Take heart
Vegans have a lower risk of heart disease and stroke
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the main causes of death and disability in the UK but it can be prevented with a healthy lifestyle. A study of 650 adults from the US and Canada found that those avoiding meat had significantly lower levels of risk factors for CVD.
Researchers looked at four diets: vegans, vegetarians, fish-eaters and meat-eaters and found that obesity, blood pressure and cholesterol levels were all lower in those avoiding meat, with vegans coming out best.
Vegans tended to weigh less than meateaters and this contributed to their lower risk. However, even when they compared blood pressure and cholesterol levels of vegans with those of meat-eaters, matched for weight, vegans still came out healthier.
The authors suggested that further research needed to be done to work out how best to promote plant-based diets as protective against CVD. Why wait when you can just ditch meat and dairy and considerably lower your risk?
Matsumoto S et al., 2019. Association between vegetarian diets and cardiovascular risk factors in non-Hispanic white participants of the Adventist Health Study-2. Journal of Nutritional Science. 8 e6.
About the author
Dr. Justine Butler
Justine joined Viva! in 2005 after graduating from Bristol University with a PhD in molecular biology. After working as a campaigner, then researcher and writer, she is now Viva!’s head of research and her work focuses on animals, the environment and health. Justine’s scientific training helps her research and write both in-depth scientific reports, such as White Lies and the Meat Report, as well as easy-to-read factsheets and myth-busting articles for consumer magazines and updates on the latest research. Justine also recently wrote the Vegan for the Planet guide for Viva!’s Vegan Now campaign.
View author page | View staff profile
