During COVID-19, a Plant-Based Diet Helped Hospital Workers Stay Healthy

During COVID-19, a plant-based diet helped hospital workers stay healthy, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. Physicians Committee researchers randomized health care workers at a Washington, D.C., hospital into a control group or a group instructed to follow a vegan diet for 12 weeks and tracked weight and cholesterol. Those who followed a vegan diet lowered their body weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar when compared to those in the control group. These participants also increased their quality of life amid the workplace stresses of the pandemic. Improvements in these outcomes, linked to reduced severity and mortality of COVID-19, help ensure health care workers remain healthy to better serve patients.