A 2024 cross-sectional study of healthy adults (aged 25-45) compared three groups: long-term flexitarians (≤ 50 g of meat/processed meat per day), vegans (no animal products), and omnivores (≥ 170 g meat/processed meat per day). The flexitarians and vegans had significantly better levels of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and insulin compared with the omnivores. PubMed+3BioMed Central+3BioMed Central+3
- The flexitarians had the best metabolic syndrome (“MetS”)-score results (based on BMI & waistline), and better arterial stiffness (pulse wave velocity) than both vegans and omnivores. BioMed Central+1
- In other words: reducing meat/processed meat and increasing plant foods was strongly associated with better cardiovascular risk markers. Alpro Foundation+1
Researchers reviewing how “flexitarian” is defined noted that many national dietary guidelines now implicitly or explicitly encourage reducing meat/animal-food intake (even if not eliminating) as part of healthy diets. PubMed
Other sources (such as nutrition trade/summary sites) note that even moderate reductions in meat intake are associated with lower rates of hypertension and type 2 diabetes in large observational samples. For example, one summary: “flexitarians appear to cut their rate of diabetes by 28 % … those who cut out all meat except fish appear to cut their rates in half.” NutritionFacts.org

🔍 What this means specifically for cholesterol & cardiovascular risk

Given the study above, a flexitarian pattern was associated with lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and lower total cholesterol compared to heavier meat‐eaters. BioMed Central+1
Because many of the benefits are likely mediated by increased consumption of fruits/vegetables/legumes/nuts (and reduction of processed/animal foods), this suggests that the plant-food increase + animal‐food decrease combo is key. News-Medical+1
While full vegan/vegetarian diets might offer greater improvements (on average) in some parameters, the flexitarian approach appears to offer “most of the benefit” while being more practical/adherent for many people.

⚠️ Caveats
Definitions vary: “flexitarian” can mean many things (occasional meat, reduced meat, etc) — what one study defines may differ from what someone means in everyday life. PubMed

As with any diet, it matters what else you do (activity level, smoking, overall diet quality, etc). In the flexitarian study, diet quality (fruits/veg/nuts) also correlated with benefits. Alpro Foundation+1