Are Vegan Snacks Better than Pills for Lowering Cholesterol? This Study Looks Promising.

Can Eating Vegan Snacks Help Lower Cholesterol? A new study exploring a “food as medicine” approach to lowering cholesterol was published last week in the prestigious journal Nutrition Magazine. Conducted jointly by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN and the University of Manitoba Richardson Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the study tasked hypolipidemic patients (people with high cholesterol) with eating specially formulated vegan snacks instead of other things they would normally eat . Over the course of 30 days, participants saw an average 9 percent drop in LDL (sometimes called “bad”) cholesterol, with some experiencing LDL cholesterol reductions of more than 30 percent.

The snacks were provided by Step One Foods, which uses whole, plant-based foods such as walnuts, cranberries, and flaxseeds to formulate snacks with whole-grain dietary fiber, plant sterols, ALA omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants to naturally reduce cholesterol. The same group of participants was also tasked with consuming comparable “better-for-you” snacks, such as Quaker Chocolate Chip Granola Bar, Naked Fruit and Nut Granola, and Kellogg’s Strawberry Nutrigrain Bar, some of which they also did not contain animal products. After 30 days, the participants who ate these snacks did not report lower cholesterol levels.

The study is self-fulfilling for Step One Foods as it validates that its specially formulated snacks work the way they are intended. However, this research has broader implications that whole plant foods can be used to lower cholesterol as an alternative or supplement to statin drugs.

“Based on the results observed in our study, the use of these types of foods as a medicine approach expands options for medical professionals and patients,” he said in a statement. “Many patients who are unwilling or unable to take statins can be helped to control their high cholesterol or hyperlipidemia with a realistic food-based intervention.”

Plant-based diet and cholesterol

More than 94 million Americans, about 1 in 2 adults age 50 and older, have high cholesterol levels, a risk factor for heart disease, the world’s leading cause of death. While the Step One Foods study only focused on your own snacks, other research suggests that a variety of plant-based foods are beneficial for lowering cholesterol.

In 2020, vegan brand Beyond Meat’s first clinical trial showed dramatic results when they replaced animal meat with their plant-based meat, which is made from pea protein. Conducted by Stanford University and published in the American journal of clinical nutritionthe “SWAP-MEAT Study” consisted of an eight-week study of 36 participants, who received plant-based and animal-based meat products in two phases, along with dietary advice, laboratory evaluations, microbiome evaluations, and anthropometric measurements. The results showed that LDL cholesterol levels were reduced by an average of 10 milligrams per deciliter, which is statistically and clinically significant, and participants lost an average of two pounds during the plant-based portion of the study.

On the other hand, consumption of animal products has long been linked to higher cholesterol levels. TO study published last year in a scientific journal Frontiers in Nutrition focused on the long-term effects of a ketogenic diet, which traditionally limits carbohydrate intake in favor of fats and protein, usually of animal origin. For the meta-analysis, a group of doctors, researchers, and registered dietitians analyzed more than 100 peer-reviewed studies and found that people following a ketogenic diet have a significantly increased risk of developing heart disease, LDL cholesterol buildup, kidney failure , Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and cancer.

In general, following a plant-based diet can help reduce the number of medications, including cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, that are needed by older adults. A study published last year in the medical journal American journal of lifestyle medicine found that older plant-eaters took 58 percent fewer medications than carnivores, even after adjusting for covariates. And taking fewer medications means fewer opportunities for drug interactions, creating additional benefits for the “food as medicine” approach.

To learn more about the health benefits of a plant-based diet, read:
Eating a hot dog shortens your healthy life by 36 minutes
5 Heart Health Tips From Plant-Based Medical Professionals
4 Ways Vegans Can Improve Your Health

Anna Starostinetskaya is Senior News Editor at VegNews and is always on the lookout for all things vegan in her hometown of San Francisco, CA and beyond.