A Plant-based diet is proven to help avoid and address heart / cardiovascular disease

Low-fat, plant-based diets prevent, treat, and reverse hypertension, heart failure/attack, stroke, kidney/renal disease and other cardiovascular events.

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Individuals with moderate to severe heart disease can reverse it with diet and lifestyle changes, without surgeries and stents, as multiple studies have shown. (Dr. Ornish, Dr. Esselstyn)  Within weeks, 90% of chest pain diminished. After one month, blood flow to the heart improved significantly. After a year, severely blocked arteries had reopened. And, thirty years later, all of the compliant patients are still thriving.

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Plant-based diets benefit heart health because they contain no dietary cholesterol, very little saturated fat, and abundant fiber. Conversely, meat, cheese, milk and eggs have significant cholesterol and saturated fat which cause plaque buildup in the arteries, eventually leading to heart disease.

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A plant-based diet also helps improve several risk factors for heart disease:

• High Blood Pressure: A plant-based diet, rich in potassium, improves blood pressure.

• High Cholesterol: Aim for high-fiber foods, which can help lower cholesterol.

• Atherosclerosis: Diets rich in saturated fat and cholesterol cause plaque buildup in the arteries, restricting blood flow.

• Inflammation: Plant-based diets help reduce inflammation, which can lead to heart disease and other conditions.

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Those who reduced meat consumption to one day a week had 23% lower rates of hypertension (blood pressure) while those who were vegan had 75% lower risk of high blood pressure.  (Adventist 2 Study of 89,000 Californians)

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• There is a plethora of research studies to validate the positive impact of plant-based diets:

  • Vegetarian Diets and Blood Pressure: A Meta-analysis | Cardiology | JAMA Internal Medicine 

  • Plant‐Based Diets Are Associated With a Lower Risk of Incident Cardiovascular Disease, Cardiovascular Disease Mortality, and All‐Cause Mortality in a General Population of Middle‐Aged Adults | Journal of the American Heart Association 

  • A plant-based diet and hypertension

  • Dietary Intakes and Cardiovascular Health of Healthy Adults in Short-, Medium-, and Long-Term Whole-Food Plant-Based Lifestyle Program

  • Atrial fibrillation risk factor management with a plant‐based diet: A review

  • Meat Intake and Mortality: A Prospective Study of Over Half a Million People | Cancer Screening, Prevention, Control | JAMA Internal Medicine

  • Poor diet tied to nearly half of U.S. deaths from heart disease, stroke, diabetes 

  • Nutrients | Free Full-Text | Cardio-Metabolic Benefits of Plant-Based Diets

  • Meat consumption and fatal ischemic heart disease. 

  • Diet and serum cholesterol levels. A comparison between vegetarians and nonvegetarians in a Seventh-day Adventist group. 

  • Resolving the Coronary Artery Disease Epidemic Through Plant-Based Nutrition - PubMed

  • Effects of Plant-Based Diets on Plasma Lipids 

  • Effect of Plant Protein on Blood Lipids: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials | Journal of the American Heart Association 

  • Chinese Lacto-Vegetarian Diet Exerts Favorable Effects on Metabolic Parameters, Intima-Media Thickness, and Cardiovascular Risks in Healthy Men - PubMed 

  • Vegetarian diets and blood pressure among white subjects: results from the Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2). 

  • [Influence of combined lacto-vegetarian diet and selective beta-blocking agents on clinical and metabolic indices in patients with coronary heart disease]. 

  • Metabolism of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and transfer of lipids to high-density lipoproteins (HDL) in vegan and omnivore subjects. 

  • Relationship of Carotid Intima-Media Thickness and Duration of Vegetarian Diet in Chinese Male Vegetarians 

  • Vegetarian dietary patterns are associated with a lower risk of metabolic syndrome: the adventist health study 2. 

  • Nutrition Concerns and Health Effects of Vegetarian Diets 

  • Influence of vegetarian diet on serum values of homocysteine and total antioxidant status in children. 

  • Overall Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load of Vegan Diets in Relation to Plasma Lipoproteins and Triacylglycerols 

  • Long-term Low-Calorie Low-Protein Vegan Diet and Endurance Exercise Are Associated With Low Cardiometabolic Risk - PubMed 

  • Vegetarian Diet and Cholesterol and Triglycerides Levels - PubMed 

  • Fatty acid composition of habitual omnivore and vegetarian diets. 

  • Effects of long-term vegetarian diets on cardiovascular autonomic functions in healthy postmenopausal women. 

  • Plant-based diet, serum fatty acid profile, and free radicals in postmenopausal women: the diet and androgens (DIANA) randomized trial. 

  • The effect of a plant-based diet on plasma lipids in hypercholesterolemic adults: a randomized trial. 

  • A Taurine-Supplemented Vegan Diet May Blunt the Contribution of Neutrophil Activation to Acute Coronary Events - PubMed 

  • Vegan diet-based lifestyle program rapidly lowers homocysteine levels. 

  • Diet and Serum Lipids in Vegan Vegetarians: A Model for Risk Reduction - PubMed 

  • A vegan regimen with reduced medication in the treatment of hypertension. 

  • Risk of Hospitalization or Death From Ischemic Heart Disease Among British Vegetarians and Nonvegetarians 

  • Trans Fatty Acids and Cardiovascular Disease 

  • Diet and Chronic Degenerative Diseases: Perspectives From China 

  • Can lifestyle changes reverse coronary heart disease? 

  • Chinese Lacto-Vegetarian Diet Exerts Favorable Effects on Metabolic Parameters, Intima-Media Thickness, and Cardiovascular Risks in Healthy Men - PubMed 

  • Plasma kinetics of chylomicron-like emulsion and lipid transfers to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in lacto-ovo vegetarian and in omnivorous subjects. 

  • Plant-based, no-added-fat or American Heart Association diets: impact on cardiovascular risk in obese children with hypercholesterolemia and their parents. 

  • C-reactive Protein Response to a Vegan Lifestyle Intervention 

  • Plant-Based Nutrition: An Essential Component of Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Management 

  • A Review of Plant-based Diets to Prevent and Treat Heart Failure 

  • Healthy Plant-Based Diets Are Associated With Lower Risk of All-Cause Mortality in US Adults 

  • A Defined, Plant-Based Diet Utilized in an Outpatient Cardiovascular Clinic Effectively Treats Hypercholesterolemia and Hypertension and Reduces Medications 

  • Plant-based Diets for Children as a Means of Improving Adult Cardiometabolic Health 

  • Plant-based Diets and Cardiovascular Health 

  • The BROAD study: A randomised controlled trial using a whole food plant-based diet in the community for obesity, ischaemic heart disease or diabetes 

  • Whole grain intake and cardiovascular disease: a meta-analysis. 

 

• Plant-based individuals experienced 50-60% less ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes 

  • Vegetarian diet and incidence of total, ischemic, and hemorrhagic stroke in 2 cohorts in Taiwan 

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• Dietary Cholesterol and Egg Consumption is associated with Incident Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality

  • Dietary Cholesterol or Egg Consumption With Incident CVD and Mortality

  • Each 300 mg increase in cholesterol resulted in increased mortality HR of 1.18 and absolute increased risk of death by 3.24%

  • For each additional 1/2 egg consumed per day, resulted in increased All-Cause Mortality HR of 1.08 and increased risk of death of 1.93

    • Note that one large white egg contains 207 mg of cholesterol according to USDA

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