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A new trial called IMPACT compared lacto-ovo vegetarian and omnivorous diets among adults aged 55 and older who did resistance exercise. But the outcome figures needed to say which group gained more muscle—or whether there was a meaningful difference—are not available in the accessible trial record. The headline’s claim that “one difference stood out” therefore cannot be verified from the information currently available.
What the IMPACT trial compared
IMPACT was a randomized controlled trial conducted in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its listed study dates run from March 12, 2024, through June 27, 2025. It compared adults aged 55 and older following self-selected lacto-ovo vegetarian or omnivorous diets while doing resistance exercise. The PubMed record and the journal listing establish the broad comparison, but the accessible details do not provide the results needed to evaluate muscle gains.
Lacto-ovo vegetarian diets include dairy products and eggs but exclude meat and fish. The trial therefore does not directly represent vegan diets, nor does it isolate the effect of eating meat: the comparison involved broader dietary patterns alongside exercise.
What is not established about the muscle results
The available IMPACT record does not state the sample size, participants’ baseline protein intake, training protocol, primary muscle outcome, adherence, or the change measured in either group. It also does not show the difference between groups or its statistical uncertainty. Without those details, it is not possible to report whether one diet produced greater gains, whether the results were similar, or how confidently the comparison can be interpreted.
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That distinction matters: a trial can measure changes within each group, but the key question in a diet comparison is whether the change differs between groups. Until the outcome estimates and their uncertainty are available, neither a winner nor a “no difference” conclusion is justified.
A separate protein-supplement trial offers limited context
A different randomized trial, published in 2025, studied young, healthy, recreationally active adults—not the older adults in IMPACT. Participants followed habitual omnivorous diets and completed supervised lower-body resistance training three times weekly for 12 weeks. They received either a soy-and-pea protein blend or whey: three 15-gram doses a day, totaling 45 grams daily. The full-text paper reported improvements in both groups and no statistically significant between-group differences in whole-body lean mass, appendicular and leg lean mass, vastus lateralis muscle cross-sectional area, or leg-press one-repetition maximum.
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In that supplement trial, whole-body lean mass increased by 2.4 kg in the plant-protein group and 2.5 kg in the animal-protein group. Those figures belong only to this younger-adult supplement study; they are not IMPACT results and should not be used to describe the older-adult diet comparison. The trial authors concluded: “Complementing dietary protein intake with either a blend of plant- or an animal-based protein similarly supported resistance training-induced muscle adaptations.”
The studies answer different questions. The supplement trial compared protein products added to habitual omnivorous diets during a defined training program; IMPACT compared self-selected dietary patterns in adults aged 55 and older. The supplement findings provide context, but they do not settle the IMPACT comparison.
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Hormone findings are not muscle-gain evidence
A 2026 review summarizes a cross-sectional study of 233 vegan men, 226 meat-eaters, and 237 vegetarians. Vegan men had higher total testosterone, while sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) also rose proportionally; the study found no significant differences in calculated free testosterone, androstanediol glucuronide, or luteinizing hormone. This was hormone research, not a resistance-training trial, and it cannot establish which diet leads to greater muscle gain. The review was published January 9, 2026.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What to take away
IMPACT addresses a useful question—how muscle outcomes compare between older adults eating lacto-ovo vegetarian and omnivorous diets while doing resistance exercise—but the accessible record does not disclose its results. The separate 2025 supplement trial found similar measured adaptations with plant-blend and whey supplements in a younger population, but it cannot substitute for the missing IMPACT estimates. Until those estimates are available, the most accurate answer is that this trial’s headline comparison remains unresolved.
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