Is a vegetarian diet healthier than an omnivore diet? Stanford twin study: Lowering bad cholesterol helps with weight loss
Is a vegetarian diet healthier than an omnivore diet? Stanford study: Cholesterol, weight dropped
Excessive red meat intake is considered to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) lists processed meat as a Class 1 carcinogen, and red meat as a Class 2A carcinogen (probable, Probably carcinogenic to humans). Some literature suggests that there is no clear evidence whether a plant-based diet is healthier than an omnivorous or meat-based diet. However, a recent randomized controlled study of twins from Stanford University showed that adopting a vegan diet had significant benefits in improving cardiovascular health after 8 weeks.
The Stanford University research team said that the difficulty with previous dietary studies is that different individuals are affected by genetic factors, growth environment and lifestyle, resulting in greatly different responses to dietary intake, and it is impossible to prove that the benefits of a specific diet are universal. In this regard, the research team recruited 22 pairs of identical twins, healthy subjects with no history of cardiovascular disease, and randomly assigned each pair of twins to a vegan diet or an omnivore diet for 8 weeks of dietary control. .
The research team conducted blood draws and health examinations for 22 pairs of twins before the start of the experiment and in the fourth and eighth weeks of the study. The study found that the average LDL cholesterol in the vegetarian twins was 110.7 mg/dL, while the LDL cholesterol in the omnivorous twins was 118.5 mg/dL. In addition, the fasting insulin values of the vegan twin participants also dropped by 20%. Compared with the omnivorous group, the average weight loss of the twins in the vegetarian group was about 1.9 kilograms more.
Did the vegetarian group improve their body values more significantly? Professor reveals three key factors
Christopher Gardner, senior author of the study and a professor at the Prevention Research Center at Stanford University School of Medicine, pointed out that the dietary menu designed for the twins is very healthy, rich in beans, vegetables, fruits and whole grains, and does not contain refined starches. The vegan diet group mainly maintains a plant-based diet, excluding all meat, eggs, and milk, while the omnivore group’s diet menu includes chicken, fish, eggs, cheese, and dairy products.
Professor Gardner said that this study used a diet that is acceptable to most people, but in the subjects who chose a pure vegetarian diet, it was found that a 2-month diet adjustment could help improve the long-term health status of the individual, especially in the diet. In the first four weeks of adjustment, vegetarians’ low-density cholesterol (LDL), fasting insulin and weight were significantly reduced, and cholesterol, insulin and weight loss are all related to improved cardiovascular health.
Why do vegetarians experience improved values related to cardiovascular health? Professor Gardner points out that the three most critical things are: reducing saturated fat intake, increasing dietary fiber intake and losing weight. Although it is difficult to get most people to become vegetarians directly, promoting a plant-based diet is indeed beneficial to improving community health. In addition, plant-based and vegan diets can bring other benefits, including increasing intestinal probiotics and reducing the shortening of cell telomeres, which can help delay aging.
There are still research limitations on the benefits of a vegetarian diet for cardiovascular disease and may not be applicable to high-risk groups.
Relevant comments believe that this study has its research limitations, including that the participating twin subjects were mostly healthy individuals, and its test results may not be extrapolated to other ethnic groups, and the study involved a small number of case samples and a short diet control period. , without long-term tracking, etc. As for whether a vegan diet has the same health benefits for all ethnic groups, other prospective studies need to continue to explore to draw more clear evidence.
Among cholesterol, “low-density cholesterol” is considered to be the most closely related to cardiovascular disease. It is generally believed that the dietary recommendations that can help improve cholesterol are: consume more fresh vegetables and fruits, fish, and whole grains, and reduce saturated fat and The intake of refined carbohydrates and rich fiber can reduce the absorption of fat in the intestines and help reduce cholesterol accumulation.
However, for groups at high risk of cardiovascular disease, such as those with a family history of familial hypercholesterolemia, the liver’s low-density cholesterol receptor (LDL-R) is unable to clear its own low-density lipoprotein cholesterol due to genetic mutations that affect cholesterol metabolism. , LDL cholesterol cannot be controlled at an optimal state through dietary control alone, and the clinical diagnosis of a specialist should still be used as the basis for treatment.
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