Ditching meat and fish in favour of a vegetarian diet can have a dramatic effect on the health of your heart, research suggests.<\/p>\n
A study of 44,500 people in England and Scotland showed vegetarians were 32% less likely to die or need hospital treatment as a result of heart disease.<\/p>\n
Differences in cholesterol levels, blood pressure and body weight are thought to be behind the health boost.<\/p>\n
The findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition<\/p>\n
Heart disease is a major blight in Western countries. It kills 94,000 people in the UK each year – more than any other disease, and 2.6 million people live with the condition.<\/p>\n
The heart’s own blood supply becomes blocked up by fatty deposits in the arteries that nourish the heart muscle. It can cause angina or even lead to a heart attack if the blood vessels become completely blocked.<\/p>\n
Scientists at the University of Oxford analysed data from 15,100 vegetarians and 29,400 people who ate meat and fish.<\/p>\n
Over the course of 11 years, 169 people in the study died from heart disease and 1,066 needed hospital treatment – and they were more likely to have been meat and fish eaters than vegetarians.<\/p>\n