Englert, Heike
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- Conference Proceeding (3) (remove)
Lifestyle diseases are linked with hyper-reactivity of inflammatory and immune cells. These cells generate free radicals in the patients, which results in oxidative stress. Recent studies have brought attention to the role of oxidative stress, defined as an imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidants. Our research was focused on studying the effects of a community-based lifestyle intervention program on oxidative stress paraments in the plasma of a rural German community. In our study, we examined 105 participants in the intervention group and 70 participants in the control group. The intervention group received 10 weeks of intensive intervention in the form of seminars and workshops. The plasma levels were analyzed at baseline and after 10 weeks of intervention. This is a first-of-itskind study which elucidates the impact of an intensive lifestyle intervention program on the oxidative stress markers in German rural participants. The primary focus of our study was to motivate and encourage participants to switch over toward a healthier lifestyle by improving their knowledge and making them more aware of the principles of healthy living. This may be a useful community program approach, modifiable for different communities by health-services planners in the coming future.
Introduction: Moving towards a more plant-based dietary pattern would likely be beneficial in terms of a variety of sustainability dimensions.
Methodology: We conducted a 2-year intervention study with six measurement time points (baseline, 10 weeks, 6 months, 1 year, 1½ years, 2 years) in rural northwest Germany. The intervention consisted of a lifestyle programme, and dietary recommendations were to move towards a healthy, plant-based diet. The control group received no intervention. Diet quality was assessed with the healthful plant-based diet index (hPDI).
Results: In the intervention group (n = 67), the 2-year trajectory of hPDI was significantly higher compared to control (n = 39; p 0.001; between-group difference: 5.7 (95% CI 4.0, 7.3) food portions/day; adjusted for baseline). The 2-year trajectory of meat intake was significantly lower in the intervention group (n = 79) compared to control (n = 40; p 0.001; between-group difference: -0.7 (95% CI -0.9, -0.5) portions/day; adjusted for baseline).
Conclusion: Our study confirms that plant-based nutrition education in the general population is likely to result in at least modest dietary improvements in terms of general healthfulness and meat reduction.