Vegetarians avoid meat, fish, and poultry. Those who include dairy products and eggs in their diets are called lacto-ovo vegetarians. While there is a considerable advantage to a lacto-ovo vegetarian pattern, vegan diets are the healthiest of all, reducing risk of a broad range of health concerns. A Healthy Heart Vegetarians have much lower cholesterol levels than meat-eaters, and heart disease is uncommon in vegetarians. The reasons are not hard to find.
Vegetarian meals are typically low in saturated fat and usually contain little or no cholesterol.
Since cholesterol is found only in animal products such as meat, dairy, and eggs, vegans consume a cholesterol-free diet. The type of protein in a vegetarian diet may be another important advantage. Many studies show that replacing animal protein with plant protein lowers blood cholesterol levels-even if the amount and type of fat in the diet stays the same. Those studies show that a low-fat, vegetarian diet has a clear advantage over other diets. An impressive number of studies, dating back to the early 1920s, show that vegetarians have lower blood pressure than non-vegetarians.