The Surprising Link Between Veganism And Heart Health

You might think that you already know everything about a vegan diet being good for your health – but scientists are still figuring out some of the specifics around why this type of food is so good for you!

For example, there’s a new Stanford study that’s among the best of its kind – partly because scientists took pairs of twins to study the differences between a healthy vegan diet, and one that includes meat and animal products. You can’t get a better sampling than that for direct baseline comparisons, so people are excited about this work.

The study, which was eventually published in JAMA Network Open, used 22 pairs of twins, for 44 total participants.

Everything was carefully logged, and a certified dietitian was on hand to study everyone’s eating habits.

They came up with some pretty interesting findings!

Short-Term Benefits of Veganism

One of the surprising things about the study was that it doesn’t take long to recognize the health benefits of a vegan diet.

In fact, comparing these two relatively healthy diets side-by-side, scientists actually found that the vegan diet produced better results in as little as eight weeks…That’s really an amazing timeline when you think about how long it takes your body to change the way that it processes food.

Specifically, though, they found that certain cholesterol levels were lowered when the participants abstained from meat and animal products and ate only plant foods.

So in a way, it makes sense intuitively, because we know about the health value of vegan foods like nuts, fruit, vegetables and legumes. And we hear from people all the time who tell us how much better they feel – how much more effective their exercise plans are, or how much better they’re sleeping, for example. The results are different for each person, but for many of us, our bodies respond well to this kind of change, and this kind of natural diet. That’s why scientists are reporting that veganism is a healthier alternative to an “omnivore” diet, especially if that mixed diet includes a lot of processed foods, rich in fat and sugar content.

We can think about it intuitively, but we can also take heart from recent studies like this one showing the real concrete benefits of a vegan diet! When you think about it, it just makes a lot of sense, and many of us are choosing to eat this way, for our health, for the animals, for the workers, or for other reasons. Because the factory farming of meat and animal products can really be unsavory.

Living the Vegan Way

So eating vegan is a great alternative! It doesn’t have to be hard, either – in this blog, we show you numerous ways to get this health value into your daily meal plan and elevate what you’re eating day to day for better health and quality of life. We break down some of the most common ingredients and talk about why they are used, their health value, and the options that you have when putting these tasty dishes together.

Try these 10 high-vegan protein breakfast dishes if you are concerned about your morning will lack enough protein. 

Check out Abroad Vegan for their vegan recipes for busy people, vegan picnic ideas, and much more.

And that’s really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what you can imagine with a tasty and nutritious vegan diet that you’ll love!

Recognize the power of plant foods in your diet, and tell us what you love most about the vegan lifestyle. We’ll keep documenting what’s happening in the vegan world, and giving you novel ideas for filling your lunch pail vegan style, starting the day off right, or enjoying a vegan dessert. Let’s take a vegan journey together!