Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30405108›Full record

Trial reportNutrition & diabetes2018

A plant-based diet in overweight individuals in a 16-week randomized clinical trial: metabolic benefits of plant protein.

Hana Kahleova, Rebecca Fleeman, Adela Hlozkova, Richard Holubkov, Neal D Barnard

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Nutrition & diabetes, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05072587 (Dietary Oxysterols and β-Cell Function Among African Americans), which is not on this map. Cited by 68 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
68citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT05072587 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2021, after this paper: background citation

Dietary Oxysterols and β-Cell Function Among African Americans

TypeinterventionalSponsorMorehouse School of MedicineRan2021 to 2023Enrolled12ConditionsType 2 DiabetesArmsPlant-based diet with no oxysterols, Standard ADA Diet (SADA)
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

68 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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  8. From Ancient Enemas to Tube Feeding, I: History, Administration, and Nutritional Composition of Commercial Versus Food-Based Formulas in Critical Illness.American journal of critical care : an official publication, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses · 2025
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8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Hana KahleovaPhysicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 5100 Wisconsin Ave, N.W. Ste.400, Washington, DC, 20016, USA. hana.kahleova@gmail.com.
Rebecca FleemanPhysicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 5100 Wisconsin Ave, N.W. Ste.400, Washington, DC, 20016, USA.
Adela HlozkovaPhysicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 5100 Wisconsin Ave, N.W. Ste.400, Washington, DC, 20016, USA.
Richard HolubkovSchool of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84132, USA.
Neal D BarnardPhysicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 5100 Wisconsin Ave, N.W. Ste.400, Washington, DC, 20016, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND

objectivesA plant-based diet is an effective strategy in the treatment of obesity. In this 16-week randomized clinical trial, we tested the effect of a plant-based diet on body composition and insulin resistance. As a part of this trial, we investigated the role of plant protein on these outcomes. SUBJECTS AND

methodsOverweight participants (n = 75) were randomized to follow a plant-based (n = 38) or a control diet (n = 37). Dual X-ray Absorptiometry assessed body composition, Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA-IR) assessed insulin resistance, and a linear regression model was used to test the relationship between protein intake, body composition, and insulin resistance.

resultsThe plant-based vegan diet proved to be superior to the control diet in improving body weight, fat mass, and insulin resistance markers. Only the vegan group showed significant reductions in body weight (treatment effect -6.5 [95% CI -8.9 to -4.1] kg; Gxt, p < 0.001), fat mass (treatment effect -4.3 [95% CI -5.4 to -3.2] kg; Gxt, p < 0.001), and HOMA-IR (treatment effect -1.0 [95% CI -1.2 to -0.8]; Gxt, p = 0.004). The decrease in fat mass was associated with an increased intake of plant protein and decreased intake of animal protein (r = -0.30, p = 0.011; and r = +0.39, p = 0.001, respectively). In particular, decreased % leucine intake was associated with a decrease in fat mass (r = +0.40; p < 0.001), in both unadjusted and adjusted models for changes in BMI and energy intake. In addition, decreased % histidine intake was associated with a decrease in insulin resistance (r = +0.38; p = 0.003), also independent of changes in BMI and energy intake.

conclusionsThese findings provide evidence that plant protein, as a part of a plant-based diet, and the resulting limitation of leucine and histidine intake are associated with improvements in body composition and reductions in both body weight and insulin resistance.

Indexed as

Diet, VeganAdultAgedBody CompositionBody WeightFemaleHumansInsulin ResistanceMaleMiddle AgedOverweightTreatment OutcomeWeight Loss

Identifiers

PMID30405108
PMCPMC6221888

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.