Baby Boomers Open to the Vegetarian Lifestyle

The number of vegetarian baby boomers is on the rise, says The Washington Post, due to baby boomers looking to overcome or prevent heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. According to a 2012 poll conducted on behalf of the Vegetarian Resource Group, 2.5 million Americans older than 55 are vegetarian. Vegetarians have been scientifically recognized for having lower blood pressure than their meat-eating counterparts; moreover, the American Heart Association reports that meat eaters are at severe risk of stroke, which is often due to high blood pressure. The AHA reports that every year 795,000 people in the US have a stroke, causing a death every four minutes.