Overview
- The trial, published on August 3, 2026, enrolled 48 healthy adults who after a one-week standardized diet were randomly assigned to either an isocaloric vegan or a meat-rich diet for one month.
- Genome-wide DNA methylation changed modestly but consistently in the vegan group across sites linked to immune function, metabolism and cell growth, indicating diet can move the epigenome in weeks.
- Methylation-based estimates and blood counts both pointed to a less inflammatory immune profile on the vegan diet, with lower neutrophil proportions and higher CD4 T cell proportions.
- Two epigenetic clocks tied to health outcomes suggested a slowdown in biological aging on the vegan diet while a clock optimized for chronological age showed a different pattern.
- Authors and institutions disclosed funding sources, reported no conflicts of interest, and cautioned that the small size and short duration mean larger, longer trials are needed to see if molecular shifts lead to real health benefits.