Oxford University launches major plant-based diet study

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Researchers at Oxford Population Health have launched a major new study designed to generate the most up-to-date picture of different diets in the UK, including plant-based diets, and how they affect long-term health and wellbeing.

All UK residents aged 18 years and over are invited to complete an online questionnaire, regardless of whether they regularly consume meat, fish, and dairy products, or follow a flexitarian or plant-based diet. Participants can also opt to receive a personalised nutrient report, contribute biological samples, and complete follow-up questionnaires.

Funded by the Medical Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation, the EPIC-Oxford 2 study will investigate the health effects of modern diets as dietary habits in the UK continue to evolve.

The project builds on the original EPIC-Oxford study, one of the best-known studies of vegetarian and vegan diets, which began in the 1990s and has followed the health of around 65,000 people living throughout the UK.

The main objective of EPIC-Oxford 2 is to establish the world’s most informative resource for studying the health benefits and risks of modern plant-based diets. The EPIC-Oxford 2 team aims to involve around 100,000 people, including 80,000 new volunteers alongside participants from the original EPIC-Oxford study.

Why the study is needed

The UK’s food landscape has changed significantly since the original EPIC-Oxford study was established more than three decades ago. Previous studies of vegetarian and vegan diets were conducted before the widespread availability of today’s plant-based meat and dairy alternatives, and relatively little is known about the long-term health effects of modern dietary patterns.

EPIC-Oxford 2 aims to address this evidence gap by collecting detailed information on diet, lifestyle and health from adults across the UK.

Key changes in the food landscape and dietary patterns include:

An increasing number of people are following a flexitarian, pescatarian, vegetarian or vegan diet;
Growing interest in reducing consumption of meat and other animal products for health, environmental and ethical reasons;
Rapid expansion in the availability and consumption of plant-based food products;
Increasing public debate about the health impacts of ultra-processed foods, including plant-based alternatives.

Keren Papier, Chief Investigator and Senior Nutritional Epidemiologist at Oxford Population Health, said ‘More people in the UK are experimenting with plant-based diets than ever before, but what people are eating today is very different from what they were eating when many of the studies that inform current evidence were conducted. Participants in this study will help us to address many important questions about how modern diets affect long-term health; we are very grateful for their input.’

How this study contributes to health research

The original EPIC-Oxford study revealed important differences in disease risk between people following different diets, including vegans, vegetarians, pescatarians and meat-eaters. Researchers observed differences in the risk of conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and some cancers, but many questions remain. EPIC-Oxford 2 aims to go beyond identifying patterns by combining information on diet, health, lifestyle and biomarkers.

Keren Papier added ‘With EPIC-Oxford 2, we want to go beyond describing those differences in disease risk and better understand the biological mechanisms that may explain them. By combining population-level diet research with molecular studies, we hope to build stronger evidence on how diet affects health and support better disease prevention in the future.’

Take part

EPIC-Oxford 2 is open to anyone aged 18 years or over living in the UK. Researchers are keen to hear from everyone, whatever they eat. The information gathered will support future investigations into a range of important health outcomes and may help inform dietary guidance for the public.

People interested in taking part in the study can find out more on the EPIC-Oxford 2 and complete the online survey which will take around 25 minutes.