Eating a vegetarian diet is likely to keep your blood pressure low – and switching to one could cut your readings, claim researchers from Japan, Daily Mail reports.

Blood pressure is measured by checking two readings – systolic, which is the pressure inside arteries when the heart is forcing blood through them, and diastolic, which is the pressure when the heart relaxes.

Researchers analysed seven clinical trials and 32 studies from 1900 to 2013.

In the clinical trials, participants eating a  vegetarian diet had systolic blood pressure almost 5mmHg lower than those eating meat  and fish.

For diastolic blood pressure, vegetarians saw differences of between 2.2mmHg and almost 5mmHg compared with meat-eaters.

The main reason for the difference is thought to be the effect of a diet low in fat – partly through avoidance of red meat.

A British study of 45,000 people last year found vegetarians were one-third less likely to need hospital treatment for heart disease, or die from it.