- Researchers investigated the impact of a vegetarian diet pattern on people at high risk for cardiovascular disease.
- They found that eating a plant-based diet for six months improved several measures of cardiometabolic risk, such as cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
- Consuming a more plant-based diet may benefit people at increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
In 2019,
Studies show that CVD is often caused by: lifestyle factor, diet, smoking, lack of exercise, etc. Practical interventions that may improve the cardiometabolic risk profile are therefore key to reducing CVD rates.
increasing amount research We show that a vegetarian diet may be effective in preventing CVD. However, little is known about how these diets affect her CVD patients or those at high risk for them.
Recently, researchers from the University of Sydney and the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Australia and the University of Brescia in Italy have shown how a vegetarian diet affects key cardiometabolic risk factors in people with or at high risk for CVD. I researched what to give.
Researchers found that following a vegetarian diet for six months was associated with improved measures of cholesterol, blood sugar, and weight in people at high risk of CVD.
Dr. Dana Hannessaid a senior clinical dietitian at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, who was not involved in the study. medical news today:
“Vegetarian diets are not only good for CVD health, but also good for the environment – reducing greenhouse gases, water use, land use – which is good for all of us. .”
This paper summarizes a systematic review and meta-analysis of the most recent evidence.
For this study, investigators analyzed 20 randomized controlled trials involving 1,878 participants with a mean age of 28 to 64 years who had CVD or were at high risk for CVD.
The number of participants varies between analyses, as not all studies included key measurements of LDL, body weight, HbA1C, and systolic blood pressure. Most patients were taking medications to manage their cardiometabolic symptoms.
Studies lasted on average 6 months. Four involved CVD patients, while seven focused on diabetes and nine involved people with at least two CVD risk factors, including hypertension, high-low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and diabetes. . Participants ate various types of vegan or vegetarian diets during the study period.
Patient data included measurements of blood glucose, systolic blood pressure (the pressure in the arteries when the heart pumps blood), and LDL levels (19 studies included this measurement; participants). Body weight was included as a secondary measure.
Ultimately, researchers found that a vegetarian diet for an average of six months was associated with small but significant reductions in LDL levels and blood sugar measurements.
The researchers added that those at high risk for CVD had the greatest reductions in LDL, and those with type 2 diabetes had the greatest reductions in blood sugar.
They further found that participants (1,395 participants in 16 studies) lost an average of 3.4 kilograms of weight over the study period, while their blood pressure measurements did not change significantly (955 participants in 14 studies). ) pointed out.
The researchers suggested that a vegetarian diet could potentially be used alongside drug therapy to prevent and treat various cardiometabolic disorders.
MNT We spoke with Dr. Hunnes about how a vegetarian diet reduces CVD risk and how it might benefit CVD patients and those at high risk.
She notes that a vegetarian diet should be high in fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, beans and legumes, and deficient in animal products, which contain substances that cause inflammation, and therefore anti-inflammatory fiber and I noted that they tend to be much higher in antioxidants. saturated fat.
“This type of diet tends to lower cholesterol levels, weight and inflammation. [These factors] act synergistically to decrease [the] There is a risk of CVD,” she added.
Researchers wrote that their findings on blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol may be obscured by patients’ use of medications to manage these areas. If this is true, the researchers noted that a vegetarian diet could have a greater impact on these measures than has been observed.
MNT also talked to Dr. John P. HigginsA sports cardiologist at the McGovern School of Medicine at the University of Texas at Houston Health Science Center (UTHealth), who was not involved in the study, spoke about its limitations.
He noted that the findings are limited because adherence to a particular diet may decrease over time. He also noted that the study did not compare a vegetarian diet to other diets known to be good for heart health, such as the Mediterranean diet.
MNT also talked to Dr. Zahir Rahman, a cardiologist at Staten Island University Hospital, who was also not involved in the study. He noted that the results were limited because they were obtained from a meta-analysis of trials with a small number of participants. But higher-quality, large-scale randomized trials are likely to yield similar results, he said.
Dr. Clyde YanceyThe chair of the Department of Cardiology at Northwestern Medical College and former president of the American Heart Association, who was not involved in the study, investigated multiple variations of vegetarian dietary patterns, including: pointed out.
- ornish dietcontains mostly fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and soybeans, with a limited amount of non-fat dairy products.
- A lacto-ovo vegetarian diet is a meat-free diet that contains dairy and eggs.
- A lacto-vegetarian diet is a meat-free diet that contains dairy products but no eggs.
He pointed out that the study highlights that there is no single standard vegetarian diet. He also warned that not all vegan options are low-fat and some may even contain high levels of preservatives.
“A more important message is the benefits of a plant-based diet with many nutrients. [variety] In composition,” said Dr. Yancey.
Dr. Robert PilchikA board-certified cardiologist at Manhattan Cardiology, who was not involved in the study, said: MNT:
“The implication of this meta-analysis is that a vegetarian diet works synergistically with optimal pharmacotherapy to lower LDL, [blood sugar],body weight. These are all factors associated with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. “
But Dr. Clancy added that there is also the potential to improve cardiometabolic health without going vegetarian.
“[The American Heart Association’s]
