Improvements in Cardiometabolic Outcomes Seen With Healthy Vegan Diet

Twins randomly assigned to healthy vegan diet have significant decreases in LDL cholesterol concentration, fasting insulin, body weight

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Nov. 30, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Following a healthy vegan diet leads to improvements in cardiometabolic outcomes compared with a healthy omnivorous diet, according to a study published online Nov. 30 in JAMA Network Open.

Matthew J. Landry, Ph.D., from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, and colleagues compared the effects of a healthy vegan versus healthy omnivorous diet in cardiometabolic measures during an eight-week intervention in a single-center randomized clinical trial involving 22 pairs of twins. Participants were randomly assigned to a vegan or omnivorous diet for eight weeks.

The researchers found that after eight weeks, the twins randomly assigned to the vegan diet had significant mean decreases in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration (−13.9 mg/dL), fasting insulin level (−2.9 µIU/mL), and body weight (−1.9 kg) compared with twins randomly assigned to an omnivorous diet.

“We observed cardiometabolic advantages for the healthy vegan versus the healthy omnivorous diet among healthy, adult identical twins,” the authors write. “Clinicians may consider recommending plant-based diets to reduce cardiometabolic risk factors, as well as aligning with environmental benefits.”

One author disclosed receiving funding from Beyond Meat.

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