One recent study says that a vegetarian diet that includes vegetables, whole grain legumes, and nuts can be very beneficial to your health, as it can reduce the risk of premature death.

The researchers said that people could not permanently give up eating meat and dairy to reap the benefits of following a vegetarian diet, and statistics show that heart disease is responsible for a quarter of all deaths in the United States and the United Kingdom. Researchers added that eating vegetable meals reduce the risks of diabetes type 2, obesity, heart diseases, and high blood pressure.

The study

In a study in 2013, researchers found that following a vegetarian diet reduces the risk of cancer, and the results of another study published in the journal of Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases showed that a vegetarian diet reduces the risk of developing diabetes and heart diseases.

And to confirm that, they took into consideration some different factors, the most important of which is if this diet contains whole grains, fresh fruits, and vegetables.

The researchers took information from 20,000 healthy men and women participants in the United States of America, about their diet and the amount of animal products they consumed in the past 24 hours, and they underwent some regular checks.

The result

After analyzing the information, the researchers found that the participants who followed a diet containing small amounts of animal products and rich in plant products have fewer sulfur amino acids. Therefore, they have a nearly 20% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart diseases.

The researchers noted that healthy plant products reduced the risk of developing diabetes type 2 by 34%, while less healthy plant-based products lowered the risk of developing the disease by 16%.

The researchers pointed out that working to reduce animal food rations from 5 or 6 servings to 4 servings daily reduces the risk of diabetes.

Study’s conclusion

The researchers believe that the explanation of the relationship between following a vegetarian diet and a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes is due to the effect of plant foods on the bacteria containing in the stomach, which helps to fight diabetes.

How to reduce diabetes and heart disease risks?

The great news, however, is that 80% of heart attacks and diabetes are preventable. Healthy eating, regular physical activity, and giving up tobacco are the keys to prevention. Here are some ways that can reduce diabetes and cardiovascular diseases risks:

Healthy diet

A balanced diet is essential for the health of the heart and the circulatory system. You should eat lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meat, fish and legumes, and the consumption of sugar, salt, and fat should be limited. The consumption of alcohol should be moderate.

Usual physical exercise

At least 30 minutes of daily exercise helps maintain good cardiovascular health; at least 60 minutes in most of the week help maintaining a healthy weight and regulate blood sugar levels in the body.

Avoid tobacco consumption

Tobacco in all its forms is very dangerous for health, whether it is cigarettes, cigars, pipes, or chewing tobacco. Exposure to tobacco smoke is also harmful. The risk of heart stroke begins to drop as soon as a person stops using tobacco products and can decrease by almost half after a year.

Checking and controlling your general cardiovascular risk

An important aspect of preventing heart attacks and strokes is providing treatment and counseling to people at high risk (those who have cardiovascular risk at 10 years of age equal to or greater than 30%).

Get your cholesterol and blood pressure checked. You can have a stroke without even knowing that anything was amiss.

Conclusion

The risks of diabetes and heart diseases have been associated with the high consumption of sulfur amino acids; accordingly, following a healthy diet with less meat and dairy and more healthy plants' food will reduce the daily intake of sulfur amino acids, and consequently, will lower the risks of diseases.

We also recommend to get regular checkups to control risk factors, namely high blood sugar, cholesterol level, and blood pressure.