Impact of Vegan vs Omnivorous Diet on Cardiovascular, Metabolic Parameters

Background: Vegan diets appear to improve dietary quality versus omnivorous diets and may also have a cardiovascular advantage, but more research is needed in this area. Objective: To determine the impact of a vegan versus omnivorous diet on cardiovascular and metabolic parameters during an 8-week intervention period. Design: Single-center open-label, parallel (no crossover), randomized trial. Participants/Methods: The authors included 22 pairs of identical twins assigned a vegan or omnivorous diet for 8 weeks. A meal delivery service was utilized from baseline to week 4, and during weeks 5 to 8 subjects were responsible for preparing their own diet assigned meals and snacks. The primary end point was low-density lipoprotein (LDL) changes from baseline to 8 weeks. The secondary end points were changes in a variety of cardiometabolic parameters, body weight, and plasma vitamin B12. Other exploratory parameters included: adherence, difficult in following the diet assigned, energy level more...