Vegan diet in physiological health promotion.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to evaluate the health effects of a vegan diet (living food) on various health risk factors, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and symptoms in rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia patients.
Results Summary
The study found that the vegan diet led to increased levels of beneficial nutrients (carotenoids, vitamins C and E), lowered cholesterol, reduced harmful fecal enzymes, and improved symptoms in rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia patients, including pain, joint stiffness, and sleep quality.
Population
Subjects consuming a living food diet, including rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia patients, compared to omnivorous controls.
Effective Dosage
Not specified
Duration
Not specified
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
living food (LF) diet | increase | carotenoids and vitamins C and E | subjects eating living food | - | show increased levels | #1 |
living food (LF) diet | decrease | cholesterol concentration | subjects eating living food | - | lowered | #2 |
living food (LF) diet | decrease | urinary excretion of sodium | subjects eating living food | - | only a fraction of | #3 |
living food (LF) diet | decrease | urinary output of phenol and p-cresol | subjects eating living food | - | lowered | #4 |
living food (LF) diet | decrease | several fecal enzyme levels | subjects eating living food | - | lowered | #5 |
LF diet | decrease | pain, swelling of joints and morning stiffness | rheumatoid arthritis patients | - | reported amelioration | #6 |
LF diet | increase | pain, swelling of joints and morning stiffness | rheumatoid arthritis patients | - | got worse after finishing | #7 |
LF diet | increase | composite indices of objective measures | rheumatoid arthritis patients | - | showed also improvement | #8 |
LF diet | decrease | weight | fibromyalgic subjects | - | lost weight | #9 |
LF diet | increase | joint stiffness and pain (visual analogue scale) | fibromyalgic subjects | - | improved | #10 |
LF diet | increase | quality of sleep | fibromyalgic subjects | - | improved | #11 |
LF diet | increase | health assessment questionnaire | fibromyalgic subjects | - | improved | #12 |
LF diet | increase | general health questionnaire | fibromyalgic subjects | - | improved | #13 |
vegan diet exemplified by the living food | decrease | several health risk factors to cardiovascular diseases and cancer | - | - | leads to a lessening | #14 |
vegan diet | increase | rheumatoid patients | rheumatoid patients | - | subjectively benefited | #15 |
vegan diet | increase | serum parameters and fecal analyses | rheumatoid patients | - | also seen in | #16 |
We have performed a number of studies including dietary interventions and cross-sectional studies on subjects consuming uncooked vegan food called living food (LF) and clarified the changes in several parameters related to health risk factors. LF consists of germinated seeds, cereals, sprouts, vegetables, fruits, berries and nuts. Some items are fermented and contain a lot of lactobacilli. The diet is rich in fiber. It has very little sodium, and it contains no cholesterol. Food items like berries and wheat grass juice are rich in antioxidants such as carotenoids and flavonoids. The subjects eating living food show increased levels of carotenoids and vitamins C and E and lowered cholesterol concentration in their sera. Urinary excretion of sodium is only a fraction of the omnivorous controls. Also urinary output of phenol and p-cresol is lowered as are several fecal enzyme levels which are considered harmful. The rheumatoid arthritis patients eating the LF diet reported amelioration of their pain, swelling of joints and morning stiffness which all got worse after finishing LF diet. The composite indices of objective measures showed also improvement of the rheumatoid arthritis patients during the intervention. The fibromyalgic subjects eating LF lost weight compared to their omnivorous controls. The results on their joint stiffness and pain (visual analogue scale), on their quality of sleep, on health assessment questionnaire and on general health questionnaire all improved. It appears that the adoption of vegan diet exemplified by the living food leads to a lessening of several health risk factors to cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Rheumatoid patients subjectively benefited from the vegan diet which was also seen in serum parameters and fecal analyses.