Is vegetarian food good for cardiovascular health?

With the explosive growth of cardiovascular disease, people have already realized that the taste of the cream is great, and the big fish and big meat are the main factors causing cardiovascular disease. Then some people try to eat vegetarian food, that is, do not eat meat, poultry, seafood and other animals. Food, they think that vegetarian food can definitely make their cardiovascular system healthy. What they see and hear in life also suggests that vegetarian food can really make some people live longer and healthier, without cardiovascular disease, but like to eat fat and healthy longevity. The elderly are also everywhere, so how much is the health benefits of vegetarian diet? In order to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, is it recommended that everyone eat vegetarian food? For this problem, it is always in the midst of controversy. It can be said that the benevolent sees benevolence, the wise sees wisdom, and everyone has their own personal experience.

Is vegetarian food good for cardiovascular health?

Is there any new, convincing evidence in this regard? It is well known that blood pressure is one of the most easily identifiable indicators of cardiovascular disease, and those with normal blood pressure are generally more likely to have normal cardiovascular system. Japan is a country with more vegetarians. They conducted a survey and found that the average systolic blood pressure of vegetarians was 6.9 mmHg lower than that of omnivores, and the diastolic blood pressure was reduced by 4.7 mmHg on average, indicating that in the same situation, the blood pressure of vegetarians was higher than that of omnivores. A significant reduction in blood pressure can be achieved by taking a vegetarian diet with elevated blood pressure.



The study of dietary habits and blood pressure in the UK suggests that a diet based on vegetables, fruits, low fat and low calorie can reduce systolic blood pressure by 5 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 3 mmHg. It shows that eating more fruits and vegetables has obvious antihypertensive effect.

And some vegetarians, they do not eat animal protein, but drink milk, or eat eggs, can be called: milk egg vegetarians, milk vegetarians and egg vegetarians. Some scholars have conducted milky vegetarians and omnivores for 10 years, and finally concluded that the average blood pressure, blood lipid levels, and blood sugar levels of dairy vegetarians are lower than those of omnivores, and can reflect the objective indicators of stroke: Carotid intima-media thickness is also significantly lower than that of omnivores, indicating that vegetarian diet can indeed reduce cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

A survey in the United States found that vegetarian, lacto-vegetarian and semi-vegetarians had a lower incidence of cardiovascular, renal and endocrine diseases than omnivores for nearly six years, and male vegetarians died of cardiovascular disease. The probability is greatly reduced.

However, there are also conclusions to the contrary. Some people have studied the cardiovascular health status of vegetarian group monks, and found that the incidence of long-term vegetarian monks, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis is not lower than that of ordinary people; Hong Kong for vegetarians The survey also found that the carotid intima thickening was more than normal diet, indicating that complete vegetarian diet is not beneficial to everyone.

At present, vegetarian diet is the most effective in lowering blood pressure and losing weight. The reasons are as follows: First, vegetarian food is rich in cellulose and has low fat content; second, many vegetarian foods are rich in potassium ions because potassium ions can dilate blood vessels and lower blood pressure; It is the salt of vegetarians when cooking, the amount of seasonings is small, and the intake is correspondingly reduced, because eating more salt is one of the most important factors causing high blood pressure; fourth, the saturated acid content of saturated fatty acids in vegetarian diet is low and the content of unsaturated fatty acids is high. Because unsaturated fatty acids are good for cardiovascular health; fifth, vegetarian diets can reduce blood viscosity.

From the above evidence, it can be said that vegetarian diet is indeed beneficial to cardiovascular health, especially to ensure adequate daily vegetables and fruits, reduce salt, sodium intake (soy sauce, vinegar, hot sauce, etc.) can significantly reduce high blood pressure. Occurs, even plays an unexpected role in antihypertensive drugs; it can also delay and reduce the occurrence of atherosclerosis. But anything has a two-sided character, that is, the so-called extremes must be reversed, excessive, complete vegetarian diet can lead to disorders of lipid metabolism in the body, vitamin and trace element deficiency, especially the reduction of vitamin B12, resulting in elevated levels of homocysteine ​​in the blood, but caused Arteriosclerosis, stroke. There is also a full vegetarian diet that affects our quality of life and affects our mood. Therefore, although vegetarian food can be used as a dietary method that we can choose, it is good for cardiovascular health, but more evidence and life experience tell us: semi-vegetarian, dairy egg vegetarian, fish diet is more beneficial to cardiovascular health.