Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Mar;97(3):597-603.
Risk of hospitalization or death from ischemic heart disease among British vegetarians and nonvegetarians: results from the EPIC-Oxford cohort study.
Crowe FL, Appleby PN, Travis RC, Key TJ.
Source
Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
francesca.crowe@ceu.ox.ac.uk
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Few previous prospective studies have examined differences in incident ischemic
heart disease (IHD) risk between vegetarians and nonvegetarians.
OBJECTIVE:
The objective was to examine the association of a vegetarian diet with risk of
incident (nonfatal and fatal) IHD.
DESIGN:
A total of 44,561 men and women living in England and Scotland who were enrolled
in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Oxford
study, of whom 34% consumed a vegetarian diet at baseline, were part of the
analysis. Incident cases of IHD were identified through linkage with hospital
records and death certificates. Serum lipids and blood pressure measurements
were available for 1519 non cases, who were matched to IHD cases by sex and age.
IHD risk by vegetarian status was estimated by using multivariate Cox
proportional hazards models.
RESULTS:
After an average follow-up of 11.6 y, there were 1235 IHD cases (1066 hospital
admissions and 169 deaths). Compared with nonvegetarians, vegetarians had a
lower mean BMI [in kg/m(2); -1.2 (95% CI: -1.3, -1.1)], non-HDL-cholesterol
concentration [-0.45 (95% CI: -0.60, -0.30) mmol/L], and systolic blood pressure
[-3.3 (95% CI: -5.9, -0.7) mm Hg]. Vegetarians had a 32% lower risk (HR: 0.68;
95% CI: 0.58, 0.81) of IHD than did nonvegetarians, which was only slightly
attenuated after adjustment for BMI and did not differ materially by sex, age,
BMI, smoking, or the presence of IHD risk factors.
CONCLUSION:
Consuming a vegetarian diet was associated with lower IHD risk, a finding that
is probably mediated by differences in non-HDL cholesterol, and systolic blood
pressure.
PMID: 23364007 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]