News Medical: Plant-based diet may lower risk for heart disease

Eating a high protein diet may heighten one’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease, including heart disease, hypertension, and stroke, a new study by researchers at the Penn State College of Medicine, found.

The team of researchers found that a plant-based diet may be the key to lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease, particularly heart disease. Amino acids are building blocks of all proteins in the body. In proteins, there’s a subcategory called sulfur amino acids, including cysteine and methionine, which play a pivotal role in metabolism and health.

Since the 1990s, scientists have long been interested in dietary sulfur amino acid restriction, showing its health benefits in animals. It has been known that sulfur amino acid-restricted diets have shown promise in longevity in animal models, but this is the first study to provide the first epidemiologic evidence that consuming too much sulfur amino acids, commonly found in meat, dairy, soy, and nuts, is linked to chronic disease in humans.

To land to their findings, the researchers studied the diets and blood biomarkers of more than 11,000 people who were enrolled in a national study. After their analysis, they found that those who ate foods with less sulfur amino acids were at a lower risk of cardiometabolic disease, based on the results of their blood tests.

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https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200203/Plant-based-diet-may-lower-risk-for-heart-disease.aspx