Plant-based foods have been found to work best for people with heart diseases. Let me share with you some summaries of studies in support of this contention:
A plant-based diet is a healthier alternative to one laden with meat; It reduces the chances of artery blockage and artery hardening, which are common causes of heart attacks (Tuso et al., 2015; Hu.,2003). It’s been observed that subjects who follow a plant-based diet (especially legumes) have high levels of genistein in their urine. Genistein is also said to help prevent chronic degenerative diseases like cancer tumors (Fotsis et al., 1993).
In a trial among individuals with a high level of lipids, it was observed that there were reductions in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol, and blood pressure (Jenkins et al., 2009). A low-carbohydrate plant-based diet is known to lower lipids in the blood, which reduces heart disease risks. To stress the advantages of a plant-based diet, it was made sure that the trial and its observations didn’t take during conventional consumption of low-fat food with animal products (Jenkins et al., 2009).
And, although vegetarians have lower iron stores because of low quantities of it in their diets, adverse health effects of lower iron and zinc absorption have not been demonstrated in this group of people (Hunt, 2002). A plant-based diet and stress reduction interventions reduce recurrent prostate cancer (Saxe et al., 2006).
Plant-based diet recommendations are now being slowly mainstreamed for cardiac patients, and this includes the elderly.
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