German Vegan Study: Diet, Life-Style Factors, and Cardiovascular Risk Profile

Abstract

Background/Aim: Evaluation of cardiovascular risk profile in 154 German vegans. Methods: Cross-sectional study, Germany. Study instruments: 2 FFQ, 2 questionnaires, analyses of fasting venous blood samples. Results: The total study population had a low BMI (mean: 22.3 kg/m²), a moderate blood pressure (mean: 120/75 mm Hg), an extremely low consumption of alcohol (mean: 0.77 g/day) and 96.8% were nonsmokers. Moderate physical activity (PAL) was reported by nearly 50%, whereas 22.7% declared to have a high PAL (>3 h/week). Median triacylglycerol (TG) was 0.81 mmol/l, total cholesterol (TC) was 4.33 mmol/l, HDL was 1.34 mmol/l. The mean TC/HDL-ratio was 3.3. Lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) was 8.13 mg/dl, concentrations of >30 mg/dl were prevalent in 25% of the participants. In general, status of folate and pyridoxine were sufficient, while 49.7% showed cobalamin concentrations <150 pmol/l. Plasma homocysteine levels were slightly elevated (median: 12.5 µmol/l). Cobalamin concentration and duration of vegan nutrition were the main determinants of homocysteine in the total study population. Conclusion: Although TC and LDL concentrations were favorable, low HDL and elevated homocysteine and Lp(a) concentrations were unfavorable. Overall, these results confirm the notion that a vegan diet is deficient in vitamin B₁₂, which may have an unfavorable effect on CHD risk.

Impact of plant-based diet on lipid risk factors for atherosclerosis

“…Previously published results of studies do not provide a clear answer to the question of how, if at all, a vegan diet influences HDL particles. Some researchers have shown the lowering effects of a vegan diet on HDL-C concentration, which may impair its cardioprotective character [10,29]. We did not find a significant lowering effect of vegan diet on HDL-C concentration (Table 3).…”

The relation between vitamin B12 and SYNTAX score

“…In association with metabolic vitamin B12 deficiency, their carotid IMT and brachial flow-mediated dilation (FMD) were significantly worse than in patients with normal vitamin B12 levels [13,14]. Waldman et al [15] showed increased cardiovascular risk factors among German vegans and found that vitamin B12 was the only predictor of Hcy concentration. Hermann et al [16] reported similar findings.…”

The Prevention and Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus with a Plant-Based Diet

“…A European study found the average BMI of vegetarians and vegans to be 23.3 and 22.4 respectively for men and 22.8 and 21.8 for women [7]. A study of German vegans found an average BMI of 22.3 [8]. A study of vegetarian children found that they too had lower BMI's than their meat-eating counterparts with an average BMI of 17.3 in ages 6 to 11 and average of 20.0 ages 12-18 [9].…”