Self-selected vegan diet reduced muscle in older adults
Thigh muscle volume fell 0.61 liters on the vegan diet versus 0.01 liters on the omnivorous diet over 12 weeks.
Registered NCT05809466
Limit: Protein intake also fell, so the trial cannot isolate effects of excluding animal foods
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
A randomized trial assigned 72 healthy adults aged 65 or older to three groups for 12 weeks. They followed a self-selected vegan diet, their usual diet including animal foods, or a self-selected vegan diet with strength-building exercise.
Thigh muscle volume fell 0.61 liters with the vegan diet alone, compared with 0.01 liters with the omnivorous diet and 0.35 liters with vegan eating plus exercise. Lean mass in the arms and legs fell 1.15 kilograms, rose 0.05 kilograms and fell 0.62 kilograms, respectively. Protein intake fell in both vegan groups but did not change in the omnivorous group. During the first 10 days, muscle protein production was lower with the vegan diet alone than in either other group.
Why it matters
For older adults changing their diets, the trial addresses how food choices and strength-building exercise affect the preservation of muscle in later life.
Caveats
The findings concern self-selected diets that reduced protein intake in healthy adults aged 65 or older, not vegan diets generally or people with illness. The abstract does not report adverse events.
The paper
Wageningen University & Research
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Aug 14, 2026, Open access
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