Vegetarians and Stroke Risk Factors—Vitamin D?

Could the apparent increased stroke risk in vegetarians be reverse causation? What about vegetarians versus vegans, and does vitamin D deficiency play a role?

It may be worth reiterating that vegetarians don’t have a higher risk of dying from a stroke but do appear to be at higher risk of having a stroke. How is that possible? Meat is a risk factor for stroke, so how could cutting out meat lead to more strokes? There must be something about eating plant-based that so increases our stroke risk it counterbalances the meat-free benefit. Might it be because we don’t eat fish? We turn to omega 3’s next:

There certainly are benefits to vitamin D, though. Here is a sampling of videos where I explore the evidence:

Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM

[falsul]

I hope I won't get that stroke before the end of these cliffhangers

[Jane-noid]

I'm becoming VERY tired of the cliffhangers!!!!

[sharit]

Thanks for doing the research and posting!

[paulpardee]

These cliffhangers remind me of the old news teasers "There's something in your kitchen that could kill you! More on the 10pm News!"

[PeterKruseMusic]

Also I think too much salt and fast food, even for vegans.

[Cristianousp]

Hey Doc, you’re killing us with this soap opera...we wanna get to bottom of this please 🤓

[FilipElfvin]

whats up with all the cliffhangers...?

[albertneville]

So glad you are covering this subject doc. I've been waiting for this.

[kriticalkritic]

Saturated animal fats are associated with lower rates of strokes. Journal of american college of cardiology June 17 2020

[arallskiant]

I bet in the next vid Dr. Greger will scold us for not taking our weekly B12!
I plead innocent!!

[emmas]

This is oxalates to blame, not only from the vegan food such as spinach, almonds, beets, but fructose (from fruits) and too much vit C are causing formation of endogenous oxalates, those in turn waste calcium causing some coagulopathy predisposing to increased bleeding.
Vitamin D is another factor affecting calcium metabolism, it says - people who had strokes during the follow-up years were more likely to have a severe vitamin D deficiency.

[gridcaster]

On an anecdotal level (my personal experience) I feel like I increased my salt intake when I switched to 95% vegan diet. It wasn't by design, but more of my recipes require more salt now. I am concerned about the increased salt intake, but I've always taken the attitude that overall salt is not as bad as meat AND overtime I might be able to decrease the salt intake as my tastes changed. Its been about 5 years and I still eat a significantly higher than recommended amount of salt.

[kingorbit]

I went plant based five years ago because both my parents had a stroke and yet I have not changed my chances of getting a stroke? you know I am really beginning to think I mislead myself with this diet change, I just wanted to believe it. I didn't want to go out the way they did, it was horrible. Funny how I never saw that chart showing vegans have the same stroke risk as meat eaters. In my case that is a lot of books that left that out.

[datt]

Vegetarian and vegan are very different also.... most dairy is not the best to consume.

[stephss]

And here I thought I needed to stick my face up against the window for longer :-)

[KP-ddci]

Way way way way too distracting having you on the screen Doc.

[CharGC]

Vegans are NOT the same as whole food plant based eaters! Though they both avoid animal product... soda, oreos, fries, and all the highly processed "specialty" junk foods are vegan... but not health promoting, so to me "vegan" studies are meaningless when it comes to health outcomes.

[aaroiseverything]

Interesting science! Thanks for the video!

[drvincentesposito]

Love the info in these videos. Way to break this stuff down and weed through the information!

[cynthia]

So, in
In my general opinion, and I’m not a doctor, but I’m thinking because vegetarians still eat EGGS which are one of the highest Foods in cholesterol. Some Vegetarians also eat fish and cheese.Well, despite still have cholesterol that is adding to the arteries. And sometimes the damage is already been done to our arteries. So even when switching to a vegetarian and vegan diet it’s a good day but, if you have significant damage already done here, diaries, that’s a serious matter. Medication probably help. But I’ll Wait for the next cliffhanger, LOL