The Health Advantage of a Vegan Diet: Exploring the Gut Microbiota Connection

by 

Marian Glick-Bauer

 and

Ming-Chin Yeh

 ^*

Nutrition Program, CUNY School of Public Health, Hunter College, City University of New York, 2180 Third Avenue, Room 614, New York, NY 10035, USA

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

This review examines whether there is evidence that a strict vegan diet confers health advantages beyond that of a vegetarian diet or overall healthy eating. Few studies include vegan subjects as a distinct experimental group, yet when vegan diets are directly compared to vegetarian and omnivorous diets, a pattern of protective health benefits emerges. The relatively recent inclusion of vegan diets in studies of gut microbiota and health allows us the opportunity to assess whether the vegan gut microbiota is distinct, and whether the health advantages characteristic of a vegan diet may be partially explained by the associated microbiota profile. The relationship between diet and the intestinal microbial profile appears to follow a continuum, with vegans displaying a gut microbiota most distinct from that of omnivores, but not always significantly different from that of vegetarians. The vegan gut profile appears to be unique in several characteristics, including a reduced abundance of pathobionts and a greater abundance of protective species. Reduced levels of inflammation may be the key feature linking the vegan gut microbiota with protective health effects. However, it is still unclear whether a therapeutic vegan diet can be prescribed to alter the gut microflora for long-term health benefits. 

Full-Text

MDPI and ACS Style

Glick-Bauer, M.; Yeh, M.-C. The Health Advantage of a Vegan Diet: Exploring the Gut Microbiota Connection. Nutrients 2014, 6, 4822-4838.

AMA Style

Glick-Bauer M, Yeh M-C. The Health Advantage of a Vegan Diet: Exploring the Gut Microbiota Connection. Nutrients. 2014; 6(11):4822-4838.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Glick-Bauer, Marian; Yeh, Ming-Chin. 2014. "The Health Advantage of a Vegan Diet: Exploring the Gut Microbiota Connection" Nutrients 6, no. 11: 4822-4838.