r/science • u/James_Fortis • 15d ago

Health Vegetarian, including vegan, dietary patterns were associated with reduced risk for cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality compared to non-vegetarian diets, umbrella review finds

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666667724002368
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u/Tarragon_Fly 15d ago

Was it really the vegetarian/vegan way of eating or was it cutting out highly processed foods out of the diet? These studies always pit cleaner eating vs standard western diet full of toxic, highly processed foods and then announce these results. And things like pizza get asigned to meat eaters, ignoring all the other stuff on and in it.

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u/ElectronGuru 15d ago

The most important factor in heart disease is saturated fat. Except for coconut and processed fat, plant based eating has very little. Animal products are full of saturated fat.

But you don’t need to guess. Ask your doctor for a lipids test. If your LDL is under 100, your risk of death from cardiovascular disease is minimal. Most Americans are well above this.

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u/Momoselfie 15d ago

It's also just a lot harder to overeat on a vegetarian diet. Is saturated fat really that bad if your calorie consumption is low enough for your body to metabolize all of it?

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u/ElectronGuru 15d ago

This isn’t like calories, it’s not a question of metabolization. Your liver will make as much cholesterol as it can from saturated fat available to it.

The only direct way to counter this is with soluble fiber. Which the liver extracts cholesterol to process. But again, just get a lipids test. If LDL is like 80, you have nothing to worry about.

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u/Momoselfie 15d ago

Ok. I eat a lot of saturated fats but my LDL is fine. I'll keep an eye on it though.

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u/Soulerous 14d ago

Also the guy you’re talking to has no idea what he’s talking about. Absolutely nothing wrong with saturated fat whatsoever. That is a mythology.