How a Vegan Diet Can Help Reverse Heart Disease

How a Vegan Diet Can Help Reverse Heart Disease

by | Sep 1, 2024 | Health

Imagine. A vegan diet can help reverse heart disease. Have you heard a doctor say that? My father would never have believed it. And yet it was his change in diet and lifestyle that saved him. Heart disease remains a leading cause of death worldwide. But there’s good news: recent research highlights the potential of vegan diets in reversing the effects of heart disease. 

A focus on plant-based foods can significantly improve heart health and reduce cardiovascular risks, according to a growing number of studies. Quite frankly, I’ve heard more and more doctors agree that a vegan diet, or at least mostly plant-based, can help reverse heart disease.

When I was a teenager, my father had a massive heart attack. As he gained strength in recovery, he continued the regimen that his cardiologist had put him on, recommending that he eat more vegetables, fruit, and fiber-rich grains, and cut back on meat, greasy foods and fats. He sat there one morning at the breakfast table, staring at the bowl of shredded wheat my mother had put before him. He scowled at me. “Yah mother! She has me eating cardboard!” he scoffed in his thick Rhode Island accent. And yet he did not give up on the new diet prescribed to him. I saw him get his energy back and his humor, too. 

The Science Behind Vegan Diets and Heart Health

These days, medical students are rarely  taught nutrition, agrees Plant Docs, a new non-profit group that shares the power of plant-based nutrition to prevent, improve, and even reverse heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and autoimmune diseases. 

Despite the lack of education around diet and health in the medical industry, more and more reports are showing the correlation between a vegan diet and a reversal of heart disease, among other things. As a result, more doctors, like Plant Docs, are educating themselves and getting certified in plant-based nutrition. 

The following is a list of recent studies that link plant-based choices with heart health:

  1. Cholesterol and blood pressure: A 2021 study in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that plant-based diets significantly lower LDL cholesterol and blood pressure, reducing the risk of coronary artery disease.
  2. Inflammation and heart disease: A 2023 study published in MDPI showed that a vegan diet can reduce markers of inflammation, which is a key factor in heart disease development.
  3. Overall cardiovascular health: a 2023 report from Stanford Medicine revealed that a vegan diet improves cardiovascular health in as little as eight weeks.

Perhaps one of the most notable if not the top report comes from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. They wrote:

Groundbreaking research shows that a plant-based diet doesn’t just prevent heart  disease but that it can manage and sometimes even reverse it. [Read More]

Key Benefits of Going Plant-based

  1. Improved Lipid Profiles: Vegan diets are free of dietary cholesterol and low in saturated fats, leading to improved lipid profiles. Studies show these diets can reduce LDL cholesterol by up to 30 percent.
  2. Enhanced Blood Vessel Health: A 2023 study in MPDI found that the antioxidants and polyphenols in plant foods improve endothelial function, crucial for maintaining healthy blood vessels.
  3. Reduced Risk of Atherosclerosis: Recent evidence suggests that plant-based diets can help prevent and even reverse atherosclerosis, a condition characterized by plaque build-up in the arteries.

Notable studies with whole food, plant-based diets

  • The BROAD Study (2020): This study demonstrated that participants on a whole-food, plant-based diet showed significant improvements in heart disease markers and overall cardiovascular health.
  • The Adventist Health Study-2 (2022): This large-scale study found that individuals following a vegan diet had a 75% lower risk of developing high blood pressure compared to omnivores.

Practical Tips for Transitioning to a Vegan Diet

Making changes in our lives never seems to be easy. Yet when you shift your viewpoint, transitioning to a vegan diet will become a smooth ride for you. Many patients, when they get a doctor's order to make changes, they think in terms of having to give up things they love.  I invite you to consider this: When you consider your health and quality of life, it's not about giving up the foods you love, but loving the foods that give you life. So relax, allow yourself to explore the new without worrying about what you may be missing. And I suspect you may not miss anything. Start with the list here below:

  1. Gradual Changes: Start by incorporating more plant-based meals and reduce animal products over time.
  2. Focus on Diversity: Include a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes to ensure a balanced nutrient intake.
  3. Seek Guidance: Consult with nutritionists familiar with vegan diets to maintain proper nutrition.
  4. Stay Informed: Keep up with the latest research and resources to support a healthy transition.
  5. Stay Positive: Seek the company of those who emotionally support your new choices.

A Vegan Path Towards Better Long-term Health

A vegan diet offers a powerful approach to reversing heart disease by reducing key risk factors and promoting overall cardiovascular health. With continued research and endorsements from experts in the field, adopting a plant-based lifestyle remains a transformative step towards improved heart health and longevity.

References

By emphasizing whole, plant-based foods, individuals can take proactive steps to enhance heart health and potentially reverse heart disease.

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Vegan Health and Fitness for Advanced

Vegan Health and Fitness for Advanced

by | Nov 15, 2013 | Health

running athlete vegan dietThere is a common assumption that people who are on a vegan diet don’t get enough nutrients to be professional athletes or have an advanced level of physical activity. This assumption is actually based on the recurrent habit of famous athletes to go on a plant-based diet but switching back to eating meat, which reinforces the message that it is not good for your health.

However, athletes like Brendan Brazier are a living example of how this switch is completely possible to have a high fitness level on a plant-based diet.

Why is it difficult to be a vegan athlete?
The difficulty of this issue lies primarily in switching to a vegan diet. It is difficult especially that most vegetables and legumes generally have higher percentages of carbs and lower percentages of protein and hence the same quantity of food gives the recipient less nutrients and energy. Furthermore, you can be getting lower levels of calcium and sodium that are crucially important for athletes. Those deficiencies are at the root of three major problems.

• Constant feeling of hunger: this is often the result of low protein and dietary fats. Our bodies need essential fats that are usually gained from dairy and other animal product but are more difficult to get from vegetables.
• Muscles cramps: this is usually the result of low calcium and sodium levels, two minerals that vegans tend to have a deficiency in.
• Low energy: this can be due to the lack of iron and other minerals. Hard physical activity depletes iron and can cause anemia.

What should an athlete do to address those problems?
While this can be a challenge, it is certainly a solvable problem despite the need for some persistence.
• Constant feeling of hunger: make sure to eat protein at every meal and for snacks. Other important ingredients include nuts and seeds oil that can help get all the essential oils and fats that the body needs.
• Muscle cramps: start adding salt to one or two meals each day to compensate for the loss of sodium and as for calcium it is important that you start eating almonds, bananas and green vegetables on almost every meal to compensate for the loss. Try supplements if you need to.
• Low energy: can be fought by eating beans, nuts and dried fruits that are high in iron. It is also a good practice to regularly your iron levels.

 

Vegan Health and Fitness for intermediate

Vegan Health and Fitness for intermediate

by | Nov 15, 2013 | Health

vegan and sportsDid you change to a plant based diet a while back? Are you looking to continue or resume your active lifestyle? Are you a fairly physically active individual and not sure how veganism is going to impact your lifestyle? Rest assured that as long as you eat properly you have nothing to worry about; in fact you might be doing your body a favour in switching to a plant-based diet.

How does veganism affect your fitness levels and performance?

If you undergo a moderate level of physical activity on a regular basis and have recently switched to a plant-based diet, you might notice some changes in your body and your overall performance. Those changes are often related to the way your body processes certain foods and to the fact that you suddenly might be eating less protein or not getting the whole protein combinations.

It can also be related to a lack of minerals and vitamins such as calcium and iron and essential fatty acids that are crucially needed for your muscle and bone development
as well as blood flow. However, this problem is not directly related to the diet itself but to how your administer it.

What changes do I need to be making?

First and foremost, it is crucially important that you understand the diet and how to eat properly as a vegan in order to avoid any potential health issues. Fit and physically active people specifically need additional minerals and different types of proteins and fats than people who do not exercise or who lead a more sedentary lifestyle. For those reasons, it is your responsibility to know your nutrition needs, and find the best food combinations that would provide you with those nutrients.

Another important consideration is using protein powders and supplements. Many vegan soy-based protein mixes can be easily added to shakes to be drunk as a snack or even as a meal replacement. They usually provide you with high quantities of protein and most of the essential nutrients and minerals that your body needs.

Supplements of vitamins and essential fats are easily accessible in drug stores and are often tailored to people with various lifestyles.

It is certainly possible and even healthy to be moderately active, healthy and vegan all at the same time. What is the most important is to understand the challenges and prepare a meal plan that compensate for the lost nutrients.

Photo credit:  Ariel da Silva Parreira http://www.sxc.hu/profile/arinas74