SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Switching to a vegan diet -- even for a month -- can physically alter the body's inflammation and aging markers, according to a report released from UC San Diego researchers. Participants were assigned either a vegan diet or a meat-rich diet. The vegan diet also changed the immune system to a less inflammatory state. According to the researchers, the DNA methylation analyses predicted lower proportions of neutrophils -- immune cells that drive inflammation -- and higher proportions of CD4 T cells, which help regulate immune responses. The vegan diet showed evidence of less-active genes that have been linked with cancer and of slowed ``epigenetic clocks,'' mathematical biomarkers estimating a person's biological age based on DNA methylation patterns rather than years lived.