Go vegetarian to live longer
Source: Nathan Dumlao en Unsplash
Vegetarian diet could cut early death risk
A vegetarian diet could be the key to living a longer and healthier life, according to new research
Experts claim that cutting meat from the daily intake may be all that is needed to slash the risk of heart disease and early death.A study showed that vegetarians were less likely to have died than meat-eaters when checked several years later. The latest research analysing the lives of more than 70,000 people revealed that those who shun meat and fish completely had the best lifespan benefits.
The researchers from Loma Linda University in California showed that vegetarian diets were associated with lower death rates, with more favourable results for men than women.
As a whole, the vegetarians studied were 12 per cent less likely to have died during a six-year follow-up period than their meat-eating peers, according to the study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
Led by Dr Michael Orlich, the team examined the causes of mortality in a group of 73,308 men and women.
They noted that vegetarian groups tended to be older, more highly educated and more likely to be married, to drink less alcohol, to smoke less, to exercise more and to be thinner.
There were 2,570 deaths during a follow-up of almost six years.
The overall death rate was six deaths per 1,000 person years, but vegetarians were, on average, 12 per cent less likely to have died during the follow-up period.
The research also showed that men had the greater benefit from the vegetarian diet. Dr Orlich said: “These results demonstrate an overall association of vegetarian dietary patterns with lower mortality compared with the non-vegetarian dietary pattern.”
Liz O’Neill, of the Vegetarian Society, said: “Research in the UK has already shown that vegetarians have lower rates of cancer and significantly lower (32 per cent less) rates of heart disease.”
It has long been known that eating too much processed meat such as sausages or bacon can dramatically increase the risk of developing cancer.
Other studies have shown a diet rich in fruit and vegetables can lower cholesterol.
Vocabulary:
according to -
to claim -
intake (n) -
to slash -
a disease -
likely -
latest -
to shun -
lifespan -
death rate -
a peer -
to lead (led, led) -
to tend to -
on average -
overall -
a pattern -
to lower / lower(comparative) -
Do you eat enough fruit and veg?
What's your favourite vegetarian dish?
What do you think you should you eat more of and what should you cut down on?
Comments
Hi Graham, it´s Patricia, it´s okey the article but I not agree with them, I think that fish is necesary but also the meat is good for health so I don´t think that the reason about people die is because they eat most meat than vegetarians person.
I always eat fruit after eating but I think I should eat more fruit and vegetables than meat.
I gave up eating meat more than three years ago. It's the best decision I have ever made.
I didn't do it for health reasons. It's just that I had always felt guilty that animals should die to provide us with food.
Even if they discovered tomorrow that you live longer by eating meat, there would be no turning back.
The article is okay but I don't agree with it, I think that fish is necessary but also is good for your health so I don´t think that the reason why people die is because they eat most meat than vegetarians.
Apparently, you shouldn't eat fruit immediately after meals. You should have it as a snack.
Eating a balanced, healthy diet is really complicated.
I've just read the article and i found it quite interesting.
I think it's a controversial topic, is dificult to know if a vegeterian diet is healthier or not... I believe this article could change it's point of view if the researchers were non-vegeterian. There're also many doctors saying it's healthy to eat meat and fish.
Also i'd say that the results of this article could be biased, cause it's more likely that vegeterian people follows a healhier style of life than non-vegeterian, not just in terms of food, but in general.
So, dificult to know for me what is healhier... there are so theories and tips.
Anyway, what i believe is that either if people eats animal products or not, it's healthy to eat variety of food and do sports regularly.
I don't know why I didn't turn vegetarian sooner - it wasn't so difficult. I've cut down on dairy products but not taken the step to veganism. It wouldn't be easy to give up eggs.
"They noted that vegetarian groups tended to be older, more highly educated and more likely to be married." ("tend to" came up in class the other day)
I've just read the article and I found it quite interesting.
I think it's a controversial topic. It is difficult to know if a vegetarian diet is healthier or not... I believe this article could change people's points of view if the researchers were meat eaters. There are also many doctors who say it's healthy to eat meat and fish.
I'd also say that the results of this article could be biased, because it's more likely that vegetarian people follow a healthier lifestyle / vegetarian are more likely to have a healthier lifestyle than non-vegetarians, not just in terms of food, but in general.
So, it's difficult for me to know what/which is healthier... there are so many theories and tips.
Anyway, what I believe is that whether people eat animal products or not, it's healthy to eat a variety of food and do sports regularly.