Health Feature: Vegetarianism can reduce risk of heart disease by a third

The risk of hospitalisation or death from heart disease is 32% lower in vegetarians than people who eat meat and fish, according to a new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 

"Most of the difference in risk is probably caused by effects on cholesterol and blood pressure, and shows the important role of diet in the prevention of heart disease," says lead author Dr Francesca Crowe.

The analysis looked at almost 45,000 volunteers from England and Scotland enrolled in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Oxford study, of whom 34% were vegetarian. 

The volunteers were tracked until 2009, during which time researchers identified 1235 cases of heart disease. 

They found that vegetarians had lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels than non-vegetarians, which is thought to be the main reason behind their reduced risk of heart disease. 

Vegetarians typically also had a lower BMI and fewer cases of diabetes, although these were not found to significantly affect the results. Adjusting the results to exclude the effects of BMI, vegetarians remained 28% less likely to develop heart disease.

Reproduced from GI News