High cholesterol is linked to various cardiometabolic chronic conditions and debilities including heart attacks, strokes, peripheral vascular disease, and vascular dementia. However, much of this is because of lifestyle choices, and mostly it is coming from diet. Recent meta-analysis of randomized control studies from European Heart Journal found that a plant-based diet beneficial for lowering cholesterol levels.

Researchers analyzed 30 trials, adding up to approximately 2400 people, over the past 40 years. In the trials, subjects were randomly assigned either a vegetarian diet, a vegan diet, or an omnivorous diet. The average duration was 29 weeks.

They found that compared to the omnivorous diet, the vegetarian diet decreased bottle cholesterol by 7%, LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) by 10%, and apolipoprotein B (another fat particle that helps clog arteries) by 14%.

A healthy whole, food plant based diet remains the safest and most beneficial diet for lowering risks of cardiometabolic comorbidities, where the overall benefits outweigh the risks. This was also demonstrated in an earlier study this year.

We are fed and surrounded by advertisements promoting unhealthy and addicting foods, and our lack of self control in choosing those over the healthy option is perhaps the number once cause and most preventable way in not developing as well as curing the number one killer in the United States, heart disease. So if you have any shred of love for yourself or self-respect, pick the evidenced-based healthy option.

CA Koch et al. Vegetarian or vegan diets and blood lipids: a meta-analysis of randomized trials. European Heart Journal. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehad211