Abstract
The beneficial effects of a vegetarian diet on blood pressure (BP) control have been reported in previous systematic reviews; however, so far, their relative effectiveness is not well established. Here, we performed a systematic review together with trial sequential analysis to determine the effect of a vegetarian diet on the reduction of blood pressure. We searched the randomized controlled trial (RCT) through Medline, PubMed and Cochrane Central Register. Fifteen eligible RCTs with 856 subjects were entered into the analysis. The pooled results demonstrated that vegetarian diet consumption significantly lowered the systolic blood pressure (weighted mean difference (WMD), −2.66 mmHg (95% confidence interval (CI) = −3.76, −1.55, p < 0.001) and diastolic BP was WMD, −1.69 95% CI = −2.97, −0.41, p < 0.001) as compared to an omnivorous diet. In subgroup analysis, a vegan diet demonstrated a greater reduction in systolic BP (WMD, −3.12 mmHg; 95% CI = −4.54, −1.70, p < 0.001) as compared with a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet (WMD, −1.75 mmHg, 95% CI −5.38, 1.88, p = 0.05). The vegan diet has showed a similar trend in terms of diastolic blood pressure reduction (WMD, −1.92 mmHg (95% CI = −3.18, −0.66, p < 0.001) but those with a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet showed no changes in diastolic BP reduction (WMD, 0.00, 95% CI = 0.00, 0.00), p = 0.432). In conclusion, vegetarian diets are associated with significant reductions in BP compared with omnivorous diets, suggesting that they may play a key role in the primary prevention and overall management of hypertension.
Highlights
It is estimated that about 26% of the world’s population (957–987 million) were affected with hypertension in 2000, with 333 million from developed countries and 639 million from developing countries [1]
The intervention group was defined as participants who were on a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet or a vegan diet for at least two weeks
Estimates of net changes in blood pressure associated with the consumption of vegetarian diets were combined using a random effects model and the result was reported with a 95% confidence interval with a two-sided p value of
Summary
It is estimated that about 26% of the world’s population (957–987 million) were affected with hypertension in 2000, with 333 million from developed countries and 639 million from developing countries [1]. Many studies have shown that dietary patterns with a lower meat intake like the vegetarian diet is associated with a lower rate of non-communicable disease hypertension [16,17] and contributed to a better health outcome and longer life expectancy. A meta-analysis of studies with TSA methodology could elucidate the associations between vegetarian diets and blood pressure lowering from estimation of the effect size regarding the benefits of vegetarian diets consumption compared with omnivorous diets by looking at whether adequate sample power size of the randomized controlled trials have been achieved and whether the conclusions are valid or not
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