Why Going Vegan Increases Your Risk for Heart Disease
Plants do not have cholesterol.
I will pause for vegans to exit this page because that’s all they needed to know. Cholesterol is the root of all evil, animal products clog our arteries, yada yada yada… But does the fact that plants don’t contain this nutrient allow us to say a vegan diet protects us from heart disease? If you read the science, the answer to that question is definitely no. LDL and HDL The truth is that someone who consumes no cholesterol at all can still have dangerously high levels of cholesterol in their blood. No… seriously! Here’s why: |
Our liver naturally produces more cholesterol than we could ever get from our diets, enough cholesterol to clog over our arteries and cause a severe cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or stroke, without any added from our diet. Harvard actually says that 80% of the cholesterol in our body is made by our liver while merely 20% comes from our diet. So, if we all have too much cholesterol in our bodies, are we all about to suffer a heart attack?
Nope. The truth is that cholesterol alone presents us no CVD risk elevation. Because analogies are fun, let’s pretend that cholesterol is a little person standing on the sidewalk calling for a taxi. There are several types of taxis in this city (taxis are actually lipoproteins, our bodies’ cholesterol-carriers), but the two we’re most concerned about are HDL (these are high-density lipoproteins, often referred to as “good cholesterol”) and LDL (low-density lipoproteins, or “bad cholesterol”).
These taxis can only carry people one direction. HDL carries cholesterol back to the liver where it’s promptly excreted out of the body—think of HDL taxis carrying the people back to the train station where they will get on and ride away, meaning they can no longer clog up our city. But LDLs carry cholesterol to the arteries and deposits them, where, over time, they will accumulate as plaque blocking blood flow and raising our risk for all kinds of not-cool conditions. So think of LDL taxis taking people to the car dealership, but, in our scenario, the people are just going to be driving their newly-bought cars around all over our town, never actually going anywhere, making traffic a nightmare. If that analogy doesn’t tickle your fancy, watch this video that explains things in more-boring but way-sciencier terms.
This means, instead of focusing on how much cholesterol you eat, you should instead focus on achieving higher HDL levels and lower LDL levels. In other words, dietary cholesterol alone is not a risk factor for heart disease. This is very different from our society’s tendency to think of foods as “sources” of cholesterol. Science Daily said: “In the majority of population, dietary cholesterol affects serum cholesterol levels only a little, and few studies have linked the intake of dietary cholesterol to an elevated risk of cardiovascular diseases. Globally, many nutrition recommendations no longer set limitations to the intake of dietary cholesterol.”
For example, many people are driven away from eggs because the food itself contains high levels of cholesterol, but the science actually shows that eggs raise our levels of HDL, meaning all the cholesterol in them is transported directly to the liver to be excreted, then the extra lipoproteins the eggs gave us will go on to remove other lingering cholesterol from our bloodstream. It may seem oxymoronic that these foods can contain so much cholesterol and still lower our blood serum cholesterol (the amount of it deposited in our arteries), but that is why the concept of lipoproteins is so important to grasp when discussing cholesterol levels.
Nope. The truth is that cholesterol alone presents us no CVD risk elevation. Because analogies are fun, let’s pretend that cholesterol is a little person standing on the sidewalk calling for a taxi. There are several types of taxis in this city (taxis are actually lipoproteins, our bodies’ cholesterol-carriers), but the two we’re most concerned about are HDL (these are high-density lipoproteins, often referred to as “good cholesterol”) and LDL (low-density lipoproteins, or “bad cholesterol”).
These taxis can only carry people one direction. HDL carries cholesterol back to the liver where it’s promptly excreted out of the body—think of HDL taxis carrying the people back to the train station where they will get on and ride away, meaning they can no longer clog up our city. But LDLs carry cholesterol to the arteries and deposits them, where, over time, they will accumulate as plaque blocking blood flow and raising our risk for all kinds of not-cool conditions. So think of LDL taxis taking people to the car dealership, but, in our scenario, the people are just going to be driving their newly-bought cars around all over our town, never actually going anywhere, making traffic a nightmare. If that analogy doesn’t tickle your fancy, watch this video that explains things in more-boring but way-sciencier terms.
This means, instead of focusing on how much cholesterol you eat, you should instead focus on achieving higher HDL levels and lower LDL levels. In other words, dietary cholesterol alone is not a risk factor for heart disease. This is very different from our society’s tendency to think of foods as “sources” of cholesterol. Science Daily said: “In the majority of population, dietary cholesterol affects serum cholesterol levels only a little, and few studies have linked the intake of dietary cholesterol to an elevated risk of cardiovascular diseases. Globally, many nutrition recommendations no longer set limitations to the intake of dietary cholesterol.”
For example, many people are driven away from eggs because the food itself contains high levels of cholesterol, but the science actually shows that eggs raise our levels of HDL, meaning all the cholesterol in them is transported directly to the liver to be excreted, then the extra lipoproteins the eggs gave us will go on to remove other lingering cholesterol from our bloodstream. It may seem oxymoronic that these foods can contain so much cholesterol and still lower our blood serum cholesterol (the amount of it deposited in our arteries), but that is why the concept of lipoproteins is so important to grasp when discussing cholesterol levels.
How To Treat Your City Right
So how can we make sure we get the right kind of taxis in our bodies that will put the cholesterol where we want it? There’s no denying that diet plays a huge part in that. The thing that all the foods in the “bad cholesterol” section have in common is their levels of saturated fat. Excess consumption of saturated fat is widely accepted as one of the worst things you can do for your cholesterol levels. Other things that correct these lipoprotein levels include refraining from smoking, getting enough exercise, and not drinking excess alcohol. Here’s some further reading about how to manipulate your body’s lipoprotein levels: “Foods to Optimize Cholesterol Ratio?” Foods to Optimize Cholesterol Ratio? | Go Ask Alice!, The Trustees of Columbia University, goaskalice.columbia.edu/answered- questions/foods-optimize-cholesterol-ratio. “How to Raise Your HDL Cholesterol.” University of Massachusetts Medical School, UMMS. |
Nestel, Paul J, et al. “Suppression by Diets Rich in Fish Oil of Very Low Density Lipoprotein Production in Man.” NCBI, Baker
Medical Research Institute, 1984.
I do feel it would be a disservice not to mention that too high of HDL levels can be just as dangerous. We need cholesterol to survive because it synthesizes bile (which actually will break down fat, reducing plaque buildup) and other nutrients. That’s why our bodies make it! Too much HDL would mean that all of the cholesterol is carried away, and there’s none leftover to fill those roles. In our analogy, think of making sure that there are enough people in your city to do all the important jobs, but not so many that the streets are at a standstill.
Phytosterols
Although plants do not contain cholesterol, they do contain a kind of cousin, called phytosterols. These little boogers make the CVD discussion a lot fuzzier, and the scientific community is still dumbfounded about the full picture of why they cause the effects they do. In the olden days, like way back to the time of the Flintstones, people ate naturally-occurring phytosterols, and this fought off all kinds of bad heart juju. Extensive evidence has shown that phytosterols, the most-commonly discussed type being sterols, lower our levels of LDLs and block our absorption of dietary cholesterol. Here is some that evidence:
Derdemezis, Christos S, et al. “Review Article: Effects of Plant Sterols and Stanols Beyond Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol
Lowering.” Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 3 Mar. 2010.
Gupta, A.K., et al. “Role of Phytosterols in Lipid-Lowering: Current Perspectives | QJM: An International Journal of Medicine |
Oxford Academic.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 15 Feb. 2011.
Ostlund, J r. “Phytosterols and Cholesterol Metabolism.” Current Opinion in Lipidology., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Feb.
2004.
To expand our metaphor, think of phytosterols like policemen keeping all of the people in check. This means, if your doctor is really concerned about your blood serum cholesterol levels, moderately intaking more plant sterols is one important step you could take. However, discussing phytosterols is the perfect time to introduce the fact that cholesterol itself is only one of many risk factors for heart disease.
Medical Research Institute, 1984.
I do feel it would be a disservice not to mention that too high of HDL levels can be just as dangerous. We need cholesterol to survive because it synthesizes bile (which actually will break down fat, reducing plaque buildup) and other nutrients. That’s why our bodies make it! Too much HDL would mean that all of the cholesterol is carried away, and there’s none leftover to fill those roles. In our analogy, think of making sure that there are enough people in your city to do all the important jobs, but not so many that the streets are at a standstill.
Phytosterols
Although plants do not contain cholesterol, they do contain a kind of cousin, called phytosterols. These little boogers make the CVD discussion a lot fuzzier, and the scientific community is still dumbfounded about the full picture of why they cause the effects they do. In the olden days, like way back to the time of the Flintstones, people ate naturally-occurring phytosterols, and this fought off all kinds of bad heart juju. Extensive evidence has shown that phytosterols, the most-commonly discussed type being sterols, lower our levels of LDLs and block our absorption of dietary cholesterol. Here is some that evidence:
Derdemezis, Christos S, et al. “Review Article: Effects of Plant Sterols and Stanols Beyond Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol
Lowering.” Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 3 Mar. 2010.
Gupta, A.K., et al. “Role of Phytosterols in Lipid-Lowering: Current Perspectives | QJM: An International Journal of Medicine |
Oxford Academic.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 15 Feb. 2011.
Ostlund, J r. “Phytosterols and Cholesterol Metabolism.” Current Opinion in Lipidology., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Feb.
2004.
To expand our metaphor, think of phytosterols like policemen keeping all of the people in check. This means, if your doctor is really concerned about your blood serum cholesterol levels, moderately intaking more plant sterols is one important step you could take. However, discussing phytosterols is the perfect time to introduce the fact that cholesterol itself is only one of many risk factors for heart disease.
An important trend to note in all of the articles listed above is that they mentioned that a small amount of sterols reduces blood serum cholesterol by the same amount as a large amount of sterols does. In our modern diets that are high in processed foods supplemented with many nutrients, phytosterols included, we get way too many phytosterols. Foods that have unnaturally high levels of phytosterols include vegetable oils, margarines, and refined grains.
All of these extra phytosterols have given scientists a pretty good picture into their health effects, and researchers have noted some disturbing trends. Despite their cholesterol-lowering abilities, phytosterols have actually been repeatedly linked to an increased risk of heart disease. Let’s jump right into the evidence: |
“Cholesterol lowering should not be an end in itself. The objective must be to reduce health outcomes, such as incidence of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD). We hypothesised that plant sterols may lower cholesterol, but not CHD. We found the outcome on CHD in fact to be detrimental.”
Harcombe, Zoë, and Julien S. Baker. “PLANT STEROLS LOWER CHOLESTEROL, BUT INCREASE RISK FOR CORONARY HEART
DISEASE.” OnLine Journal of Biological Sciences, Science Publications, 21 Aug. 2014.
“Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) analysis showed no influence of sex, age, triglycerides, total-, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol on the results, but confirmed a strong influence of plant sterols. These findings support the hypothesis that plant sterols might be an additional risk factor for CHD.”
Sudhop, T, et al. “Serum Plant Sterols as a Potential Risk Factor for Coronary Heart Disease.” Metabolism: Clinical and
Experimental., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Dec. 2002.
“The ratios of squalene, lathosterol, campesterol and sitosterol were significantly associated with the risk of CAD.”
Rajaratnam, R A, et al. “Independent Association of Serum Squalene and Noncholesterol Sterols with Coronary Artery Disease in
Postmenopausal Women.” Journal of the American College of Cardiology., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Apr. 2000.
“High plant sterol tracks, correlates closely with and predicts high serum cholesterol, high LDLC, and high apo B in families, and appears to be associated with increased premature CHD, independent of cholesterol.” (This is different from what I said—this study actually found phytosterols to increase blood serum cholesterol).
Sudhop, Thomas, et al. “Relationships of Serum Plant Sterols (Phytosterols) and Cholesterol in 595 Hypercholesterolemic
Subjects, and Familial Aggregation of Phytosterols, Cholesterol, and Premature Coronary Heart Disease in
Hyperphytosterolemic Probands and Their First-Degree Relatives.” Metabolism, W.B. Saunders, 10 Apr. 2004.
“In addition to inhibiting cholesterol absorption, some (though not all) studies suggest that sterols and stanols can reduce the blood levels of antioxidants such as lycopene and beta-carotene. This can be counteracted, at least partly, by the ingestion of a diet reach in vegetables and fruits. Despite the low serum concentration of sterols and stanols, some concern has been raised that even the slight increase associated with dietary supplementation of sterols might increase the risk for atherosclerosis.”
Eilat-Adar, Sigal, et al. “Nutritional Recommendations for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention.” Nutrients, MDPI, Sept. 2013.
Harcombe, Zoë, and Julien S. Baker. “PLANT STEROLS LOWER CHOLESTEROL, BUT INCREASE RISK FOR CORONARY HEART
DISEASE.” OnLine Journal of Biological Sciences, Science Publications, 21 Aug. 2014.
“Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) analysis showed no influence of sex, age, triglycerides, total-, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol on the results, but confirmed a strong influence of plant sterols. These findings support the hypothesis that plant sterols might be an additional risk factor for CHD.”
Sudhop, T, et al. “Serum Plant Sterols as a Potential Risk Factor for Coronary Heart Disease.” Metabolism: Clinical and
Experimental., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Dec. 2002.
“The ratios of squalene, lathosterol, campesterol and sitosterol were significantly associated with the risk of CAD.”
Rajaratnam, R A, et al. “Independent Association of Serum Squalene and Noncholesterol Sterols with Coronary Artery Disease in
Postmenopausal Women.” Journal of the American College of Cardiology., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Apr. 2000.
“High plant sterol tracks, correlates closely with and predicts high serum cholesterol, high LDLC, and high apo B in families, and appears to be associated with increased premature CHD, independent of cholesterol.” (This is different from what I said—this study actually found phytosterols to increase blood serum cholesterol).
Sudhop, Thomas, et al. “Relationships of Serum Plant Sterols (Phytosterols) and Cholesterol in 595 Hypercholesterolemic
Subjects, and Familial Aggregation of Phytosterols, Cholesterol, and Premature Coronary Heart Disease in
Hyperphytosterolemic Probands and Their First-Degree Relatives.” Metabolism, W.B. Saunders, 10 Apr. 2004.
“In addition to inhibiting cholesterol absorption, some (though not all) studies suggest that sterols and stanols can reduce the blood levels of antioxidants such as lycopene and beta-carotene. This can be counteracted, at least partly, by the ingestion of a diet reach in vegetables and fruits. Despite the low serum concentration of sterols and stanols, some concern has been raised that even the slight increase associated with dietary supplementation of sterols might increase the risk for atherosclerosis.”
Eilat-Adar, Sigal, et al. “Nutritional Recommendations for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention.” Nutrients, MDPI, Sept. 2013.
How Animal Products Fit in the Picture
The title of this article was not click bait. The main point that all of this boils down to is that a) cutting out animal products will not lower your cholesterol, and, b) lowering your cholesterol is not enough to protect you from heart disease. Plant-based activists have gained momentum on the idea that plants are heart healthy and that’s all you need to know. That’s simply not what the science says. Throughout this article, I’ve given many examples of how someone who consumes no cholesterol can still have dangerously high blood serum cholesterol, and how phytosterols, which are present in all plant foods, are just as bad as cholesterol. Beyond just the negative effects of a diet concentrated in plant sterols, I think it’s also important to explain how someone who did not consume animal products would be missing out on some of nature’s most heart-healthy foods. Here are 12 studies that directly link an animal product(s) to a lower risk of heart disease: |
“Avoiding dairy can have significant health effects. An emerging body of evidence suggests that yogurt and other dairy products may help support reduced risk of heart disease, hypertension, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.”
Brown-Riggs, Constance. "Nutrition and Health Disparities: The Role of Dairy in Improving Minority Health Outcomes."
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. MDPI, Jan. 2016. Web. 30 May 2017.
“Milk and dairy products play a key role in healthy human nutrition and development throughout life, but especially in childhood…. milk consumption is associated with a reduced risk of NCDs such as osteoporosis and possibly colorectal cancer and type 2 diabetes.”
Muehlhoff, Ellen, Anthony Bennett, and Deirdre McMahon. "Milk and Dairy Products in Human Nutrition." (2013): n. pag. FAO.
Food and Agriculture Organization. Web. 31 May 2017.
“Our study found that intakes of low-fat dairy products, calcium, and vitamin D were each inversely associated with risk of hypertension in middle-aged and older women, suggesting their potential roles in the primary prevention of hypertension and cardiovascular complications.”
Haug, Anna, Arne T. Høstmark, and Odd M. Harstad. "Bovine Milk in Human Nutrition – a Review." Lipids in Health and Disease.
BioMed Central, 2007. Web. 31 May 2017.
“Interestingly, in the context of a carbohydrate-restricted diet, consumption of three eggs per day compared with no eggs favourably influenced the lipoprotein profile in overweight/obese male subjects…. In conclusion, there is no sufficient evidence to recommend a general restriction of egg consumption, which is still part of many dietary guidelines.”
Scholl, Johannes. “Traditional Dietary Recommendations for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: Do They Meet the Needs
of Our Patients?” Cholesterol, Hindawi, 28 Feb. 2012.
“Based on the results of this meta-analysis, consumption of up to one egg daily may contribute to a decreased risk of total stroke, and daily egg intake does not appear to be associated with risk of CHD.”
Alexander, Dominik D, et al. “Meta-Analysis of Egg Consumption and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke.” Taylor &
Francis, Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 2016.
“Based on the current evidence, the optimal dietary pattern to reduce CVD is one that emphasizes whole grains, fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts, fish, poultry, and moderate dairy and heart-healthy vegetable oil intake [but not processed or red meat]"
Anand, Sonia S., et al. “Food Consumption and Its Impact on Cardiovascular Disease: Importance of Solutions Focused on the
Globalized Food System: A Report from the Workshop Convened by the World Heart Federation.” Journal of the American
College of Cardiology, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 6 Oct. 2015.
“Consumption of poultry meat, as part of a vegetable-rich diet, is associated with a risk reduction of developing overweight and obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and type 2 diabetes mellitus.”
Marangoni, Franca, et al. “Role of Poultry Meat in a Balanced Diet Aimed at Maintaining Health and Wellbeing: an Italian
Consensus Document.” Food & Nutrition Research, Co-Action Publishing, 2015.
“There were suggestive inverse associations of poultry intake with risk of total and all-CVD mortality among men, but not among women…. Poultry is often considered one of the healthier alternatives to red meat and has been inversely associated with the risk of total or cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related mortality in a few studies…. Among women, poultry intake was not significantly associated with total, all-cancer, or all-CVD mortality.”
Takata, Yumie, et al. “Red Meat and Poultry Intakes and Risk of Total and Cause-Specific Mortality: Results from Cohort Studies
of Chinese Adults in Shanghai.” PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, 22 Feb. 2013.
“For white meat, the pooled results from 2 articles15, 26 consisted of 4 comparisons (138 761 participants) comparing the highest versus the lowest categories and indicated that consumption of white meat is associated with a 4% to 22% decrease in stroke risk without any heterogeneity among studies.”
Kim, Kyuwoong, et al. “Role of Total, Red, Processed, and White Meat Consumption in Stroke Incidence and Mortality: A
Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies.” Journal of the American Heart Association, American
Heart Association, Inc., 1 Sept. 2017.
“The data showed that dietary intake of n23 PUFA from seafood was associated with reduced risk of primary cardiac arrest compared with no fish intake; 5.5 g n23 fatty acids/mo or the equivalent of 1 fatty fish meal/wk was associated with a 50% reduction in the risk of primary cardiac arrest.”
Simopoulos, Artemis P. “Essential Fatty Acids in Health and Chronic Disease.” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1999, p.
560.
“Increasing fish consumption is recommended for intake of omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids and to confer benefits for the risk reduction of cardiovascular disease (CVD).”
Raatz, Susan K., et al. “Issues of Fish Consumption for Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction.” Nutrients, MDPI, Apr. 2013.
“Dairy products are rich in minerals (calcium, potassium, and magnesium), protein (casein and whey), and vitamins (riboflavin and vitamin B-12) that can exert beneficial effects on CVD…. Suggested mechanisms for the blood-pressure lowering effects of dairy products include the high content of potassium, magnesium, and calcium…. It is also possible that the fat composition of eggs (high MUFA and lower SFA) restrains the blood LDL-C elevation….. Additional elements that may confer health benefits include avocado, nuts, almonds and tahini, low-fat dairy products, green tea and 2 to 3 servings of fatty fish per week.”
Eilat-Adar, Sigal, et al. “Nutritional Recommendations for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention.” Nutrients, MDPI, Sept. 2013.
Brown-Riggs, Constance. "Nutrition and Health Disparities: The Role of Dairy in Improving Minority Health Outcomes."
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. MDPI, Jan. 2016. Web. 30 May 2017.
“Milk and dairy products play a key role in healthy human nutrition and development throughout life, but especially in childhood…. milk consumption is associated with a reduced risk of NCDs such as osteoporosis and possibly colorectal cancer and type 2 diabetes.”
Muehlhoff, Ellen, Anthony Bennett, and Deirdre McMahon. "Milk and Dairy Products in Human Nutrition." (2013): n. pag. FAO.
Food and Agriculture Organization. Web. 31 May 2017.
“Our study found that intakes of low-fat dairy products, calcium, and vitamin D were each inversely associated with risk of hypertension in middle-aged and older women, suggesting their potential roles in the primary prevention of hypertension and cardiovascular complications.”
Haug, Anna, Arne T. Høstmark, and Odd M. Harstad. "Bovine Milk in Human Nutrition – a Review." Lipids in Health and Disease.
BioMed Central, 2007. Web. 31 May 2017.
“Interestingly, in the context of a carbohydrate-restricted diet, consumption of three eggs per day compared with no eggs favourably influenced the lipoprotein profile in overweight/obese male subjects…. In conclusion, there is no sufficient evidence to recommend a general restriction of egg consumption, which is still part of many dietary guidelines.”
Scholl, Johannes. “Traditional Dietary Recommendations for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: Do They Meet the Needs
of Our Patients?” Cholesterol, Hindawi, 28 Feb. 2012.
“Based on the results of this meta-analysis, consumption of up to one egg daily may contribute to a decreased risk of total stroke, and daily egg intake does not appear to be associated with risk of CHD.”
Alexander, Dominik D, et al. “Meta-Analysis of Egg Consumption and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke.” Taylor &
Francis, Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 2016.
“Based on the current evidence, the optimal dietary pattern to reduce CVD is one that emphasizes whole grains, fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts, fish, poultry, and moderate dairy and heart-healthy vegetable oil intake [but not processed or red meat]"
Anand, Sonia S., et al. “Food Consumption and Its Impact on Cardiovascular Disease: Importance of Solutions Focused on the
Globalized Food System: A Report from the Workshop Convened by the World Heart Federation.” Journal of the American
College of Cardiology, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 6 Oct. 2015.
“Consumption of poultry meat, as part of a vegetable-rich diet, is associated with a risk reduction of developing overweight and obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and type 2 diabetes mellitus.”
Marangoni, Franca, et al. “Role of Poultry Meat in a Balanced Diet Aimed at Maintaining Health and Wellbeing: an Italian
Consensus Document.” Food & Nutrition Research, Co-Action Publishing, 2015.
“There were suggestive inverse associations of poultry intake with risk of total and all-CVD mortality among men, but not among women…. Poultry is often considered one of the healthier alternatives to red meat and has been inversely associated with the risk of total or cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related mortality in a few studies…. Among women, poultry intake was not significantly associated with total, all-cancer, or all-CVD mortality.”
Takata, Yumie, et al. “Red Meat and Poultry Intakes and Risk of Total and Cause-Specific Mortality: Results from Cohort Studies
of Chinese Adults in Shanghai.” PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, 22 Feb. 2013.
“For white meat, the pooled results from 2 articles15, 26 consisted of 4 comparisons (138 761 participants) comparing the highest versus the lowest categories and indicated that consumption of white meat is associated with a 4% to 22% decrease in stroke risk without any heterogeneity among studies.”
Kim, Kyuwoong, et al. “Role of Total, Red, Processed, and White Meat Consumption in Stroke Incidence and Mortality: A
Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies.” Journal of the American Heart Association, American
Heart Association, Inc., 1 Sept. 2017.
“The data showed that dietary intake of n23 PUFA from seafood was associated with reduced risk of primary cardiac arrest compared with no fish intake; 5.5 g n23 fatty acids/mo or the equivalent of 1 fatty fish meal/wk was associated with a 50% reduction in the risk of primary cardiac arrest.”
Simopoulos, Artemis P. “Essential Fatty Acids in Health and Chronic Disease.” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1999, p.
560.
“Increasing fish consumption is recommended for intake of omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids and to confer benefits for the risk reduction of cardiovascular disease (CVD).”
Raatz, Susan K., et al. “Issues of Fish Consumption for Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction.” Nutrients, MDPI, Apr. 2013.
“Dairy products are rich in minerals (calcium, potassium, and magnesium), protein (casein and whey), and vitamins (riboflavin and vitamin B-12) that can exert beneficial effects on CVD…. Suggested mechanisms for the blood-pressure lowering effects of dairy products include the high content of potassium, magnesium, and calcium…. It is also possible that the fat composition of eggs (high MUFA and lower SFA) restrains the blood LDL-C elevation….. Additional elements that may confer health benefits include avocado, nuts, almonds and tahini, low-fat dairy products, green tea and 2 to 3 servings of fatty fish per week.”
Eilat-Adar, Sigal, et al. “Nutritional Recommendations for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention.” Nutrients, MDPI, Sept. 2013.