Study Finds That Adopting a Vegan Diet Can Improve Heart Health

Recent research has verified that a nutritious plant-based diet can lead to considerable heart advantages.

The study, released in the JAMA Network Open last month, concluded that a healthy vegan diet offers significantly more protection for heart health when compared to a nutritious omnivorous diet.

The study gathered data from 22 twin pairs. Each twin pair consisted of one vegan and one omnivore. Researchers developed both kinds of diets to be balanced and beneficial for the heart, and tracked each participant’s cholesterol levels.

Christopher Gardner, PhD, a study co-author and Stanford University medicine professor, expressed surprise at the extent of the change, especially given that the omnivorous diet they had developed was designed to be healthy.

Gardner also pointed out that the use of identical twins in the study adds more scientific rigor, as identical twins share the same DNA, simplifying the process of attributing observed changes either to genetics or to the environment, including diet.

The study compared the effects of an omnivorous diet, which included both plant-based foods and meat, to that of a vegan diet, which contained no meat, eggs, dairy, or any other animal products. It involved 44 individuals, with a median participant age of 40. None of the participants had a BMI of over 40, no diabetes or elevated blood pressure.

A majority of the participants were females. The ethnic background of participants comprised of Asians, Blacks or African Americans, Native Hawaiians/Pacific islanders, White, and multiracial persons. Most of the participants lived with their twin, and they were all omnivores before the study commenced.

In the course of the study, one twin from each pair was put on a specific diet, receiving meals from the research team for the first half of the eight-week study. From week five onwards, the participants were responsible for their meals and snacks, observing the prescribed eating patterns.

Gardner emphasized the importance of ensuring both diets were heart-friendly for at least the first four weeks.

The prescribed omnivore diet comprised daily servings of fish, meat, or chicken, an egg and a one-and-a-half serving of dairy, while the vegan diet contained no animal products. Its emphasis was on beans and vegetables.

Despite the participants’ relative health at the start of the study due to recruitment prioritizing twins, positive progress was made by switching to a plant-based eating plan.

The vegan group saw a drop in LDL cholesterol levels from a baseline of 110.7 mg/dL to about 96 mg/dL at the end of the eight weeks. Omnivorous twins experienced a less significant drop, from 118.5 mg/dL to 116mg/dL. Twins who went vegan also saw a roughly 20% drop in fasting insulin, indicating a reduced risk for developing diabetes.

Contrary to expectations, neither diet led to decreased glucose levels, another diabetes risk factor. Both groups lost weight, however, weight loss was slightly higher among the vegan group.

Gardner warned that just being vegan doesn’t automatically make a diet heart-friendly. He pointed out that many unhealthy foods like soda pop and candies, are vegan.

Nevertheless, a healthy vegan diet may outrank a healthy omnivore diet for several reasons.

First, many vegan diets are high in legumes, or beans, which are rich in fiber and known to be good for heart health, Julia Zumpano, RD, a registered dietitian with the Center for Human Nutrition at Cleveland Clinic who specializes in heart health told Health.

Vegan diets also don’t contain saturated animal fat, which is harmful to cardiovascular health, she added.

People living in the United States eat more meat per capita than almost any other country and more than twice the global average. While eating a fully plant-based diet may not be for everyone, cutting back on the amount of meat you eat and adding more vegetarian sources of protein can go a long way, Gardner explained.

“You don’t have to go full vegan,” he said, “but I hope this encourages more people to try more vegan meals.”