Vegetarians have a reason to smile as the findings of a new study has indicated that those go all green in their dietary regimens are at the lowest risk of developing life-threatening diseases throughout their life spans.

The researchers from the Loma Linda University took account of more than 700 people who all were above the age bracket of 18 years and categorized them into vegetarians, semi-vegetarians and non-vegetarians.

They were then recorded on the parameters of blood sugar, blood fat, blood pressure, waist size, weight etc and it was revealed that those who have been vegetarians since the long time were reportedly best at the metabolic syndrome.

Nico Rizzo from the Loma Linda University, the researcher who led the study asserted: "I expected that there will be difference, but I had no idea that it would be this much”.

It was found that where 40 out of 100 non-vegetarians reported for metabolic discrepancies and 37 in semi-vegetarians, the number for the same in vegetarians was just 23.

These results clearly indicate that the lethal ailments like obesity, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes strike hardest on non-vegetarians, suggesting that vegetarianism plays a pivotal role in keeping a person fit and healthy.