Vegetarians Have 22% Lower Risk of Heart Disease, 18-Year Oxford Study Finds

Vegetarians had 22% lower rates of ischaemic heart disease than meat eaters over 18 years, a major University of Oxford study finds. That works out at 10 fewer cases of heart disease for every 1,000 people over a decade.

Researchers led by Dr. Tammy Tong followed 48,188 UK adults in the EPIC-Oxford study, one of the largest studies of non-meat eaters in the world, including 16,254 vegetarians and vegans and 7,506 fish eaters. Fish eaters had 13% lower rates of heart disease than meat eaters. The results are published in The BMJ.

The same study found vegetarians had 20% higher rates of total stroke, about three extra cases per 1,000 people over 10 years, mostly haemorrhagic stroke. The authors conclude:

In this prospective cohort in the UK, fish eaters and vegetarians had lower rates of ischaemic heart disease than meat eaters, although vegetarians had higher rates of haemorrhagic and total stroke.

Weighed up, the 10 fewer heart disease cases outnumber the three extra strokes per 1,000 people.

It backs up this summer's meta-analysis that linked vegetarian diets to a 22% lower risk of dying from heart disease, and the American College of Cardiology's recommendation of plant protein.

For healthy hearts, the plant-based case keeps getting stronger.