By David Liu, PHD

Monday Feb 4, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that eating a vegetarian diet can help reduce risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD).

Ischemic heart disease or myocardial ischaemia is characterized by ischemia of the heart muscle due often to coronary artery disease (narrowing of the coronary arteries).  

The current study led by Francesca L Crowe from University of Oxford in Oxford, UK and colleagues was intended to examine the difference in the incidence of ischemic heart disease among vegetarians and nonvegetarians.

The researchers analysed data from 44,561 men and women in England and Scotland enrolled in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition - Oxford study.  During a 11.6-year follow-up, , 1235 cases of ischemic heart disease including 1066 hospitalizations and 169 deaths were identified from hospital records and death certificates.

It was found that those who followed a vegetarian diet or vegetarians had a lower body mass index, non-high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and systolic blood pressure, compared with those who did not follow a vegetarian diet.

Vegetarians were 32% less likely to suffer ischemic heart disease than nonvegetarians.  

The researchers concluded "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."

Previous studies have shown that following a vegetarian diet can not only prevent coronary heart disease, but also stop the progression of the disease or even reverse the disease, and the efficacy can be up to 99%, according to China Study by Dr.  T Colin Campbell, nutrition professor at Cornell University.

Eating a fatty diet or high meat diet may increase the risk of ischemic heart disease.  Chest x-ray, chest CT scans or radiation therapy intended to treat breast cancer are another important risk factor for the disease, according to late physician and scholar Dr. John Gofman.