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Long-term cancer survivors represent a sizeable portion of the population. Plant-based foods may enhance the prevention of cancer-related outcomes in these patients. We aimed to synthesize the current evidence regarding the impact of plant-based dietary patterns (PBDPs) on cancer-related outcomes in the general population and in cancer survivors. Considered outcomes included overall cancer mortality, cancer-specific mortality, and cancer recurrence. A rapid review was conducted, whereby 2234 original articles related to the topic were identified via Pubmed/Medline. We selected 26 articles, which were classified into studies on PBDPs and cancer outcomes at pre-diagnosis: vegan/vegetarian diet (N = 5), provegetarian diet (N = 2), Mediterranean diet (N = 13), and studies considering the same at post-diagnosis (N = 6). Pooled estimates of the associations between the aforementioned PBDPs and the different cancer outcomes were obtained by applying random effects meta-analysis. The few studies available on the vegetarian diet failed to support its prevention potential against overall cancer mortality when compared with a non-vegetarian diet (e.g., pooled hazard ratio (HR) = 0.97; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.88–1.06). The insufficient number of studies evaluating provegetarian index scores in relation to cancer mortality did not permit a comprehensive assessment of this association. The association between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and cancer mortality reached statistical significance (e.g., pooled HR = 0.84; 95% CI: 0.79–0.89). However, no study considered the influence of prognostic factors on the associations. In contrast, post-diagnostic studies accounted for prognostic factors when assessing the chemoprevention potential of PBDPs, but also were inconclusive due to the limited number of studies on well-defined plant-based diets. Thus, whether plant-based diets before or after a cancer diagnosis prevent negative cancer-related outcomes needs to be researched further, in order to define dietary guidelines for cancer survivors.

Plant-based protein foods as suitable alternative protein sources have recently received increased global interest. The scientific community is exploring effective modification approaches to enhance the functionality of plant-based proteins for expanded utilization. Deamidation has shown great potential for structural modifications and improving the processing efficiency of proteins. In this review, we firstly revisit the enzyme reaction mechanism of protein-glutaminase and its fundamental differences from other enzymatic methods for the deamidation of proteins. Then, the latest advances regarding the suitability of protein-glutaminase modifications for improving the functional properties (e.g., solubility, emulsifying and foaming properties, flavor, and reduction in allergenicity) of plant-based proteins are overviewed. Finally, we address the potential prospect associated with the use of protein-glutaminase in plant-based protein foods, such as meat, dairy, and egg alternatives. This review provides a novel perspective for the design of plant-based protein foods by using protein-glutaminase in order to match animal counterparts in taste and texture, and to fuel widespread adoption.

This review reports on the effects of fermentation on the chemical constituents and antioxidant activity of plant-based food materials. Fermentation involves a series of reactions that modify the chemical components of the substrate. It could be considered a tool to increase the bioactive compounds and functional properties of food plant materials. Oxidative damage is key to the progression of many human diseases, and the production of antioxidant compounds by fermentation will be helpful to reduce the risk of these diseases. Fermentation also can improve antioxidant activity given its association with increased phytochemicals, antioxidant polysaccharides, and antioxidant peptides produced by microbial hydrolysis or biotransformation. Additionally, fermentation can encourage the breakdown of plant cell walls, which helps to liberate or produce various antioxidant compounds. Overall, results indicated that fermentation in many cases contributed to enhancing antioxidants’ content and antioxidant capacity, supporting the fermentation use in the production of value-added functional food. This review provides an overview of the factors that impact the effects of fermentation on bioactive compound composition and antioxidant activity. The impacts of fermentation are summarized as a reference to its effects on food plant material.

A growing world population as well as the need to enhance sustainability and health create challenges for crop breeding. To address these challenges, not only quantitative but also qualitative improvements are needed, especially regarding the macro‐ and micronutrient composition and content. In this review, we describe different examples of how the nutritional quality of crops and the bioavailability of individual nutrients can be optimised. We focus on increasing protein content, the use of alternative protein crops and improving protein functionality. Furthermore, approaches to enhance the content of vitamins and minerals as well as healthy specialised metabolites and long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids are considered. In addition, methods to reduce antinutrients and toxins are presented. These approaches could help to decrease the ‘hidden hunger’ caused by micronutrient deficiencies. Furthermore, a more diverse crop range with improved nutritional profile could help to shift to healthier and more sustainable plant‐based diets. This manuscript focus on different examples on how to improve the protein content and composition of crops, the content of micronutrients and other healthy compounds as well as how to remove unhealthy compounds.

There is a pressing need for healthy diets guided by environmental and nutritional targets. Plant‐based proteins have emerged as a recent and rapidly growing trend in response to the challenge of sustainable and healthy food systems. While plant‐based protein foods are widely promoted as sustainable alternatives, shifting beliefs and attitudes about conventional protein sources present an ongoing challenge. The study examined Canadians' intentions to transition to plant‐based protein diets, partially or entirely. A nationally representative survey was conducted among Canadian consumers to achieve our research objective. The survey was administered online using the Qualtrics platform by a market research firm and yielded valid responses from over 1800 participants. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) constructs—attitudes, self‐efficacy, and perceived availability—explained only 12% of the variation in intentions toward plant‐based protein foods, while sustainability and ethical concerns accounted for 10% of the variation in dietary patterns. Meat attachment negatively impacted changes in dietary patterns, explaining 11% of the intention variation. Additionally, individual past behavior accounted for 7% of intentions toward plant‐based proteins. Demographic factors, such as gender and education, strongly and positively predicted purchase intentions, while contextual factors, such as residing in rural neighborhoods and being from Atlantic Canada, showed a strong negative association with intentions toward plant‐based protein diets. The findings underscore the multifaceted nature of individuals' intentions toward plant‐based protein diets and emphasize the significance of considering cognitive, social, emotional, and past behavioral factors, alongside sustainability values and messaging, to transition to a more plant‐based protein diet. This approach should carefully balance individuals' emotional connection and the perception of meat as essential to their meals. Also, targeting interventions based on demographic characteristics, specifically gender, education, and residential neighborhood, can enhance changes in dietary protein sources. The findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge on consumer behavior and sustainable diets, guiding future research and policies informing the design of effective interventions to promote plant‐based protein consumption and dietary changes. The study examined Canadians' intentions to transition to plant‐based protein diets, drawing from primary data from a nationally representative sample of 1800 participants. The findings highlight that achieving the desired transition to sustainable protein diets requires a multifaceted approach that bolsters positive attitudes, self‐efficacy, and availability while emphasizing sustainability and ethical considerations. The insights contribute to understanding consumer behavior and sustainable diets, informing future research and policy interventions to promote plant‐based protein consumption and dietary shifts.

PurposeWhile intensive modern food systems have significant unfavourable impacts on health and the environment, new sustainable food consumption trends have been emerging in recent years. This study identified recent dietary trends over a 4-year period in terms of overall dietary patterns and organic foods consumption and associated socio-demographic determinants.MethodsFood intakes were assessed among 18,108 participants of the NutriNet-Santé cohort in 2014 and 2018. A food frequency questionnaire was used to estimate organic and conventional food consumption. Change in food consumption, quality of the diet (assessed by the adherence to the French national guidelines), plant-based diet using published scores, organic food intake were evaluated in regard with various socio-demographic factors. The paired student t test to compare dietary intake and the Kruskal–Walllis test to consider socio-demographic characteristics were used.ResultsConsumption of meat and processed meat decreased respectively by 5.09 g/day (SD 51.15) and 1.12 g/day (SD 26.05). The average total consumption of organic products increased by 12% (+ 93 g/day) while consumption of organic fish and seafood (− 1.4 g/day), poultry (− 1 g/day), processed meat (− 0.3 g/day) and meat (− 3.3 g/day) decreased. The dietary towards healthier diets was more pronounced in certain population subgroups. For example, females, young individuals and postgraduate participants were more likely to increase their consumption of healthful plant and animal-based foods, organic foods and to improve the overall nutritional quality of their diets during the follow-up period than their counterparts.ConclusionOur results indicate a slight inflexion towards healthier and plant-based diets over a 4-year period at least in some segments of the population. A decrease in the consumption of animal products and an increase in the consumption of healthful plant-based foods and organic foods suggests a potential trend towards more sustainable diets among certain subgroups. The environmental impacts of these changes need to be assessed in further works as well as the way to sustain and improve them, in particular those who do not initiate sustainable transition.

The shift in consumer dietary patterns from meat-based to plant-based food products has become a prominent trend worldwide. This shift is driven by various factors, including concerns about personal health and environmental awareness. Despite the global growth of the plant-based food industry, developing nations tend to be slow with adopting non-meat-based diets. This is mainly due to high levels of food insecurity and meat being the main source of protein, especially in countries like South Africa where food consumption is needs-based, and consumers are unaware of the environmental footprint of meat production. This paper is part of a two-phase study and reports on the quantitative results, which were obtained during the second phase. The main aim of this study was to investigate the factors that influence consumers’ decisions to choose plant-based food products. The factors that were selected were informed by the thematic results from phase 1, which involved focus groups that explored consumers’ opinions and behaviours towards plant-based lifestyles. By means of survey distribution, 426 online questionnaires were distributed among young consumers in South Africa. A conceptual model with six hypotheses was tested and the data were analysed using SmartPLS 4.1.0.8. The findings indicated the product taste and product knowledge are the most important factors that drive young consumers’ decisions to choose plant-based food products. The study further found that product quality, affordability, social influence, and product packaging play a role but to a lesser degree. Food marketers can utilise these findings and implement marketing strategies that can assist with persuading consumers to choose plant-based food products and adopt a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle.

Background Plant-based diets are known to be beneficial for cardiovascular health and promote environmental sustainability. However, many athletes avoid plant-based diets due to concerns of protein inadequacy. Objectives To investigate the impact of two predominately plant-based diets—whole food plant-based (WFPB) and plant-based meat alternatives (PBMA)—vs. an omnivorous diet, favoring red meat and poultry (Animal), on endurance and muscular strength. Methods 12 recreational runners and 12 resistance trainers were assigned to three diets—WFPB, PBMA, and Animal—for 4 weeks each, in random order. Primary outcomes for runners (12-minute timed run) and resistance trainers (composite machine strength) were collected at baseline and after diets, along with secondary performance outcomes and dietary data. Results 22 recreational athletes completed the study (age: 26.2 ± 4.4 years; sex: 10 female, 12 male; BMI: 23.1 ± 2.4 kg/m 2 ). Mean differences in 12-minute timed run – WFPB vs. Animal (− 23.4 m; 95% CI: − 107 to 60.0 m) and PBMA vs. Animal (− 2.9 m; 95% CI: − 119 to 113 m) – were not significant. Mean percent differences in composite machine strength – WFPB vs. Animal (− 2.7%; 95% CI: − 5.8 to 0.4% and PBMA vs. Animal (− 0.7%; 95% CI: − 3.5 to 2.2%) – were not significant. Average protein intake for all diets met International Society for Sports Nutrition recommendations. Conclusions Our findings suggest recreational athletes can maintain athletic performance on both an omnivorous diet and two diets that are predominately plant-based. Trial registration NCT05472701. Retrospectively registered.

Background There is growing evidence that substituting animal-based with plant-based foods is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), type 2 diabetes (T2D), and all-cause mortality. Our aim was to summarize and evaluate the evidence for the substitution of any animal-based foods with plant-based foods on cardiometabolic health and all-cause mortality in a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods We systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science to March 2023 for prospective studies investigating the substitution of animal-based with plant-based foods on CVD, T2D, and all-cause mortality. We calculated summary hazard ratios (SHRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) using random-effects meta-analyses. We assessed the certainty of evidence (CoE) using the GRADE approach. Results In total, 37 publications based on 24 cohorts were included. There was moderate CoE for a lower risk of CVD when substituting processed meat with nuts [SHR (95% CI): 0.73 (0.59, 0.91), n  = 8 cohorts], legumes [0.77 (0.68, 0.87), n  = 8], and whole grains [0.64 (0.54, 0.75), n  = 7], as well as eggs with nuts [0.83 (0.78, 0.89), n  = 8] and butter with olive oil [0.96 (0.95, 0.98), n  = 3]. Furthermore, we found moderate CoE for an inverse association with T2D incidence when substituting red meat with whole grains/cereals [0.90 (0.84, 0.96), n  = 6] and red meat or processed meat with nuts [0.92 (0.90, 0.94), n  = 6 or 0.78 (0.69, 0.88), n  = 6], as well as for replacing poultry with whole grains [0.87 (0.83, 0.90), n  = 2] and eggs with nuts or whole grains [0.82 (0.79, 0.86), n  = 2 or 0.79 (0.76, 0.83), n  = 2]. Moreover, replacing red meat for nuts [0.93 (0.91, 0.95), n  = 9] and whole grains [0.96 (0.95, 0.98), n  = 3], processed meat with nuts [0.79 (0.71, 0.88), n  = 9] and legumes [0.91 (0.85, 0.98), n  = 9], dairy with nuts [0.94 (0.91, 0.97), n  = 3], and eggs with nuts [0.85 (0.82, 0.89), n  = 8] and legumes [0.90 (0.89, 0.91), n  = 7] was associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality. Conclusions Our findings indicate that a shift from animal-based (e.g., red and processed meat, eggs, dairy, poultry, butter) to plant-based (e.g., nuts, legumes, whole grains, olive oil) foods is beneficially associated with cardiometabolic health and all-cause mortality.

A general transition to plant-based diets is recommended for improved human and planetary health. The information about why people opt for plant-based diets can be used to profile future health promotion initiatives. We studied the reasons that encouraged the adoption and maintenance of plant-based diets and the influence of the socio-cultural environment and other external factors. Through the use of a specifically designed questionnaire, we evaluated two different populations. Interpreting data from 229 participants, we observed the relevance of adapting strategies to motivate people to embrace plant-based diets according to their socio-cultural environment. External factors facilitating access to plant-based products appeared to be essential in both populations.