Vegetarian diets offer many health benefits—including a healthier heart. A newly released study found vegetarians cut their heart disease risk by a third versus their carnivorous compadres, thanks to improvements in both cholesterol levels and blood pressure.

 

In the study, vegetarians—who do not consume meat or fish—had a 32 percent lower chance of being hospitalized or dying from heart disease compared to people who include meat and fish in their diets. Vegetarians in the study also tended to be slimmer and have fewer cases of diabetes.

 

The study included close to 45,000 people in England and Scotland, and followed them after their recruitment in the 1990s until 2009. Some U.S. experts claim the study is not conclusive because vegetarians in the study were younger than the meat-eaters, and people in the study have different lifestyles than Americans—who tend to weigh more, smoke more, and are less active.

 

One thing experts do agree on is that fruits and vegetables are important parts of a healthful diet, regardless whether meat or fish are also on the menu.