Eating a vegetarian diet can reduce your risk of a heart attack by more than 30 per cent, according to new research.

The research involved 45,000 adults. About 15,000 of them were classified as vegetarians. Eleven years after the study began, researchers looked at the health records of the participants.

The vegetarians in the study had a 32 per cent lower risk of heart attack than did the non-vegetarians. The vegetarians also had lower blood pressure and better cholesterol levels.

Mayo Clinic doctors say that by not eating meat, vegetarians avoid one of the primary sources of cholesterol and saturated fat that can contribute to plaque buildup and blockage in the arteries of the heart. They note that study participants who had been vegetarians fewer than five years still had a reduced risk of heart trouble, which is evidence that it’s never too late to start.