People who follow a vegetarian or meat-free diet may be at a lower risk of developing diabetes and heart disease, a new study suggests.
The study of lifestyle habits of more than 700 adults showed researchers that 23 out of every 100 vegetarians have at least three metabolic syndrome factors, compared with thirty-nine out of every 100 non-vegetarians and 37 out of every 100 semi-vegetarians.
Metabolic syndrome is a combination of health disorders that increase the risk of developing coronary artery disease, stroke, and diabetes. The risk factors include conditions like abdominal obesity, blood fat disorders, elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance or glucose intolerance.
According to the new study published in the journal Diabetes Care vegetarians were lower than non-vegetarians on all counts including blood sugar, blood pressure, waist size, body mass index (BMI), and blood fats except cholesterol.
Vegetarians’ average BMI of 25.7 was four points lower than that of non-vegetarians, who, on average, had BMIs close to 30. However, semi-vegetarians fell in the middle. A BMI greater than 25 is considered overweight, and greater than 30 is considered obese.
Moreover, the findings suggested that while vegetarians, on average, were 3 years older than the meat-eaters, they were in better shape and health status.
“I was expecting there should be a difference….but I didn’t expect that it would be that much,” said lead author Nico Rizzo of Loma Linda University.
The new research didn’t study the reasons behind the differences between vegetarians and non-vegetarians. However, the scientists suggest that it may be caused by the meat intake, eating the plant food or a combination of both.
—Agencies