The Study
Dietary Intake, Body Composition, and Muscle Function in Resistance-Untrained Strict Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian Women: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study.
This study looked at what two groups of women ate and how strong their muscles were, all at the same time. It can tell us if one group tended to have stronger muscles or different eating habits, but it can't tell us if eating vegetarian made those differences happen.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
This study looked at women who eat only plants and women who eat meat, comparing what they ate and how strong and healthy their muscles and bones were.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 535 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Even with lower protein and calcium intake, vegetarian women had similar muscle and bone health as meat-eating women, suggesting their diets may still support physical fitness.
- 2Vegetarian women ate less protein and calcium than meat-eating women, but both groups ate less calcium than recommended.
- 3Both groups had the same muscle mass, bone density, and strength.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabolisme
Year
2025
Authors
Márcio Beck Schemes, Gabriela Lucciana Martini, C. G. de Souza, R. S. Pinto, Claudias Schneider
Related Content
Claims (4)
People who consume more dietary protein, including from animal sources, have higher bone mineral density.
Women who follow a strict vegetarian diet eat less protein and calcium than women who eat meat, and both groups consume less calcium than health guidelines recommend, even though they consume similar amounts of total calories.
Women who follow a strict vegetarian diet and women who eat meat consume the same total amount of energy daily, even though vegetarians eat more carbohydrates and less protein and fat.
In women who do not regularly perform resistance training, those following strict vegetarian diets have the same levels of muscle mass, bone density, and lower-body strength as those following nonvegetarian diets, even though their nutrient intake differs.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.