- People who cut meat and fish out of their diet were 32% less likely die or be hospitalized from heart disease
- Vegetarians had lower blood pressures and cholesterol levels than meat-eaters
- Study of 45,000 people, is largest of its kind
Heart disease is the single largest cause of death in developed countries and is responsible for 65,000 deaths each year in the UK alone. These findings, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggest that a vegetarian diet could significantly reduce people’s risk of heart disease.
‘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,’ explains Dr. Francesca Crowe, lead author of the study at the Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford.
This is the largest study ever conducted in the UK comparing rates of heart disease between vegetarians and non-vegetarians.
Vegetarians are a third less likely to need hospital treatment for heart disease or die from it, claim researchers.
The largest study of its kind found vegetarians have healthier hearts than those who eat meat or fish.
It is thought the benefits come from lower blood pressure and improved cholesterol levels through eating low-fat diets based on vegetables, whole grains, and fruit.
The study of almost 45,000 volunteers included a high proportion of vegetarians – 34 percent – and mostly women, which resulted in ‘clear findings’, said researchers.
Co-author Professor Tim Key, deputy director of the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford, said: ‘The results clearly show the risk of heart disease in vegetarians is about a third lower than in non-vegetarians.’
An estimated three million Britons, around 5 percent, are vegetarian and never eat meat or fish.
The study recruited English and Scottish volunteers who completed questionnaires on health and lifestyle, diet, exercise, smoking habits, and alcohol consumption.
Almost 20,000 also had their blood pressures recorded and gave blood samples for cholesterol testing.
Over an average follow-up period of 11.6 years, scientists recorded 1,066 hospital admissions due to heart disease, and 169 deaths.
Being vegetarian reduced the risk of death or hospital admission from heart disease by 32 percent, after adjusting for factors such as age, sex, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, education, and social background.
The study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The researchers found that vegetarians had lower blood pressures and cholesterol levels than non-vegetarians, which is thought to be the main reason behind their reduced risk of heart disease.
Namely, vegetarians had lower levels of harmful cholesterol in their blood and reduced systolic or maximum blood pressure. In addition, vegetarians typically had lower body mass indices (BMI) and fewer cases of diabetes as a result of their diets
Dr. Francesca Crowe, author of the study at the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford, said: ‘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.’
Red meat, especially processed meat, contains ingredients that have been linked to increased risk of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.
These include heme iron, saturated fat, sodium, nitrites, and certain carcinogens that are formed during cooking.
Eating more vegetables and fruit may also help through their antioxidant effects, combating harmful naturally occurring chemicals in the body.
Official advice from the Department of Health in 2010 said cutting down on red meat could reduce the risk of bowel cancer.
A study of 120,000 Americans made similar findings. It showed a greater risk of premature death, including heart disease, from diets high in red meat which could be cut by substituting other forms of healthy protein.
Commenting on the study, senior Indian cardiologist Dr. K K Aggarwal said, Indians who are meat-eaters and have a sedentary lifestyle may be more at risk of heart disease. “Indians are more prone to heart disease than people in any other country,” Aggarwal said.
“Heart disease is the single largest cause of death in urban areas of India, with 24,00,000 people in the country dying every year due to it,” said Aggarwal, President Heart Care Foundation of India, a New Delhi-based charity.
The findings reinforce the idea that diet is central to prevention of heart disease, and build on previous work looking at the influence of vegetarian diets, the researchers said.
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