Studies suggest that substituting one to two servings of plant protein in place of animal proteins daily could lead to a small reduction in cholesterol markers for the risk of the development of cardiovascular disease by up to 5%. The benefits could be even higher with combined consumption of plant proteins such as nuts, soy, bean, and peas and other cholesterol lower foods such as barley and psyllium, and water soluble fibres from oats.
A meta analysis and systematic review, published in the Journal Of The American Heart Association, led by Dr. Sievenpiper of 112 randomized control trial involving individuals who had substituted plant proteins in their diets to replace some animal proteins for at least a 3 weeks period.
According to Sievenpiper other studies have shown the benefits of individual foods and food groups but that his paper had looked at the benefits of substituting any plant protein in the place of animal proteins. Dairy proteins were replaced with soy proteins in most of the randomized control trials that were used in this study.
This study investigated the impact of replacing animal proteins with plant proteins on three key markers for cholesterol: non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein B , and low density lipoprotein cholesterol.
Non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol is, non-HDL-C, or total cholesterol minus the HDL or good/healthy cholesterol. Apolipoprotein B are the proteins in bad cholesterol which clog the arteries. LDL, Low density lipoprotein cholesterol, or bad cholesterol contributes to fatty build ups in the arteries and raises the risks of peripheral artery disease, heart attack and stroke.
