Effects of 7 days on an ad libitum low-fat vegan diet: The McDougall Program cohort

Abstract

Background: Epidemiologic evidence, reinforced by clinical and laboratory studies, shows that the rich Western diet is the major underlying cause of death and disability (e.g, from cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes) in Western industrialized societies. The objective of this study is to document the effects that eating a low-fat (=10% of calories), high-carbohydrate (∼80% of calories), moderate-sodium, purely plant-based diet ad libitum for 7 days can have on the biomarkers of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Methods: Retrospective analysis of measurements of weight, blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood lipids and estimation of cardiovascular disease risk at baseline and day 7 from 1615 participants in a 10-day residential dietary intervention program from 2002 to 2011. Wilcoxon's signed-rank test was used for testing the significance of changes from baseline. Results: The median (interquartile range, IQR) weight loss was 1.4 (1.8) kg (p 7.5% at baseline, the risk dropped to 5.5% (>27%) at day 7 (p