There are so many literatures about vegetarians being less prone to chronic, noninfectious diseases, which are, however, the main cause of the decline in quality of life and mortality in developed countries. However, according to various scientific sources, vegetarian and especially vegan diets often contain less saturated fats, protein, calcium, vitamins D and B12, or long-chain ω-3 PUFAs. One of the most common pathology associated with a predominantly plant diet is osteopenia and osteoporosis. An analysis of 13 studies has shown that vegetarians and vegans are at a higher risk of reducing of bone mineral density, thereby increasing the incidence of fractures. At the same time, plant-based diets are usually richer in many other micronutrients important for bone health: vitamins C and K, carotenoids, potassium, magnesium, manganese, copper, or silicon. Moreover, with the deepening of our knowledge about the role of nutrients in the body and the features of the nutritional status of the population, the quality of vegetarian and vegan diets also increases. They are less and less prone to micronutrient deficiencies. Recent studies show that BMD, as well as the risk of osteoporotic fractures, at least in vegetarians, equaled these indicators in omnivores.

Vegetarian diets are plant-based diets including all the edible foods from the Plant Kingdom, such as grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. Dairy and eggs can be added in small amounts in the lacto-ovo-vegetarian subtype, or not at all in the vegan subtype. The abundance of non-processed plant foods—typical of all well-planned diets, including vegetarian ones—can provide the body with numerous protective factors (fiber, phytocompounds), while limiting the intake of harmful nutrients like saturated fats, heme-iron, and cholesterol. The beneficial effects on health of this balance have been reported for many main chronic diseases, in both observational and intervention studies. The scientific literature indicates that vegetarians have a lower risk of certain types of cancer, overall cancer, overweight-obesity, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and vascular diseases. Since the trend of following a vegetarian diet is increasing among citizens of developed countries, the knowledge in the field will benefit from further studies confirming the consistency of these findings and clarifying the effects of vegetarian diets on other controversial topics.

The origin of genetic code and translation system is probably the central and most difficult problem in the investigations on the origin of life and one of the most complex problems in the evolutionary biology in general. There are multiple hypotheses on the emergence and development of existing genetic systems that propose the mechanisms for the origin and early evolution of genetic code, as well as for the emergence of replication and translation. Here, we discuss the most well-known of these hypotheses, although none of them provides a description of the early evolution of genetic systems without gaps and assumptions. The RNA world hypothesis is a currently prevailing scientific idea on the early evolution of biological and pre-biological structures, the main advantage of which is the assumption that RNAs as the first living systems were self-sufficient, i.e., capable of functioning as both catalysts and templates. However, this hypothesis has also significant limitations. In particular, no ribozymes with processive polymerase activity have been yet discovered or synthesized. Taking into account the mutual need of proteins and nucleic acids in each other in the current world, many authors propose the early evolution scenarios based on the co-evolution of these two classes of organic molecules. They postulate that the emergence of translation was necessary for the replication of nucleic acids, in contrast to the RNA world hypothesis, according to which the emergence of translation was preceded by the era of self-replicating RNAs. Although such scenarios are less parsimonious from the evolutionary point of view, since they require simultaneous emergence and evolution of two classes of organic molecules, as well as the emergence of synchronized replication and translation, their major advantage is that they explain the development of processive and much more accurate protein-dependent replication.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a clinical condition with a prevalence of up to 25% in Western countries. Typical GERD symptoms include heartburn and retrosternal regurgitation. Lifestyle modifications, including diet, are considered a first-line therapeutic approach. To evaluate the impact of life habits on GERD in this cross-sectional study, we used data collected through an online survey from 1146 participants. GERD was defined according to the Montreal Consensus. For all participants, clinical and lifestyle characteristics were recorded. Overall, 723 participants (63.1%) consumed a diet including animal food (non-vegans), and 423 participants (36.9%) were vegans. The prevalence of GERD was 11% (CI 95%, 9–14%) in non-vegans and 6% (CI 95%, 4–8%) in vegans. In the multivariate analysis, after adjusting for confounding factors, subjects on a non-vegan diet were associated with a two-fold increase in the prevalence of GERD compared to vegans (OR = 1.96, CI 95%, 1.22–3.17, p = 0.006). BMI and smoking habits were also significantly associated with GERD. This study shows that an animal food-based diet (meat, fish, poultry, dairy, and eggs) is associated with an increased risk of GERD compared to a vegan diet. These findings might inform the lifestyle management of patients with GERD-related symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a multifactorial disease. Its occurrence and prognosis are affected by many genes, including KCNJ11, UCP2, and MTHFR . The objective of this study was to investigate the distribution of various variants of these genes and evaluate their contribution to the outcome of T2D. METHODS: 80 females with T2D and class I-II obesity in the age of 40-65 years old underwent a genetic study, a biochemical blood test, and indirect calorimetry. RESULTS: Carriers of C/T and T/T genotypes of the MTHFR gene had higher levels of cholesterol and triglycerides and lower levels of vitamin B6 and folate. The T/T genotype of the UCP2 gene was associated with higher levels of glycated hemoglobin, pre- and postprandial glycemia and lipid oxidation rate, lower carbohydrate oxidation, and lower serum vitamin C levels. CONCLUSIONS: Genotyping UCP2 and probably KCNJ11 may help to select the optimal antidiabetic therapy and improve disease prognosis, whereas the MTHFR gene may determine the need to monitor group B vitamin status and the risk of dyslipidemia.