Diets with customary levels of fat from plant origin may reverse coronary artery disease

Abstract

The primary cause of death worldwide is heart disease and the most common type of heart disease is coronary artery disease. While coronary artery disease is treated with medications, it responds to lifestyle interventions. A low-fat plant-based diet was designed for reversing coronary artery disease and it is effective in reversing the disease. It has not been tested, however, as far as we know, whether diets with customary levels of fat can also reverse coronary artery disease. Nevertheless, evidence is accumulating to show that atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease are reversed with diets containing customary levels of fat. It has been known that fats of plant origin decrease the risk factors of cardiovascular disease. It is also known that vegans who consume diets with customary levels of fat have the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease. But recent and more specific data show that atherosclerosis was decreased when nuts that are rich in fat were added to a Mediterranean diet while atherosclerosis was increased in the controls. Also, two clinical cases show that coronary artery disease was reversed by low-fat plant-based diets that were supplemented with fat-rich foods of plant origin. These data, then, provide evidence that coronary artery disease may be reversed with a diet containing customary levels of fat from plant sources. We hypothesize that coronary artery disease may be reversed by diets with customary levels of fat of plant origin that are low in saturated fat content. This hypothesis needs to be tested by comparing a traditional low-fat plant-based diet with a plant-based diet containing customary levels of fat of plant origin in their effectiveness to reverse coronary artery disease.

Keywords: Heart disease; Lifestyle; Plant-based diet; Regression of coronary artery disease; Vegan diet.