by Jack Norris, RD
In 2019, EPIC-Oxford released a report finding a lower rate of ischemic heart disease among vegetarians (HR 0.78, CI 0.70-0.87), but a higher rate of stroke (HR 1.20, CI 1.02-1.40). The higher rate of stroke was mostly due to hemorrhagic stroke (Tong, 2019).
A 2020 study combined two Taiwanese prospective cohorts and found that vegetarians had a lower risk of both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke (Chiu, 2020).
A new study has been released also finding that vegetarians don’t have a higher risk of stroke (Baden, 2021). The study combined data from women in the Nurses Health Study (1984-2016) and Nurses Health Study II (1991-2012), and from men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (1986-2012). Participants were resurveyed about their diet and other variables every 2 years; the number of vegetarians increased as the study progressed. Vegetarians were defined as reporting meat and/or fish intake of 0 or < 1 time per month.
Vegetarians had an insignificant trend toward a lower rate of stroke that was ameliorated with the fully adjusted model. It seems plausible that the fully adjusted model was over-adjusted, wiping out any negative impacts of eating meat.
The subtype of stroke wasn’t analyzed due to the small number of cases among vegetarians. Personal correspondence with the lead author confirmed that the adjustments were based on the most recent biennial updated information for these variables.
More information on the EPIC-Oxford and Taiwanese vegetarians study can be found in our article, Vegetarian Cohorts.
Abbreviations: CI – 95% confidence interval • HR – hazard ratio
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