Evidence behind a plant-based diet


Live a longer, healthier life with the people you love.

After transitioning to a whole food, plant-based lifestyle, you will likely experience improved sleep and energy, decreased weight, and an overall sense of wellness.

But you may also lower your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Thousands of studies have been completed showing the amazing health benefits of a plant-based diet.


Lower Risk of
HEART DISEASE

Fact: About one of every three deaths in the U.S. results from heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases.

In Dr. Dean Ornish’s well known Lifestyle Heart Trial, patients following a low-fat vegetarian diet had the following results after one year:


  • Chest pain began to disappear within weeks of starting program.

  • Average LDL (bad cholesterol) dropped from 152 mg/dL to 95 mg/dL

  • 82% of patients angiograms showed arteries reopening

 

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn studied 23 Cleveland Clinic patients who had severe coronary artery disease (combined 49 cardiac events). The 17 patients following a plant-based diet for the duration of the study had the following results:

  • Angiograms showed opening of coronary arteries
  • All reduced their total cholesterol to lower than 150 mg/dL

  • No additional cardiac events

Lower Risk of
DIABETES

Fact: In the U.S., 29.1 million people have diabetes (about 10% of the population). If current trends continue, one in three adults could have diabetes by 2050.

James Anderson, M.D. studied a group of Type 1 & 2 diabetic patients following a mostly plant-based diet, all of whom had been taking insulin prior to their dietary change. Here are the results after three weeks:

  • Type 1 diabetic patients reduced their medication on average by 40%
  • 24 of the 25 Type 2 diabetic patients were able to discontinue their insulin

 

A recent study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health surveyed 200,000 health professionals for more than 20 years and found that those following a healthy plant-based diet had a 34% lower risk of developing diabetes.


Lower Risk of
CANCER

Fact: Approximately 39% percent of men and women will be diagnosed with cancer of any type at some point during their lifetime.

A large prospective study found that the occurrence of all cancers were lower for those eating a plant-based diet as compared to those eating the Standard American Diet.

 

A study that looked at men and women between the ages of 50 to 65 found that those eating higher protein diets had a 75% increase in overall mortality and four fold increased risk of dying from cancer.

The American Cancer Society (February 13, 2015) published their recommendations that cancer survivors should follow plant-based diets that are high in fruits, vegetables and unrefined grains.