Summary
Background. To analyze, review and present evidence- based data on the impact of plant based diet on human body and laboratory blood tests in order to define benefits and possible disadvantages of such diet.
Material and methods. During the preparation of the review of scientific literature, the search for publications in English language was carried out in the databases of PubMed and in the specialized information search system Google Scholar. 52 articles in English published in the period of 2004–2024 were analyzed. Sources that have been chosen were full text articles, trials, narrative reviews, systematic reviews and meta-analysis. Descriptive analysis was used to examine the sources.
Results. Plant based diets are becoming more popular, so it is important to know their impact on human health, laboratory results. For example, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, inflammatory factors such as C reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, are known to decrease. The count of leucocytes, neutrophils, monocytes, platelets is lower. Due to the lack of vitamin B12 and iron, blood test results might show signs of anemia, such as different values of MCV, RDW, MCHC, ferritin. People who exclude meat from their diet have higher amount of homocysteine, lower concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids, glycated hemoglobin, also, iodine, which impacts thyroid hormones’ blood levels.
Conclusions. Plant based diet has an impact on blood test results, so it is crucial to know possible differences in laboratory results of vegetarians and omnivores.
