Study says plant-based diet helps heart a little

A new study from scientists suggests eating a lot of vegetables may not greatly reduce the risk of a heart attack. This goes against what doctors have been telling us for decades. People across the world believe it is essential to eat lots of vegetables to keep the heart healthy. The new study says other lifestyle factors may affect our health just as much as vegetables. These include other things we eat, how much exercise we get, where we live, our income, and whether or not we smoke and drink. The study is from universities in Oxford, Bristol and Hong Kong. Almost 400,000 people took part in it. They answered questions about their lifestyle, diet, and what raw and cooked vegetables they ate.

The scientists advised that people should still eat lots of vegetables because they were good for our heart and overall health. The findings of their study actually found that the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease was around 15 per cent lower for those eating the most vegetables, especially raw vegetables. However, they explained that many other factors also contributed to this 15% reduction. Lead researcher Dr Qi Feng from the University of Oxford said: "Our large study did not find evidence for a protective effect of vegetable intake on the occurrence of cardiovascular disease". He said "differences in socioeconomic situation and lifestyle differences" also affected the health of our heart.