: Plant-forward diets can reasonably be framed as part of a cancer-preventive approach.

Worth noting: Heterogeneity was significant across studies, and BMI explained a moderate portion of the associations. Confounding variables from other healthy lifestyle behaviors are also hard to separate out.

*Added to the Vegan Diet note inside the FNL.

Plant-Based Diets Associated with Lower Odds of Hypertension Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis | 17 studies

Key Findings: This analysis of nearly 500,000 people found that better adherence to a plant-based diet was associated with 18% lower odds of hypertension.

Practice: You don't have to sell your clients on going vegan to see a benefit for blood pressure. This research includes vegetarian and flexitarian approaches, in which plant-based foods are emphasized, but animal-based foods are not entirely excluded.

*Added to the Hypertension note inside the FNL.

Plant-Based Low-Carb and Ketogenic Diets Can Match the Metabolic Benefits of Omnivorous Low-Carb Systematic Review | Nutrition | 7 RCTs

Key Findings: Plant-based versions of low-carb and ketogenic diets have comparable or superior short-term impacts as omnivorous low-carb approaches (reductions in body weight (5-7 kg over 8-12 weeks), LDL cholesterol, and HbA1c).

However, adherence to the ketogenic diet was lower in the real world, making plant-based low-carb the more practical long-term option.

Practice: Combining plant-based eating with a low-carb or ketogenic diet is possible and effective. Plant-based low-carb diets have better long-term adherence, while plant-based ketogenic diets are more suitable for short-term, supervised, high-impact interventions.

Worth noting: Study designs were heterogeneous and durations short. Long-term safety data for plant-based ketogenic approaches remains sparse.

*Added to the Ketogenic Diet note inside the FNL.

Brain Health & Diet

Long-Term Mediterranean and MIND Diet Adherence Associated with Reduced Dementia Risk Prospective Cohort Study | Alzheimer's & Dementia | 130,000 participants

This study followed participants for up to four decades and found that people in the highest quintile of adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet had 21% lower risk of developing dementia, while the highest quintile of adherence to the MIND diet had a 14% lower risk.

Each 1-point increase in Mediterranean-diet adherence score was associated with a 5% lower dementia risk, while each 1-point increase in MIND-diet adherence was associated with a 3% lower risk.

And this relationship held, regardless of where people began with their diet quality.

Practice: Clients who are just starting to follow a Mediterranean or MIND diet in their 50s or 60s shouldn't feel like they've missed the window. Improving adherence over 4–8 years independently predicted lower dementia risk and slower cognitive aging, even after accounting for where they started.

Worth noting: Observational design; causality can't be established. The cohorts were predominantly white health professionals, which limits generalizability.

*Added to the Mediterranean Diet note inside the FNL.

Liver Health & Diet

Consuming a Pro-Inflammatory Diet Is Associated with 33% Higher NAFLD Odds Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis | PLOS ONE

A meta-analysis of 18 studies, including over 250,000 people, found that consuming a pro-inflammatory diet (based on the Dietary Inflammatory Index) is associated with a 33% greater risk of developing NAFLD and a 36% greater risk of fibrosis.

Practice: For clients with fatty liver, the DII gives you a practical way to assess dietary inflammation as a pattern, rather than picking apart individual foods. High refined carbs, high processed meat, low fish, and low fiber push the score toward pro-inflammatory. Shifting that pattern matters for fatty liver development and potentially whether it progresses to fibrosis.

Worth noting: Observational data; causation can't be established. Publication bias was detected for NAFLD outcomes.

*Added to the MASLD note inside the FNL.

Bone HEALTH

Microbiome-Supportive Diet Is Associated with Up to 45% Lower Osteoporosis Risk in Postmenopausal Women Cross-Sectional Observational Study (NHANES) | Medicine

Data from 3,520 postmenopausal women found that each 1-point increase in "dietary index for gut microbiota" (DI-GM) scores was associated with 10% lower odds of osteoporosis, and that people with scores of 6+ had 45% lower odds of osteoporosis than people with scores of 3 or lower.

Further analysis found that consuming soybeans and fermented dairy had the highest protective effect, while processed meats had the strongest detrimental effects.

Practice: For practitioners already talking about the microbiome, this gives you a bone health angle that many clients won't have heard before.

Worth noting: Cross-sectional design means causality can't be established and reverse causation is possible. The study was specific to postmenopausal women, so generalizability is limited.

*Added to the Osteoporosis note inside the FNL.

Underweight BMI Associated with 3x Osteoporosis Risk Meta-Analysis | BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders | 39 studies, 93,453 patients

This meta-analysis found that underweight individuals faced a 3-fold higher osteoporosis risk compared to normal-weight individuals.

Practice: Underweight clients (especially lean older adults, those with eating disorder history, and underweight men) should be flagged as higher-risk for osteoporosis screening and bone health conversations.

*Added to the Osteoporosis note inside the FNL.

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