Impact Of A Low Fat Vegan Diet

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Following in the footsteps of the "low fat imperative" article I sent out, this paper just came out in the JADA. The paper includes a complete comparison of what happened to all nutrients after adopting a low fat (10%) vegan diet. One caveat, the low fat vegan group were instructed to take 1 gram of fish oil a day and 1 oz of a soy protein powder supplement.J Am Diet Assoc. 2008;108:347-356.A Very-Low-Fat Vegan Diet Increases Intake of Protective Dietary Factors and Decreases Intakeof Pathogenic Dietary FactorsANTONELLA DEWELL, MS, RD; GERDI WEIDNER, PhD; MICHAEL D. SUMNER, PhD; CHRISTINE S. CHI; DEAN ORNISH, MDABSTRACTThere is increasing evidence that dietary factors in plantbaseddiets are important in the prevention of chronicdisease. This study examined protective (eg, antioxidantvitamins, carotenoids, and fiber) and pathogenic (eg, saturatedfatty acids and cholesterol) dietary factors in avery-low-fat vegan diet. Ninety-three early-stage prostatecancer patients participated in a randomized controlledtrial and were assigned to a very-low-fat (10% fat) vegandiet supplemented with soy protein and lifestyle changesor to usual care. Three-day food records were collected atbaseline (n42 intervention, n43 control) and after 1year (n37 in each group). Analyses of changes in dietaryintake of macronutrients, vitamins, minerals, carotenoids,and isoflavones from baseline to 1 year showedsignificantly increased intake of most protective dietaryfactors (eg, fiber increased from a mean of 31 to 59 g/day,lycopene increased from 8,693 to 34,464 g/day) and significantlydecreased intake of most pathogenic dietaryfactors (eg, saturated fatty acids decreased from 20 to 5g/day, cholesterol decreased from 200 to 10 mg/day) in theintervention group compared to controls. These results suggest that a very-low-fat vegan diet can be useful inincreasing intake of protective nutrients and phytochemicalsand minimizing intake of dietary factors implicatedin several chronic diseases.