Publications worth reading
A short shelf of landmark and high-impact studies in nutrition and lifestyle medicine, for clinicians who want the primary sources. These are external reading, separate from the cited rules that build the plans. Every citation was checked against PubMed.
Mediterranean diet & cardiovascular outcomes
PREDIMED (republished)
PubMedEstruch et al., N Engl J Med 2018;378(25):e34
In high-risk adults, a Mediterranean diet with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts cut major cardiovascular events versus a low-fat control.
Blood pressure
DASH (original trial)
PubMedAppel et al., N Engl J Med 1997;336(16):1117-24
A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy lowered blood pressure without sodium restriction or weight loss.
Salt Substitute and Stroke Study (SSaSS)
PubMedNeal et al., N Engl J Med 2021;385(12):1067-77
Swapping regular salt for a 75% sodium / 25% potassium substitute reduced stroke, major cardiovascular events, and death.
Fiber & whole grains
Carbohydrate quality and human health
PubMedReynolds et al., Lancet 2019;393(10170):434-45
Higher fiber and whole-grain intake tracked with lower mortality and less type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer.
Type 2 diabetes remission
DiRECT
PubMedLean et al., Lancet 2018;391(10120):541-51
A primary-care weight-management program put nearly half of participants into drug-free diabetes remission at 12 months.
Plant-based dietary patterns
Vegetarian patterns and mortality (Adventist Health Study-2)
PubMedOrlich et al., JAMA Intern Med 2013;173(13):1230-8
Vegetarian dietary patterns were associated with lower all-cause mortality in a large North American cohort.
Vegetarian/vegan diets and LDL cholesterol
PubMedKoch et al., Eur Heart J 2023;44(28):2609-22
Across 30 trials, vegetarian and vegan diets lowered LDL cholesterol by about 10% versus omnivorous diets.
Intensive lifestyle intervention
Ornish Lifestyle Heart Trial
PubMedOrnish et al., JAMA 1998;280(23):2001-7
Five years of intensive lifestyle change produced regression of coronary atherosclerosis without lipid-lowering drugs.
Look AHEAD
PubMedLook AHEAD Research Group, N Engl J Med 2013;369(2):145-54
Intensive lifestyle intervention improved weight and risk factors but did not reduce cardiovascular events versus usual support.
Ultra-processed foods
Ultra-processed food and health (umbrella review)
PubMedLane et al., BMJ 2024;384:e077310
Higher ultra-processed food intake was consistently linked with worse cardiometabolic, mental health, and mortality outcomes.
Lifestyle medicine in practice
ACLM Expert Consensus: Lifestyle Medicine in Primary Care
PubMedGrega et al., Am J Lifestyle Med 2024;18(2):269-93
A consensus framework for integrating the lifestyle-medicine pillars into routine primary care.
Food is Medicine
Produce prescriptions and cardiometabolic health
PubMedHager et al., Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2023;16(9):e009520
Across nine programs, produce prescriptions were linked to better diet, lower blood pressure, BMI, and blood sugar, and less food insecurity.
Inclusion here is editorial, not an endorsement of every detail. Read the source and apply clinical judgment. Note: the 2013 PREDIMED was retracted and republished in 2018; the link above is the corrected version.