Do all vegetarians have a lower cardiovascular risk? A prospective study.

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular epidemiology
• Nutritional science
• Public health

Background:

• Vegetarian diets are diverse, with varying health implications.
• Cardiovascular disease remains a leading global health concern.
• Assessing diet quality is crucial for understanding health outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare cardiovascular risk across different dietary patterns: healthy vs. unhealthy vegetarian diets and meat-inclusive diets.
• To investigate the impact of adherence to UK health guidelines on cardiovascular risk within vegetarian and meat-eating populations.
• To determine if overall diet quality modifies the association between vegetarianism and cardiovascular risk.

Main Methods:

• Utilized UK Biobank data from 391,124 participants.
• Categorized participants into lacto-vegetarian or meat-eater groups.
• Assessed diet quality using UK guidelines and analyzed incidence of ischemic heart disease (IHD), myocardial infarction (MI), and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) via Cox proportional hazard models.

Main Results:

• Healthier vegetarian diets were associated with an 18% lower risk of MACE compared to less healthy meat-eater diets.
• Healthier meat-eater diets showed a 5% lower risk of MACE than less healthy meat-eater diets.
• No significant difference in cardiovascular risk was found between less healthy vegetarians and less healthy meat-eaters.

Conclusions:

• Cardiovascular risk associated with vegetarian diets is not uniform and depends on overall diet quality.
• Future research should focus on comprehensive dietary patterns rather than solely meat consumption.
• Public health guidelines promoting plant-based diets must emphasize the importance of diet quality alongside meat reduction.