A new study published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has suggested that a vegetarian diet can be beneficial in cutting the risk of heart disease.
Scientists at the University of Oxford in the UK carried out tests on 44,500 people in England and Scotland, finding that those eliminating meat and fish from their diets were 32 per cent less likely to die or need hospital treatment as a result of heart disease.
Data was taken from 15,100 vegetarians and 29,400 who also ate meat and fish – and over the course of the 11-year study, 169 people died from heart disease and 1,066 needed hospital treatment, with more from the meat and fish eaters.
Results also showed that vegetarians had lower blood pressure, lower levels of 'bad' cholesterol and were more likely to have a healthy weight.
