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CASE REPORT article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Clinical Nutrition
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1418705
This article is part of the Research Topic Optimizing Hydration: Advances in Understanding, Assessment, and Promotion View all articles

Reduction in Lp(a) after a medically supervised, prolonged water-only fast followed by a whole-plant-food diet free of added salt, oil, and sugar: a case report

Provisionally accepted
Natasha Thompson Natasha Thompson 1Anthony Streutker Anthony Streutker 2Alan C. Goldhamer Alan C. Goldhamer 2Toshia Myers Toshia Myers 1*
  • 1 TrueNorth Health Foundation, Santa Rosa, United States
  • 2 TrueNorth Health Center, Santa Rosa, California, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is a low-density lipoprotein (LDL) associated with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. High Lp(a) levels are genetically determined and lack effective pharmacotherapy. This report describes the case of a 67-year-old, vegan male with high CVD risk who underwent a 10-day, medically supervised water-only fast followed by a sixweek SOS-free diet (free of added salt, oil, and sugar). At the six-week-follow-up visit, he experienced significant reductions in several CVD risk markers, including blood pressure, total cholesterol, LDL, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and a 39% decrease in Lp(a), from 236.3 nmol/L to 143.4 nmol/L. This decrease is comparable to reductions achieved with PCSK9 inhibitors. These findings suggest that prolonged water-only fasting and/or an SOS-free diet may be an effective alternative approach for managing high Lp(a) levels and reducing CVD risk in a vegan population, warranting further research..

    Keywords: Lipoprotein(a), water-only fasting, Prolonged fasting, whole-plant-food diet, case report

    Received: 17 Apr 2024; Accepted: 06 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Thompson, Streutker, Goldhamer and Myers. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Toshia Myers, TrueNorth Health Foundation, Santa Rosa, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.