Plant-based Diets Can Improve Heart Health

Plant-based diets especially vegan diets can improve cardiovascular health, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases.

Researchers with the Physicians Committee //for Responsible Medicine looked at multiple clinical trials and observational studies and found strong and consistent evidence that plant-based dietary patterns can prevent and reverse atherosclerosis and decrease other markers of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, including blood pressure, blood lipids, and weight.

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‘Plant-based diets can benefit heart health. Vegetarian and vegan diets are rich in fiber and phytonutrients such as carotenoids, anthocyanins, and lycopene which reduce inflammation and oxidative stress whereas animal products are high in saturated fat, cholesterol, heme iron, and environmental pollutants that can harm heart health.’

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The review found that a plant-based diet:

Reduces the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 40 percent
Reduces the risk of coronary heart disease by 40 percent
Fully or partially opens blocked arteries in up to 91 percent of patients
Reduces the risk of hypertension by 34 percent
Is associated with 29 mg/dL and 23 mg/dL lower total cholesterol and LDL-C levels, respectively, compared with non-vegetarian diets
Is associated with weight loss

"A plant-based diet has the power to not only prevent heart disease but also manage and sometimes even reverse it--something no drug has ever done," says study author Hana Kahleova, M.D., Ph.D., Physicians Committee director of clinical research.

The review notes that a healthy diet and lifestyle reduces the risk of a heart attack by 81-94 percent, while medications can only reduce the risk by 20-30 percent.

Plant-based diets benefit heart health because they're rich in fiber and phytonutrients--like carotenoids, anthocyanins, and lycopene--which reduce inflammation and oxidative stress. Animal products are packed with saturated fat, cholesterol, heme iron, and environmental pollutants and can harm heart health.

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"Heart disease is the world's leading cause of death. This study proves it doesn't have to be," says Dr. Kahleova.

Around the globe, cardiovascular disease is responsible for 46 percent of non-communicable disease deaths, or 17.5 million deaths a year.

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Source-Eurekalert

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