A major study suggests people who eat vegan and vegetarian diets have a lower risk of heart disease but a higher risk of stroke.
They had 10 fewer cases of heart disease and three more stokes per 1,000 people compared with the meat-eaters. The research, published in the British Medical Journal, looked at 48,000 people for up to 18 years, however, it cannot prove whether the effect is down to their diet or some other aspect of their lifestyle.
Diet experts said, whatever people’s dietary choice, eating a wide range of foods, including both meat and veg, was best for their health.
It is possible that the association may have nothing to do with people’s diets and may just reflect other differences in the lives of people who do not eat meat.
Half of participants, recruited between 1993 and 2001, were meat eaters, just over 16,000 vegetarian or vegan, with 7,500 who described themselves as pescatarian. They were asked about their diets, when they joined the study and again in 2010. Medical history, smoking and physical activity were taken into account,
Altogether, there were 2,820 cases of coronary heart disease and 1,072 cases of stroke including 300 hemorrhagic strokes, which happen when a weakened blood vessel bursts and bleeds into the brain. The pescatarians were found to have a 13% lower risk of CHD than the meat-eaters, while the vegetarians and vegans had a 22% lower risk.
But those on plant-based diets had a 20% higher risk of stroke. The researchers suggested this could be linked to low vitamin B12 levels but said more studies were needed to investigate the connection.
Dr Frankie Phillips from the British Dietetic Association says this doesn’t suggest vegetarian diets are unhealthy.
“They looked at what people ate and followed them for years, so it’s an association, not cause-and-effect,” she says.
“The message, for everyone, is it makes sense to have a well-planned diet, and to eat a wide variety of foods.
