By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

In the last issue of Vegetarian Journal, we reported on a U.K. study that found that vegetarians (including vegans) had a higher risk of a kind of stroke called hemorrhagic stroke and of stroke overall than did meat eaters. A recently published study from Taiwan also examined stroke rates in vegetarians and found that vegetarians (did not eat meat or fish) had lower rates of hemorrhagic stroke and of stroke overall than did nonvegetarians. The authors of the Taiwan study note that their vegetarian subjects avoid alcohol whereas the British subjects were more likely to drink. Since some studies show a higher stroke risk with higher alcohol consumption, the researchers theorize that the British subjects’ alcohol use could supersede protective effects of their vegetarian diet.

Chiu THT, Chang HR, Wang LY, Chang CC, Lin MN, Lin CL. Vegetarian diet and incidence of total, ischemic, and hemorrhagic stroke in 2 cohorts in Taiwan. Neurology. 2020 Feb 26. [Epub ahead of print].