Sodiq Ojuroungbe
A new study has found that eating plant-based diets or embracing a vegan lifestyle can boost cardiovascular health due to the low levels of cholesterol associated with them.
It also supported the long-held belief that plant-based diets can help to lower blood cholesterol and fat levels while fostering heart health.
The new research which was published in the European Heart Journal, discovered that diets vegan diet can reduce levels of lipoprotein, which may be a better predictor of cardiovascular disease than low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or what is known as bad cholesterol.
The World Health Organisation in a report revealed that 18 million people die from cardiovascular diseases each year.
The global health organisation identified atherosclerosis, which is a thickening or hardening of arteries as layers of plaque build up over time as the main contributing factor to cardiovascular disease.
Researchers in the new study, however, discovered that eating more plants is a major factor in preventing and slowing down the progression of atherosclerosis.
The researchers analysed the results of 30 different randomized trials published between 1980 and 2022, investigating the effect of plant-based diets on cholesterol.
The selected studies quantified the effects of vegetarian and vegan diets compared to omnivorous diets on blood lipids and lipoprotein levels in adults over age 18.
Blood lipids include total cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins (LDL), high-density lipoproteins (HLD), and triglycerides.
Research showed that LDL cholesterol and apoB-containing lipoproteins are markers for cardiovascular diseases.
The study’s authors discovered that eating a vegetarian or vegan diet reduced LDL, or bad, cholesterol by 10 per cent, total cholesterol by 7 per cent, and apolipoprotein B by 14 per cent.
The researchers in their report concluded that the adoption of a plant-based diet could postpone or even eliminate the need for statins.
The study also revealed that omega-3 fatty acids, found in fatty fish, walnuts, and seeds, did not have a significant effect.
Reacting to the findings, a nutritionist, Joy Nwokedi, told Reportr Door Healthwise that a plant-based diet can boost cardiovascular health, stressing that it contains little fat, cholesterol, and salt that can aggravate CVDs.
The nutritionist, while noting that a key way to prevent CVDs was to avoid a diet high in fat and salt, however, said plant-based diets contain significant amounts of fibre that help reduce the risk.
She said, “It is true that a plant-based diet can boost cardiovascular health. Some of the major causes of CVDs are excess fat, cholesterol, and even salt in the diet. A plant-based diet contains less of all of these and also contains considerably more fibre, which is a key ingredient in lowering the risk of CVDs.
“Plant-based diets contain significant amounts of fibre, which help to reduce cholesterol and fat levels in the blood. This in turn promotes heart health.
“A key way to prevent CVDs would be to avoid a diet that’s high in fat and salt. These things are the major dietary causes of CVDs. They can also predispose one to non-communicable diseases like obesity and high blood pressure, and they’re both risk factors for CVDs.
“That is to say, they can easily advance into cardiovascular disease. So, whichever way it happens, they both lead to CVDs.
“My advice to the public is to cut down on animal proteins. Eliminating it entirely is not necessary as that would increase the risk of certain nutritional deficiencies unless one consumes fortified foods. People who consume plant-based diets are generally thinner and have lower blood pressure and cholesterol in their system, which lowers their risk of heart disease and other diseases.”
On the assumption that eating plant-based diets can lead to obesity, the nutritionist noted, “Plant-based diets contain fewer calories, total fat, and saturated fat. These are the components that generally lead to obesity. So a person on this sort of diet shouldn’t be at risk of obesity. If anything, he/she should lose weight.
“If in any case, a person on a plant-based diet keeps gaining weight, it might be as a result of some mistakes the person might be making. For example, he/she might be consuming too many high-calorie carbohydrates instead of whole grains, or maybe he/she is not practicing portion control
“There are other factors that could also contribute, but generally, if a plant-based diet is properly executed, it would most likely lead to weight loss rather than weight gain.”
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