Other publications categorize plant-based diets by actual content, (e.g., semi-vegetarian, pescovegetarian, lacto-ovovegetarian, and vegan diets). Some plant-based diets reduce or eliminate intake of highly refined plant foods such as white flours, sugars, and oils. However, the concept of “plant-based diet” varies widely in definition, ranging from exclusion of all animal products (3) to only having “high factor loadings for vegetables, fruits, fruit juice, cereal, beans” while including “fish, poultry, and yogurt” (5). Plant-based dietary patterns are becoming increasingly popular because of a variety of reported health benefits to overall health and cardiovascular risk and disease in particular (3,4). Multiple studies have linked dietary patterns with incidence of CVD and found that groups consuming predominantly plant-based foods, versus animal-based, have lower rates of heart disease (1,2).

Despite improvements in cardiovascular mortality rates over the past several decades, cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a leading cause of death in the United States.

What does based mean