Z Kardiol. 1996 Jun; 85(6): 418-27.

[Lactovegetarian diet: effect on changes in body weight, lipid status, fibrinogen and lipoprotein (a) in cardiovascular patients during inpatient rehabilitation treatment]

Brestrich M, Claus J, Blümchen G.

Klinik Roderbirken, Klinik für Herz-Kreislauf-Erkrankungen der LVA, Rheinprovinz, Leichlingen.

In this paper, the shortterm influence of a lactovegetarian diet on selected laboratory parameters and motivation of patients in comparison to a conventional, fat-modified and cholesterol-lowered, omnivorous diet during a clinical rehabilitation treatment should be examined. During an average period of 24.2 days the total cholesterol and the LDL-cholesterol fell for a group of 151 patients who had volunteered to sustain a vegetarian diet for the duration of the clinical rehabilitation, significantly higher by a medium level of 31.1 mg/dl (12.5%) versus 16.9 mg/dl (7%) respectively 27.7 mg/dl (14.5%) versus 11.8 mg/dl (6.5%), as compared to a randomly selected control group of 151 patients. The reductions within the groups were also significant. All of the other laboratory parameters such as lipoprotein (a), fibrinogen, uric acid, triglycerides, and HDL-cholesterol did not exhibit any diet-related changes. The weight of the adipose patients could be reduced very significantly through a reduction diet consisting of lactovegetarian food by an average of 3.2 kg versus 1.6 kg (as in the case of the normal, omnivorous diet). All of the dependent values, i.e., circumference of abdomen and hip, and "body-mass-index" (BMI) showed the same highly significant differences. Even after 1 year approximately two-thirds of the patients of the vegetarian group chose the reduction of meat and meat-products in their diet, of which merely a small part, 5.3%, were faithful to the pure lactovegetarian food. Essentially, the favorable effects on the lipid values persisted. The positive effects on the lipid values, the weight, and the motivation of the group of patients with the lactovegetarian diet allow the general recommendation of this diet for heart patients in the course of their clinical rehabilitation.