05/03/06: ISLAMABAD: A low-fat diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans has twice the cholesterol-lowering power of a conventional low-fat diet -- even when the two diets have the same amount of calories and fat, researchers said on Monday. Writing in the Annals of Internal Medicine, they said the study suggests that low-fat diets may often fail to lower cholesterol because they contain the wrong nutrients. Of the volunteers, 61 ate a conventional low-fat diet, which included frozen waffles, turkey bologna sandwiches, frozen pizza and similar foods. The other 59 ate a plant-based diet including whole-grain cereals, dark lettuces, bean burritos and vegetable soups.
Both diets contained identical amounts of total and saturated fat, protein, carbohydrate and cholesterol. Calories were carefully controlled to keep each volunteers’ weight constant. After a month of eating in a special dining hall, both groups had lower cholesterol. The conventional diet lowered LDL cholesterol by, on average, 4.6 percent. The plant-based diet lowered LDL by more than twice as much, by 9.4 percent, the researchers reported."
[Article, Study Abstract (both in full also below) - Yet another reason to go Vegan or Vegetarian]
FROM:
http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=96666
Veggie, low-fat diet lowers cholesterol more-study
05/03/06
ISLAMABAD: A low-fat diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans has twice the cholesterol-lowering power of a conventional low-fat diet -- even when the two diets have the same amount of calories and fat, researchers said on Monday.
Writing in the Annals of Internal Medicine, they said the study suggests that low-fat diets may often fail to lower cholesterol because they contain the wrong nutrients.
"The effect of diet on lowering cholesterol has been really minimized and undermined by a lot of clinicians and researchers saying, ’Yes, it has an effect but it’s really trivial: It would be better to put you on drugs to control your cholesterol,"’ said Christopher Gardner of Stanford University, who led the study. "But we think part of the reason was that we weren’t really giving diet a fair shake. We were so focused on the negative -- just what to avoid -- and not what to include."
Gardner and colleagues tested 120 adults aged 30 to 65. All had moderately high low-density lipoprotein (LDL or "bad" cholesterol), with levels of 130 to 190. A desirable level is 100.
Of the volunteers, 61 ate a conventional low-fat diet, which included frozen waffles, turkey bologna sandwiches, frozen pizza and similar foods. The other 59 ate a plant-based diet including whole-grain cereals, dark lettuces, bean burritos and vegetable soups.
Both diets contained identical amounts of total and saturated fat, protein, carbohydrate and cholesterol. Calories were carefully controlled to keep each volunteers’ weight constant. After a month of eating in a special dining hall, both groups had lower cholesterol. The conventional diet lowered LDL cholesterol by, on average, 4.6 percent.
The plant-based diet lowered LDL by more than twice as much, by 9.4 percent, the researchers reported.
Gardner said the plant-based diet followed American Heart Association guidelines. These include advice to eat at least five servings of vegetables and fruits every day and at least six daily servings of grains, especially whole grains.
New guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture make similar recommendations stressing whole plant foods and minimizing meat, fats and sugar.
"Include more whole grains and vegetables and beans and colors -- not iceberg lettuce, but red bell peppers and carrots and broccoli and red cabbage and the really colorful foods," he said in a statement."
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ACTUAL STUDY ABSTRACT AND LINK:
http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/abstract/142/9/725?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Christopher+Gardner&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT
The Effect of a Plant-Based Diet on Plasma Lipids in Hypercholesterolemic Adults
A Randomized Trial
Christopher D. Gardner, PhD; Ann Coulston, MS, RD; Lorraine Chatterjee, MS; Alison Rigby, PhD, MPH, RD; Gene Spiller, PhD; and John W. Farquhar, MD
3 May 2005 | Volume 142 Issue 9 | Pages 725-733
Background: A variety of food combinations can be used to meet national U.S. guidelines for obtaining 30% of energy or less from total fat and 10% of energy or less from saturated fat.
Objective: To contrast plasma lipid responses to 2 low-fat diet patterns.
Design: Randomized clinical trial.
Setting: 4-week outpatient feeding study with weight held constant.
Participants: 120 adults 30 to 65 years of age with prestudy low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentrations of 3.3 to 4.8 mmol/L (130 to 190 mg/dL), body mass index less than 31 kg/m2, estimated dietary saturated fat at least 10% of calories, and otherwise general good health.
Measurements: Plasma lipid levels.
Intervention: Two diets, the Low-Fat diet and the Low-Fat Plus diet, designed to be identical in total fat, saturated fat, protein, carbohydrate, and cholesterol content, consistent with former American Heart Association Step I guidelines. The Low-Fat diet was relatively typical of a low-fat U.S. diet. The Low-Fat Plus diet incorporated considerably more vegetables, legumes, and whole grains, consistent with the 2000 American Heart Association revised guidelines.
Results: Four-week changes in the Low-Fat and Low-Fat Plus groups were –0.24 mmol/L (–9.2 mg/dL) versus –0.46 mmol/L (–17.6 mg/dL) for total cholesterol (P = 0.01) and –0.18 mmol/L (–7.0 mg/dL) versus –0.36 mmol/L (–13.8 mg/dL) for LDL cholesterol (P = 0.02); between-group differences were –0.22 mmol/L (–9 mg/dL) (95% CI, –0.05 to –0.39 mmol/L [–2 to –15 mg/dL]) and –0.18 mmol/L (–7 mg/dL) (CI, –0.04 to –0.32 mmol/L [–2 to –12 mg/dL]) for total and LDL cholesterol, respectively. The 2 diet groups did not differ significantly in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Limitations: 4-week duration.
Conclusions: Previous national dietary guidelines primarily emphasized avoiding saturated fat and cholesterol; as a result, the guidelines probably underestimated the potential LDL cholesterol-lowering effect of diet. In this study, emphasis on including nutrient-dense plant-based foods, consistent with recently revised national guidelines, increased the total and LDL cholesterol-lowering effect of a low-fat diet.
Editors' Notes
Context
* People can achieve recommended fat intake while consuming high or low amounts of vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains.
Contribution
* This 4-week randomized trial compared 2 diets with different vegetable, fruit, legume, and whole-grain content but identical total fat, saturated fat, protein, carbohydrate, and cholesterol content. The 59 adults who consumed high amounts of vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains had greater improvements in total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels than the 61 adults who ate low amounts of these foods.
Implications
* At least over the short term, greater improvements in low-density lipoprotein and total cholesterol are an additional benefit of diets high in vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains.
–The Editors
Important info
Posted by: Pat | 2008.04.22 at 18:32