Editing Plant-based diet (section)

=== Diet quality ===
Not all plant-based foods are equally healthy. Rather, plant-based diets including whole grains as the main form of carbohydrate, unsaturated fats as the main form of dietary fat, an abundance of fruit and vegetables, and adequate n-3 fatty acids can be considered healthy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Kim Allan |last2=Patel |first2=Hena |date=25 July 2017 |title=Healthy Plant-Based Diet: What Does it Really Mean? |journal=Journal of the American College of Cardiology |volume=70 |issue=4 |pages=423–425 |doi=10.1016/j.jacc.2017.06.006 |issn=1558-3597 |pmid=28728685|doi-access= }}</ref>

With processed plant-based foods, such as vegan burger patties or chicken-like nuggets, becoming more available, there is also concern that plant-based diets incorporating these foods may become less healthy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Macdiarmid |first=J. I. |date=11 October 2021 |title=The food system and climate change: are plant-based diets becoming unhealthy and less environmentally sustainable? |journal=The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society |volume=81 |issue=2 |pages=162–167 |doi=10.1017/S0029665121003712 |issn=1475-2719 |pmid=35156593|s2cid=243109615 |doi-access=free |hdl=2164/19207 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

In practice lacto-ovo vegetarians or vegans seem to have a higher overall diet quality compared with nonvegetarians. The reason for this is the closer adherence to health organisation recommendations on consumption of fruits, whole grains, seafood and plant protein and sodium. The higher diet quality in vegetarians and vegans may explain some of the positive health outcomes compared with nonvegetarians.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Parker |first1=Haley W. |last2=Vadiveloo |first2=Maya K. |date=1 March 2019 |title=Diet quality of vegetarian diets compared with nonvegetarian diets: a systematic review |journal=Nutrition Reviews |volume=77 |issue=3 |pages=144–160 |doi=10.1093/nutrit/nuy067 |issn=1753-4887 |pmid=30624697|doi-access=free }}</ref>