A near vegetarian diet can make a massive difference to the health of the heart, British researchers reported today.
The London-based researchers call their diet a "pro vegetarian" diet, involving 70% of food coming from plant sources.
They found that people on this kind of diet had 20% less risk of dying than those who were least vegetarian – taking less than 45% of food from plant sources.
The findings come from analysis of a major European study involving half a million people.
The analysis sets plant sources of food against animal sources, including fish, eggs and dairy products.
It also seemed to fly in the face of World Health Organisation recommendations that the public should concentrate on reducing sugars in the diet – as they come from plants, fruit and grain.
The research was reported to a conference of the American Heart Association.
Researcher Dr Camille Lassale said: “A pro-vegetarian diet doesn’t make absolute recommendations about specific nutrients.
"It focuses on increasing the proportion of plant based foods relative to animal-based foods, which results in an improved nutritionally balance diet."
She added: “Instead of drastic avoidance of animal-based foods, substituting some of the meat in your diet with plant-based sources may be a very simple, useful way to lower cardiovascular mortality."
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