Vegan for Life - Jack Norris [70]
Actually, the problem is probably both refined carbohydrates and saturated fat. We know from a large body of research that replacing saturated fat with healthier fats—poly- and monounsaturated ones—reduces blood-cholesterol levels and is associated with a lower risk for heart disease.3 Similar benefits occur when saturated fat is replaced with carbohydrates from whole, unrefined plant foods. It’s not a matter of giving up carbs or fats; it’s a matter of choosing the right ones.
In theory, you could eat a high saturated fat diet by loading up on coconut and palm oil, but the reality is that switching to a diet based on plant foods is pretty much guaranteed to substantially lower your saturated fat intake. Vegans eat much less saturated fat than meat-eaters and, as we saw in Chapter 12, they have lower levels of total blood cholesterol and, more importantly, of LDL-cholesterol. This is the “bad” cholesterol that is responsible for increased deposits of plaque in the arteries, which causes them to narrow and even become blocked. Narrowed arteries also cause an increase in blood pressure, and high blood pressure in turn can damage arteries—a vicious and potentially life-threatening cycle.
In addition to their lower saturated fat intake, vegans enjoy other advantages thanks to their diet:
• Plant foods are high in antioxidants, which may prevent cholesterol deposits from forming in the arteries, although not all research supports this theory.
• Vegans tend to have lower blood pressure, putting them at a reduced risk for a heart attack or stroke.
• Vegans are likely to eat more soyfoods than omnivores, and there is evidence suggesting that compounds in soy help make blood vessels more elastic—a factor that reduces the risk for atherosclerosis. Soy protein may also lower blood-cholesterol levels. (More on this in Chapter 15.)
• Nuts, which often play an important role in vegan diets, are linked to a reduced risk for heart disease.4
BENEFITS OF VEGAN DIETS FOR CONTROLLING TYPE-2 DIABETES
Type-1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder in which the pancreas doesn’t produce enough (or any) insulin. Without insulin, blood glucose can’t get into cells, and the cells starve. People with this disease require lifelong insulin therapy. But by far the more prevalent type of diabetes is type 2, in which enough insulin is produced, but the cells become resistant to it.
Being overweight and inactive raises the risk for type-2 diabetes. The disease is on the rise not only among Americans but also among people in developing countries because they are adopting American-style eating habits, including more fatty animal foods and refined carbohydrates.
Type-2 diabetes used to be called adult onset diabetes because it occurred primarily in older people, but we are beginning to see it at astounding rates among teens and even children in the United States.
Some people with type-2 diabetes take medication, but the condition can often be managed very well through diet and exercise. Sometimes, losing a few pounds is enough to improve glucose control. There are a number of reasons why a diet based on whole plant foods could be helpful for controlling diabetes:
• A vegan diet doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be slender, but vegans are less likely to be obese. Weight loss is often the single most effective way to control diabetes.
• Although vegan diets are typically high in carbohydrates, they tend to have a low glycemic index, which could be an advantage in controlling diabetes. The glycemic index is a measure of how quickly carbohydrates are digested and absorbed. We’ll discuss this further later in the chapter.
• People with diabetes are at especially high risk for cardiovascular disease. So the factors in plant-based diets that reduce risk for CVD can be especially