Academy Releases New Position Paper on Vegetarian and Vegan Diets

Vegetarian and vegan diets continue to gain global interest, with an estimated 16 to 20 million adults in the U.S. following these eating patterns. These dietary patterns are endorsed by public health organizations and included as a healthy option in the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Plant-based eating, often including vegetarian and vegan diets, have experienced a surge in interest amongst the public, health care providers and researchers in recent years. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has released a new position paper called “Vegetarian Dietary Patterns for Adults: A Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics,” which provides an excellent review of the latest research on vegetarian and vegan diets.

The paper can be summarized by the position statement:

It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that, in adults, appropriately planned vegetarian and vegan dietary patterns can be nutritionally adequate and can offer long-term health benefits such as improving several health outcomes associated with cardiometabolic diseases. Vegetarian dietary patterns exclude meat, poultry and seafood, and vegan dietary patterns exclude all foods of animal origin.

Registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) and nutrition and dietetics technicians, registered (NDTRs), play a pivotal role in providing meal-planning strategies and evidence-based nutrition information to clients currently following vegetarian or vegan dietary patterns, or who may benefit from and express interest in following vegetarian or vegan dietary patterns. RDNs and NDTRs can work with their clients to create tailored, lifestyle-oriented, nutritionally balanced and culturally suitable vegetarian and vegan dietary patterns that optimize health benefits while reducing concerns about nutrient inadequacies.

RDNs, NDTRs and other health care providers will find important information, including benefits and potential risks of a vegetarian diet, micronutrients of concern and much more. This position paper should be essential reading for all dietetics students and practitioners who work with patients or clients who may have an interest in utilizing a vegetarian or vegan eating plan.

This work has been funded by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation and the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetics Practice Group. Read the full paper published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.