EFEITOS DA DIETA VEGETARIANA E PLANT-BASED NA DISLIPIDEMIA, DIABETES MELLITUS E RISCO CARDIOVASCULAR EM ADULTOS.

Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are among the leading causes of death worldwide. Vegetarian and plant-based diets have been studied with the aim of reducing cardiovascular risk factors. Objective: To describe the effects of vegetarian and plantbased diets on lipid profile, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and other cardiovascular risk factors in adult patients. Materials and Methods: This is a systematic review, carried out with randomized clinical trials from 2015 to 2020, indexed in the electronic databases PubMed, Scielo, Portal BVS and Portal CAPES. Health descriptors and Boolean terms were used for greater sensitivity and specificity. Eligibility criteria included only randomized clinical trials, articles that compared a vegetarian or plantbased diet with the control group and that used at least one cardiovascular risk assessment parameter in the analysis of results. Results and Discussion: Ten articles were included in this systematic review. Significant reductions were demonstrated in the levels of LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, glycated hemoglobin, fasting glucose, Body Mass Index and inflammatory markers in the selected studies, without considerable changes in HDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The strict vegetarian diet presented relevant results when compared to conventional treatment or to reference diets in the prevention of cardiometabolic diseases. Conclusion: Vegetarian and plant-based diets showed favorable results in metabolic rates. More studies are needed to carry out the adequate indication in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]