News Section | Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Vegan lifestyle ‘ups risk of heart attack, stroke’
People who follow a vegan lifestyle — strict vegetarians who try to eat no meat or animal products of any kind — may increase their risk of developing blood clots and atherosclerosis or “hardening of the arteries,” which are conditions that can lead to heart attacks and stroke, according to a new study.
Researchers come to the conclusion after a review of dozens of articles published on the biochemistry of vegetarianism during the past 30 years.
In the review, researcher Duo Li notes that meat eaters are known for having a significantly higher combination of cardiovascular risk factors than vegetarians.
Lower-risk vegans, however, may not be immune.Their diets tend to be lacking several key nutrients — including iron, zinc, vitamin B12, and omega-3 fatty acids, Li said.
While a balanced vegetarian diet can provide enough protein, this isn”t always the case when it comes to fat and fatty acids. As a result, vegans tend to have elevated blood levels of homocysteine and decreased levels of HDL, the “good” form of cholesterol. Both are risk factors for heart disease.
It concludes that there is a strong scientific basis for vegetarians and vegans to increase their dietary omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin B12 to help contend with those risks. Good sources of omega-3s include salmon and other oily fish, walnuts and certain other nuts.
Good sources of vitamin B12 include seafood, eggs, and fortified milk. Dietary supplements also can supply these nutrients.
The finding appeared in ACS’ bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Disclaimer: Bioscholar is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The articles are based on peer reviewed research, and discoveries/products mentioned in the articles may not be approved by the regulatory bodies.
Let’s ask if the founding for that research was of the meat producers or something like that….
a research conducted by reading 30 articles? not very scientific, is it?
Yeah I’m just sure the American Association of Meat Processors had a hefty contribution. People always fail to see the benefits of hemp seeds, live sea vegetables aka spirulina in which 1tsp provides over half the DRI of iron, blackstrap molasses not to mention whole food organic supplementation. If vegans are smart enough to go vegan, they are smart enough to eat right. Veganism still out weighs the health detriments of modern day processed, genetically modified foods. The body is resilient. You think people who live off processed food and sodium filled meats are better off? Please.
The Journal of Agriculture? hahahahahahahah
nuf said
“Vegan” here means only taking animal products out of one’s diet, but then there’s plenty of junk food available in such a diet:
– fried vegetables (i.e. french-fries)
– white bread, rice and sugar
– lots of vinegar (i.e. from ketchup sauce)
– lots of fat fruits (i.e. avocados)
– lots of nuts
– lots of beer/wine/alcoholic drinks
“lots of” in the above list means they’re not junk foods by themselves, but can be detrimental to one’s health when consumed in excess.
This is just an example of how bad a “vegan” diet can be.
But what’s real nutritional science?
It all boils down to using a nutrient calculator/diary, so to ensure you’re getting almost 100% macro- and micro- nutrients on a daily basis.
This involves watching at vitamins, minerals, essential amino-acids and essential fatty acids.
I’d like to see a really scientific study showing correlation between real, measurable and actual lack of nutrients and risks for any degenerative disease.
Not just pointing finger at those “vegan” people out there and their health risks coming from their diet choices… This is, again, all but real science.