Blood Type Does Not Influence the Effects of a Vegan Diet

Blood type does not influence the health benefits of vegan diets, according to a study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Researchers with the Physicians Committee compared weight, body composition, and cholesterol levels with blood type in participants who either followed a vegan diet or made no dietary changes from a randomized control trial previously published in JAMA Network Open. There were no differences observed in these health outcomes between blood types A, B, or O. Those who followed a plant-based diet increased their metabolism as measured by an increase in after-meal calorie burn of 18.7%, on average, when compared to the control group. These results debunk the “blood type diet” by finding that blood type was not associated with the effects of a plant-based diet on body weight, body fat, plasma lipid concentrations, or glycemic control. The authors note that there is no clinical reason to limit the potential health benefits of plant-based dietary interventions for chronic disease prevention and treatment based on blood type.