Being vegetarian can reduce risk of heart disease by up to a
third A new study from the University of Oxford has found that
the risk of hospitalisation or death from heart disease is 32
percent lower in vegetarians than people who eat meat and fish.
Heart disease is the single largest cause of death in developed
countries. The new findings 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. 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 perc