https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4315380/
The primary aim of the plant-based diet is to maximize the consumption of nutrient-dense plant foods while minimizing processed foods, added sugars, oils, and animal-based foods.3 A plant-based diet encourages lots of vegetables and fruits and is low in fat.4 Broadly defined, a plant-based diet has significant health benefits, and studies have shown that a plant-based diet can be an effective treatment for obesity,5–9 diabetes,10–14 hypertension,15 hyperlipidemia,16 and heart disease.17,18
The Lifestyle Heart Trial found that 82% of patients diagnosed with heart disease who followed this plant-based diet program had some level of regression of atherosclerosis and 91% had a reduction in the frequency of angina episodes, whereas 53% of the control group, fed the American Heart Association diet, had progression of atherosclerosis.17 In addition, the study showed a reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (37.2%) that is similar to results achieved with lipid-lowering medications. Similarly, other researchers showed that compared with a control group, the plant-based diet group had a 73% decrease in coronary events and a 70% decrease in all-cause mortality.15 In 1998, a collaborative analysis using original data from 5 prospective studies was reviewed and showed that, compared with nonvegetarians, vegetarians had a 24% reduction in ischemic heart disease death rates.19