Mixed
A healthy vegan diet increases basophil levels in the blood, whereas a healthy omnivorous diet decreases them, indicating diet-specific immune system modulation.
Switching to a healthy vegan diet may alter your immune profile by increasing basophil levels, a type of white blood cell. While this is a specific change, it highlights that plant-based diets actively modulate the immune system rather than just suppressing it.
We observed significant changes in basophil levels in the vegan and omnivore diets. However, the basophil levels increases in the vegan group (delta mean = 0.0014, p = 0.04, Figure 3) and decreased in the omnivore group (delta mean = -0.0018, p = 0.048).
Why this rating
Randomized controlled trial with paired twins, but the finding is specific to one immune cell type and may have clinical significance that is not fully explored.
Source
Unveiling the Epigenetic Impact of Vegan vs. Omnivorous Diets on Aging: Insights from the Twins Nutrition Study (TwiNS)
Varun B. Dwaraka et al. · medRxiv · 2023
DOI 10.1101/2023.12.26.23300543
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