Vegan and Vegetarian Diets 'Link to Higher Stroke Risk'
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Vegan and vegetarian diets lower the risk of heart disease but raise the risk of stroke, a major study suggests.
The research, published in the British Medical Journal, looked at 48,000 people for up to 18 years.
The vegans and vegetarians had 10 fewer cases of coronary heart disease per 1,000 people compared with the meat-eaters but three more cases of stroke.
Diet experts said, whatever people's dietary choice, eating a wide range of foods was best for their health.
It analyses data from the EPIC-Oxford study, a major long-term research project looking at diet and health.
[...] Altogether, there were 2,820 cases of coronary heart disease (CHD) and 1,072 cases of stroke - including 300 haemorrhagic strokes, which happen when a weakened blood vessel bursts and bleeds into the brain.
The pescetarians 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.
It is also 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. Dr Frankie Phillips, from the British Dietetic Association, says not - because this was an observational study. "They looked at what people ate and followed them for years, so it's an association, not cause-and-effect," she says.
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