Plant-based diets are associated with reduced rate of cardiac events and symptom improvement in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients.

This study investigated the effect of plant-based diet on coronary artery disease (CAD). Researchers recommended plant-based diets for 198 CAD patients. They observed that nearly all the patients who converted to and sustained a plant-based diet for an average of 3.7 years had low rate of cardiac events. However, this study suggested that 62% of the subjects who still maintained their usual omnivore diets suffered from adverse cardiac events, such as stroke and myocardial infarction. The result of this study shows that vegetarian diets may decrease the occurrence of cardiac events and improve symptoms in CAD patients.