Vegan’s Arteries Are The Best – If They Have Adequate Vitamin B12 Levels
Yeah, for being vegan once again. Being vegan and eating a whole food plant-based diet protects artery health, and it does an excellent job doing so! Dr. Greger pointed to the work done by Dr. Ornish and Dr. Esselstyn which showed that switching to a plant-based diet can reduce heart disease and open up arteries in many cases without surgery.
We live in a society where we need medical doctors to put their stamp on a idea before it is believed. I do understand this thinking but I have to point out the practitioners of traditional medicine have known this for thousands of years and have used herbs and a plant-based diet to strengthen heart health.
Dr. Greger pointed out studies that showed that people who ate a plant-based diet had healthier arteries. People who ate a Standard American Diet (SAD) had more atherosclerotic plaque buildup on their arteries. Atherosclerosis is a predictor of cardiovascular mortality, so we want to do all we can to reduce this plaque buildup. The thickness of the arteries in people who ate a SAD measured 0.74, while the arteries of vegans were significantly slimmer measuring 0.56.
Exercise has the same effect on arterial health as a plant-based diet, so how did the arteries of athletes who ate a SAD compare to those of just sedentary vegans? The arteries of long distance endurance runners, who were the fittest and trimmest athletes in comparison in health and weight to vegans, were compared.
The runners ran an average of 48 miles per week for 21 years, which resulted in their arteries measuring 0.63 and that still wasn’t as good as the couch potato vegans. Yes you can eat a SAD and exercise like a marathon runner to come closer to the arteries of vegans, or you can’t just adopt a plant-based diet.
The only caution is the vegans must have adequate levels of vitamin B12 is their bloodstream are they could develop high levels of homocysteine which can also lead to the thickening of artery walls.
Tags: vegans arteries vitamin b12, vitamin b12 artery health, vitamin b12 strengthens arteries
