In 2009, preliminary cross-sectional data on blood pressure rates among various diet groups were reported from Adventist Health Study 2. Just today, a more thorough report was posted at PubMed. The 2012 report only included whites and the results did not appear to be adjusted. But, in any case, vegans had a 63% reduced risk of having high blood pressure, as compared to regular meat-eaters, which was highly statistically significant. Lacto-ovo vegetarians had a 43% reduced rate, which was also statistically significant. More details can be seen in Table 12 of Disease Markers of Vegetarians at VeganHealth.org.

Body mass index was able to account for most of the differences in blood pressure between the diet groups, though other factors probably play a small role, such as higher potassium and lower sodium intakes, and lower insulin levels and blood viscosity.

Reference

Pettersen BJ, Anousheh R, Fan J, Jaceldo-Siegl K, Fraser GE. Vegetarian diets and blood pressure among white subjects: results from the Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2). Public Health Nutr. 2012 Jan 10:1-8. [Epub ahead of print] Link

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