Cholesterol is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Consuming a vegetarian diet may improve your health and reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. Consult your doctor to test your blood levels of cholesterol, determine your risk for cardiovascular disease and discuss the best foods to eat in a vegetarian diet.
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance your body makes to enhance the health of your cells and to synthesize hormones. It is found primarily in animal products, such as red meat, pork, poultry, eggs and dairy. Your blood has different types of cholesterol that are associated with risk of heart disease. Increased levels of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, the bad cholesterol, and decreased levels of HDL cholesterol, the good cholesterol, may elevate your risk of heart disease.
Vegetarianism
There are generally three groups of vegetarians. Vegans eat a plant-based diet of whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds and fruits and vegetables. Lacto-vegetarians eat plant-based foods and dairy. Lacto-ovo vegetarians eat plant-based foods plus dairy and eggs. Vegetarians do not eat meat or fish, and the diets are generally low in cholesterol. Research by scientists at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and published in the "Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners" in 2010 reports that a carefully planned vegetarian diet is cost effective, safe and relatively easy to implement -- and may be effective for primary prevention of heart disease.
Prevention
A vegetarian diet includes healthy fats, such as monounsaturated fatty acids from olive oil and avocados and omega-3 fatty acids from walnuts and flaxseed oil. These oils are heart friendly and may reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. Compared with an omnivorous diet, a vegetarian diet includes less cholesterol, total fat and saturated fat. Research by scientists at Buddhist Taichung Tzu Chi General Hospital in Taiwan, Republic of China, and published in the "Chinese Journal of Physiology" in 2008, reported that vegetarians have statistically significant lower levels of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting blood sugar and blood pressure than omnivores.
Misconceptions
Although vegetarian diets may have lower risks of heart disease than non-vegetarians, you can have high cholesterol levels eating a vegetarian diet. Consuming high amounts of milk and dairy products and plant based foods that are high in saturated fat, such as coconut, coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil, may increase your levels of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol and elevate your risk of heart disease. Vegetarians who eat processed foods, particularly those with trans fats, such as margarine, breads, cakes, cookies, snacks and fried foods, also may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
References
- Centers For Disease Control and Prevention; Cholesterol Fact Sheet; 2009
- "Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners"; Reducing Heart Disease through the Vegetarian Diet Using Primary Prevention; Megan Sticher, et al.; March 2010
- American Heart Association; Vegetarian Diets; 2011
- "Chinese Journal of Physiology"; Alteration of Cardiovascular Autonomic Functions by Vegetarian Diets in Postmenopausal Women Is Related to LDL Cholesterol Levels; Chin-Hua Fu, et al.; April 30, 2008
- Harvard School of Public Health; Fats and Cholesterol: Out with the Bad, in with the Good; 2010
