High Cholesterol: As Study Recommends A Vegetarian And Vegan Diet, Here\’s The List Of Foods That Can Help You Lower Your Cholesterol Times of India

A new study published in the European Heart Journal, a peer-reviewed medical journal of cardiology, has found that vegetarian and vegan diets can lower the level of cholesterol, which is a major risk factor for heart disease which subsequently kills nearly 18 million of people every year.

For the study, the researchers analyzed data from 30 randomized trials with a total of 2,372 participants, published between 1982 and 2022. The studies conducted in the USA, Sweden, Finland, South Korea, Australia, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Italy, Iran and New Zealand.

The researchers concluded that vegetarian and vegan diets were associated with reduced concentrations of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and apolipoprotein B, effects that were consistent across studies and participant characteristics.

\”Plant-based diets have the potential to reduce the atherosclerotic burden of atherogenic lipoproteins and thereby reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease,\” the study concluded.

For the study, the researchers estimated the effect of vegetarian and vegan diets on blood levels of TC, LDL-C, TG, and apoB (apoB contains lipoprotein particles that are risk factors for cardiovascular health).

LDL or low-density lipoproteins, called bad cholesterol, were monitored in the participants.

The researchers found that LDL levels dropped 10 percent in those who ate a plant-based diet compared with those who ate a diet that included both vegetables and meat products.

They also found that total cholesterol dropped by 7%.

Elevated levels of apolipoprotein B are associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. The normal range of apolipoprotein B level is 100 mg/dL. ApoB is the major apolipoprotein of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglyceride-rich lipoproteins.

The researchers found a significant impact of the plant-based diet on apolipoprotein B levels. They found that being vegan or vegetarian reduced apolipoprotein B levels by 14%.

Along with the study results, the researchers hinted at the most important treatment method and risk factors of atherosclerosis.

“Statin treatment is superior to plant-based diets in reducing lipid and lipoprotein levels,” they say.

\”Prevention of disease risk factors such as overweight, hypertension, and dyslipidemia is critical to slowing the atherosclerotic process, so consuming plant-based diets could postpone or even decrease the need for statins, thus sparing individuals from related side effects. to treatment,” they added.

A Harvard report explains the diverse nature of foods and how they help lower cholesterol. He says fiber binds cholesterol in the digestive system and removes it from the body before it enters the circulation. Polyunsaturated fats directly lower LDL. Plant sterols and stanols prevent the body from absorbing cholesterol.

Foods such as oats, barley, whole grains, beans, eggplants, okra, nuts, vegetable oils, seasonal fruits, soybeans and fatty fish can help lower cholesterol.

Foods fortified with stanols and sterols and fiber supplements may also be helpful.

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