The latest in a long line of papers on the many health benefits of reducing meat intake concludes that a plant-based diet is great news for your heart.
Currently, in the United States, vegetarianism and veganism are steadily becoming more popular. Touted as a more healthful option, many people are working to reduce their meat intake.
In the past few decades, numerous studies have demonstrated that restricting meat impacts the body in a number of positive ways.
For instance, a plant-based diet has been shown to reduce the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Vegetarianism and veganism may even protect against certain cancers.
A recent study conducted with 475,000 men and women in the UK Biobank study, have showed on average that higher consumption of unprocessed red meat, processed meat and poultry meat consumption was associated with higher risk of cardiovascular risks.
The researchers — from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington D.C. — scrutinized reams of recent, relevant studies.
Collating information from a host of clinical trials and observational studies, they found that a plant-based diet was consistently linked with improved measures of heart health.
They concluded, for individuals following a plant-based diet, that:
- Risk of death from cardiovascular disease is reduced by 40 percent.
- Coronary heart disease risk is reduced by 40 percent.
- Blocked arteries are unblocked partially or fully in as many as 91 percent of patients.
- Hypertension risk drops by 34 percent.
In summary, current palliative cardiovascular medicine consisting of drugs, stents, and bypass surgery cannot cure or halt the vascular disease epidemic and is financially unsustainable. Whole foods and plant-based foods can restore the ability of endothelial cells to produce nitric oxide, which can halt and reverse disease without morbidity, mortality, or added expense.
Transitioning safely to a more plant-based diet
Here are a few tips you can transition safely when reducing meat consumption
- Don't go cold turkey and have your body come to a shock. Instead, try reducing the portions at every meal so that you are better prepared in cutting out red meat and poultry in your daily diet.
- Prepare supplements that your body will result in some deficiencies when reducing the consumption of red meat and poultry; such as magnesium, iron and protein (If you're diabetic, all our products are low GI, gluten free and sweetened slightly with natural sweeteners such as Erythritol and Stevia only)
- Learn new recipes and try to keep your new diet fun. Remember that the key to a successful transition is consistency and you can explore that more with our recipe pages here on our website.
To a a healthier you!
References:
1. Esselstyn CB. A plant-based diet and coronary artery disease: a mandate for effective therapy. J Geriatr Cardiol. 2017;14(5):317-320. doi:10.11909/j.issn.1671-5411.2017.05.004
2. Papier, K., Fensom, G.K., Knuppel, A. et al. Meat consumption and risk of 25 common conditions: outcome-wide analyses in 475,000 men and women in the UK Biobank study. BMC Med 19, 53 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-021-01922-9
3. Bouvard V, Loomis D, Guyton KZ, Grosse Y, Ghissassi FE, Benbrahim-Tallaa L, et al. Carcinogenicity of consumption of red and processed meat. Lancet Oncol. 2015;16(16):1599–600. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1470-2045(15)00444-1.
4. Knuppel A, Papier K, Fensom GK, Appleby PN, Schmidt JA, Tong TYN, et al. Meat intake and cancer risk: prospective analyses in UK Biobank. Int J Epidemiol. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyaa142.
