Reacción a "Reactions: a meta-analysis shows that vegetarian and vegan diets are associated with a lower concentration of lipids such as cholesterol"

Observational studies find vegans and to a lesser extent vegetarians have lower levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.  This new study is a review of published randomized controlled of trials of vegetarian/vegan diets on blood lipoproteins particularly low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.  The average reduction in LDL cholesterol (0.3 mmol/) was similar to the change observed in a large trial comparing the UK recommended diet (which was not vegetarian) with a traditional British diet (Reidlinger et al. 2015).  It is likely that much of the difference is brought about by lower intakes of saturated fatty acids and higher intakes of fibre.

A limitation of this review is that most of studies were on vegetarian diets, which include dairy foods which are high in saturated fat, and only a few were vegan diets.  The largest reductions were on the Ornish diet which is a very low fat diet.  A vegan diet would be expected to have a larger effect on LDL cholesterol because of their lower saturated fatty acid intake to result in lower LDL cholesterol levels.  The environmental impact of a vegan diet on greenhouse gas emissions is also lower because of the absence of dairy products.

Large trials with cholesterol lowering medication show a 1 mmol reduction in LDL cholesterol is associated with a 10% reduction in cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality and a 20% reduction in CVD events.  Translating the findings of the review suggest that the LDL lowering effect of a vegetarian/diet would be expected to decrease risk of fatal and non-fatal CVD by 3% and 6% respectively.  These findings are consistent with observational studies that find vegetarians/vegans have a lower incidence of ischemic heart disease but not stroke.