Added benefits of following a plant-based diet

PLANT-BASED diets have the potential to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, according to a study titled “Vegetarian or vegan diets and blood lipids: a meta-analysis of randomized trials”, which was published in the May 24th edition of the European Heart Journal.

A meta-analysis review (a study that grouped all the results of smaller studies from 1982 to 2022) showed that compared to meat eaters, people who followed a vegan or vegetarian diet had lower levels of certain fats in their blood that can block arteries and possibly lead to heart disease and stroke.

The study revealed that non-meat eaters showed “7% lower total cholesterol, 10% lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (or “bad” cholesterol), and 14% lower apolipoprotein B (apoB) levels.”

ApoB is the main protein found in LDL cholesterol and can be used as another indicator of cardiovascular disease.

There was no significant difference in triglycerides, another type of fat linked to heart attacks and strokes at high levels.

“Vegetarian and vegan diets were associated with a 14% reduction in all artery-clogging lipoproteins as indicated by apolipoprotein B,” senior author Ruth Frikke-Schmidt, MD, PhD, who is with the University of Copenhagen, said in a press statement.

“This corresponds to a third of the effect of taking cholesterol-lowering medications such as statins,” she added, “and would result in a 7% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease in someone who maintained a plant-based diet for five years.”

Combining statins with plant-based diets would likely augment a greater synergistic effect, she speculated.

A significant aspect of the study was that it revealed the similarity “for people of different ages, body mass index, and states of health, living in different continents.

“If people start eating vegetarian or vegan diets from an early age,” Frikke-Schmidt said, “the potential for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease caused by blocked arteries is substantial.”

Many vegetables contain flavonol compounds, which have beneficial effects in preventing the development of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and cognitive diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia.

But not all plant-based diets are equal. Those that include refined carbohydrates or processed foods high in fat or salt are not beneficial.

According to Frikke-Schmidt, a bonus benefit occurs if the populations of high-income countries shift to plant-based diets – a reduction in “net emissions of greenhouse gases by between 35% and 49%.”

“Plant-based diets are key instruments for changing food production to more environmentally sustainable forms, while at the same time reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease” in an ageing population, she said.

DR A. SOORIAN

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