How important is diet to your heart health?
A recent study University of Oxford in England found vegetarians are much less likely to suffer from serious heart disease than those who include meat in their diet.
A University of Oxford study analysed 45,000 volunteers that were recruited in the 1990s and tracked till 2009 from across England and Scotland.
The results of the study demonstrated that vegetarians had about a third lower risk of heart disease than in non-vegetarians.
The analysis of the years of data had researchers conclude that vegetarians had 32% less risk of hospitalisation or death from heart disease and that most of the difference in the risk is likely from the effects on cholesterol and blood pressure and shows the importance of diet in heart health.
The study also looked at contributing factors such as age, smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity, educational level and socioeconomic background, and recorded the blood pressure and cholesterol levels of participants.
The overwhelming result from researches: vegetarians had lower blood pressure, cholesterol levels and body mass indices.