Research
Macro partitioning
A vegan diet improves cardiovascular risk markers, specifically by lowering total and LDL cholesterol and improving fatty acid profiles, compared to a non-vegetarian diet.
Adopting a vegan diet can significantly improve your cholesterol numbers, lowering both total and LDL cholesterol by roughly 20-25% compared to a standard diet. This benefit comes from eating more plant-based oils (like rapeseed or margarine), soy, and rye, which replace animal fats and improve your overall fatty acid profile.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Vegans showed more favorable fatty acid profiles (P < 0.001) as well as much higher concentrations of polyphenols such as genistein and daidzein (P < 0.001). The serum total cholesterol was 20% and LDL cholesterol was 25% lower in the vegan group than in the non-vegetarian group.
Why this rating
Well-matched cohort with objective biochemical analysis.
Source
Food and Nutrient Intake and Nutritional Status of Finnish Vegans and Non-Vegetarians
Anna‐Liisa Elorinne et al. · PLoS ONE · 2016
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0148235
cross_sectional · n=41Cited 280×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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