{"id":6167,"date":"2013-06-17T09:46:17","date_gmt":"2013-06-17T14:46:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/?p=5722"},"modified":"2022-03-21T14:59:09","modified_gmt":"2022-03-21T19:59:09","slug":"do-vegetarians-live-longer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2013\/06\/17\/do-vegetarians-live-longer","title":{"rendered":"Do Vegetarians Live Longer?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A recent article\u00a0in\u00a0JAMA Internal Medicine<\/em>\u00a0would certainly make it appear that way. Researchers from Loma Linda\u00a0University recruited\u00a0more than\u00a073,000\u00a0Seventh Day Adventists (the university is an Adventist-affiliated school)\u00a0and asked\u00a0detailed questions about dietary and other lifestyle habits, including tobacco and alcohol use, degree of exercise, income,\u00a0and education\u00a0level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enrollees were divided into non-vegetarians and vegetarians. Then the vegetarians were subdivided into vegans (no animal products whatsoever), lacto-ovo vegetarians (dairy and egg allowed), pesco-vegetarians (dairy, egg, and fish allowed), and so-called partial vegetarians (pesco and \u201csome\u201d meat). The population was then tracked over the next six years, during with 2,570 deaths occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To cut to the chase, there were significantly fewer deaths among any of the four vegetarian subgroups than among the carnivores, leading researchers to conclude that being a vegetarian was associated with longevity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, like everything else in life, the issue is more complicated than it might appear. In fact, the accompanying editorial by a physician who\u2019s a vegetarian himself is troubled by labeling \u201cvegetarian\u201d the two large groups in the study who are clearly not–namely, the pesco-vegetarians and \u201cpartial\u201d vegetarians. When you make these eating styles part of a study you\u2019ve got a cadre of what I\u2019d call healthy eaters, including those following the Mediterranean Diet or simply shopping carefully and steering clear of junk food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there are \u201cgood\u201d and \u201cbad\u201d vegetarians (more on this later), which may explain how a similar study in the UK failed to differentiate longevity benefits between the veg and the non-veg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More on the Adventists<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0JAMA\u00a0article really should have included more detail about Seventh Day Adventists. To my knowledge there is no religion on the planet more oriented toward health and wellness. The Seventh Day Adventist\u00a0Health Message starts with Old Testament references to healthful living. Ellen G. White, a founder of the Adventist movement in the 19th\u00a0century, wrote extensively on the necessity of healthful living as a religious and moral obligation to God. Her\u00a0Eight Laws of Health<\/a>\u00a0include not only nutrition, but exercise, fresh air, pure water, sunlight, rest, temperance (wine with dinner is okay), and trust in God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White later brought a holistic physician, John H. Kellogg, MD, into her fold. He would build the immensely successful health sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, while his brother, W.K. Kellogg, founded the cereal company whose products then and now are a staple of a vegetarian breakfast. Today the Adventist Health System operates hospitals and medical centers around the country, their programs still oriented toward prevention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than a decade ago, an immense research project concluded that Seventh Day Adventists were living longer than the rest of us<\/a>. While much credit was certainly given to Law #1: nutrition, participants were also following Ellen White\u2019s other seven laws. In other words, if longevity is your goal you could become an Adventist or simply recognize there\u2019s more to long life than taking a pledge and announcing you\u2019ve become a vegetarian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a side note, to me what\u2019s especially interesting about the Adventists is their reliance on natural medicine. The church publishes\u00a0an array of do-it-yourself health books<\/a>, with treatment advice on dozens of illnesses that incorporates diet, herbs, prescriptive living, and prayer. Adventists are willing to use conventional medicine when needed (it\u2019s the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses who won\u2019t take blood transfusions), but often consult one of their natural medicine health guides before ringing up their doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A country road, my patients, and inattentive vegetarianism<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Down the road from my cabin in Western Illinois lives a married Adventist couple solidly into their 80s. He\u2019s our local go-to guy for small construction projects, like enclosing your porch or putting on a new roof. She (this is true) is his assistant. Her vegetable garden is the envy of the town, and you\u2019d guess their age as late 60s at best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point I wish to make is that Seventh Day Adventists are a unique group of vegetarians, and yes, while the study purports to conclude that vegetarians \u201clive longer\u201d and that you\u2019d better consider vegetarianism if longevity is your goal, this is simplistic thinking, especially given who the researchers label \u201cvegetarian.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From my vantage point, there\u2019s no difference between vegetarians as broadly classified in this study and the typical WholeHealth Chicago patient or Health Tip reader who buys food carefully (cutting back on factory-farmed meat and eating more fish, fresh fruit, and veggies.) As a group, you exercise when you can, think about reducing stress, know the value of sunlight and fresh air, and, if not religious, generally consider yourselves spiritual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This brings me to the study of UK vegetarians and why there seemed to be no discernible longevity benefit from their diet choice. By and large, the British vegetarians chose their path because of a philosophical commitment to not harm animals. That in itself is fine, but apparently this led to what one of my nutritionists calls \u201cinattentive vegetarianism,\u201d or what I call \u201cTwinkie and Diet Coke\u201d vegetarianism. Yes, you\u2019re a veggie, but not paying attention to much else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the inattentive vegetarians, for example, we routinely see pretty significant vitamin deficiencies, especially B-12 and D, both of which are now definitely linked to chronic disease. Inattentive vegetarians are frequently shocked when they discover they\u2019ve gained weight (generally, it\u2019s the pasta) or they feel tired, their cuts seem to heal slowly, and they\u2019re prone to colds and flu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last veggie burger I endured was basically a glop of grain mashed into a burger shape, deep fried, slathered with egg-free mayonnaise, served on an oversized, refined white-flour bun, and garnished with a leaf of iceberg lettuce and a sliver of tomato. It was accompanied by a mound of French fries and more mayo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Adventists teach us, good health is our personal responsibility. It\u2019s more than agonizing about becoming a vegetarian. It\u2019s about paying attention<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be well,
David Edelberg, MD<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent article\u00a0in\u00a0JAMA Internal Medicine\u00a0would certainly make it appear that way. Researchers from Loma Linda\u00a0University recruited\u00a0more than\u00a073,000\u00a0Seventh Day Adventists (the university is an Adventist-affiliated school)\u00a0and asked\u00a0detailed questions about dietary and other lifestyle habits, including tobacco and alcohol use, degree of exercise, income,\u00a0and education\u00a0level. Enrollees were divided into non-vegetarians and vegetarians. Then the vegetarians were subdivided into vegans (no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2087,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,50,2331,3,43,149],"tags":[1523,1099],"class_list":["post-6167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-healthy-lifestyle","category-internal-medicine","category-knowledge-base","category-nutrition-nutritional-supplements-vitamins-herbal-remedies","category-v","tag-seventh-day-adventists","tag-vegetarian-diet"],"yoast_head":"\r\nDo Vegetarians Live Longer?<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"More than a decade ago, an immense research project concluded that Seventh Day Adventists\u00a0were living longer than the rest of us.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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