Plant-Based Diets Linked to 16% Lower Heart Disease Risk and 32% Lower Risk of Dying From It

Middle-aged adults who ate the most plant foods and the least animal foods had a 16% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, a 31-32% lower risk of dying from it and an 18-25% lower risk of dying from any cause, a new study has found.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, led by Hyunju Kim and Casey Rebholz, followed 12,168 adults in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study from 1987 to 2016. The study is published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. A healthy plant-based score was also linked to 19% lower cardiovascular death and 11% lower death from any cause.

Dr. Rebholz said in the American Heart Association release:

While you don't have to give up foods derived from animals completely, our study does suggest that eating a larger proportion of plant-based foods and a smaller proportion of animal-based foods may help reduce your risk of having a heart attack, stroke or other type of cardiovascular disease.

More vegetables, nuts, whole grains, fruit and legumes on the plate, and less from animals: it really is that simple.

The same team linked healthy plant-based diets to a 14% lower risk of kidney disease earlier this year, while Harvard linked plant-based diets to a 23% lower risk of type 2 diabetes. The Adventist study also tied nuts and seeds to a 40% lower risk of heart death.

Every plate of plants is a gift to your heart!