Vegetarian and plant-based diets are good for your heart, study reveals

With time, the majority of people are shifting to vegetarian and vegan diets as they are light, low in carbohydrates and fats, and promote healthy lifestyles. Supporting this statement, a review of the four-decade data showed that plant-based diets are good for your heart health.

The study published in the European Heart Journalin Denmark showed that such diets cut levels of cholesterol and fats, decreasing the risk of heart attacks.

They added that the effect was equivalent to about a third of taking daily drugs. Further, the researchers said that both meat and dairy products have their own health benefits and thatnot all meat-free diets were actually healthy.

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For this research, the experts pulled 30 trials since 1982 in which the scientists gave some 2,400 volunteers a set diet and tracked its impact on their heart's health. It was found that vegetarian diets cut bad cholesterol, cholesterol and apolipoprotein B by 10 per cent, 7 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively.

Ruth Frikke-Schmidt, who conducted the research at Rigshopitalet, told BBC, "That corresponds to a third of the effect of a cholesterol-lowering statin [pill] - so that's really substantial."

Such studies, in general, require people to control diets for years to see the change, but sheused data from trials of statins to estimate maintaining such a diet for 15 years could cut the risk of cardiovascular disease by almost 20 per cent.

Schmidt further warned that people following such a plant-based diet should not come off drugs they have been prescribed because they are at risk of heart disease.

Should we completely give up meat?

Schmidt said sometimes she chooses to eat a plant-based diet with some chicken and white fish for her healthand environment and because she likes it.

She emphasised that many diets, such as the Mediterranean diet, which includesmeat have been shown to be healthy.

She said the important message is about "plant-based diets" and not excluding meat.

Prof Aedin Cassidy, from Queen's University, Belfast, said that not all plant-based diets are equal and diets that include refined carbohydrates and processed food that are highin fat or salt are unhealthy.

Prof Martin Warren, Chief Scientific Officer at Quadram Institutesaid, "Animal-based products such as meat do represent nutrient-dense foods that have other benefits."

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