Vegetarians live longer. Weeeee!

[jobycom]

Well, on average, anyway. I'm not saying this to criticize anyone else's diet. Just to be happy about my own. :)

http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/06/animal-based-protein-diets-increase-mortality-rate/?hpt=T2

Animal-based proteins and fats are associated with increased mortality rates, including increased cardiovascular mortality and increased cancer mortality, a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine concludes. But low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets composed mostly of plant-based proteins and fats were associated with lower mortality rates overall and lower cardiovascular mortality rates.

The study followed more than 85,000 women and 44,500 men for a period of 20 to 26 years. All the study participants were without heart disease, cancer, or diabetes. To reach their conclusion, the study authors accounted for lifestyle factors such as smoking, exercise, multivitamin use, and alcohol intake. The study participants were all health professionals who filled out regular questionnaires about their food intake over the long follow-up period. The study authors acknowledged that while the large sample of participants was a strength of the study, its participant pool of all health care professionals was a limitation because it was not representative of the larger population.

Results of the study confirmed a "direct association" between animal-based low-carbohydrate food intake in men and increased cancer deaths, particularly from colorectal and lung cancer. That association aligns with previous studies that have confirmed a link between red meat, processed meat, and those two types of cancers. The study also found that men and women who ate diets heavy in animal-based proteins had higher averages BMIs and were more likely to smoke. Yet men and women who ate more plant or vegetable-based proteins and fats ate more whole grains and tended to drink more alcohol.

[old mark]

1. Well.....

it just SEEMS longer.....:rofl:


mark

[jobycom]

2. Hey!

That was funny! :rofl:

[old mark]

3. every once in a while.....

Go have a cheeseburger and you'll feel better....


mark

[A Cooper]

5. I have to admit

I have been a vegetarian for four years now. But, one day I passed a restaurant that was piping out aromas that smelled like the best steak that you could ever have. I stopped in and ate a hamburger and vomited from the grease. I get cravings every now then and I have to admit that on holidays everyone in my house eats meat and then we go back to being a vegetarian afterwords.

I wonder what the lifespan of a vegetarian is that eats meat every once in a while :D

[old mark]

6. They may not live longer, but they die happier.....

I believe a non-rigid approach to life is the best way to attain longevity.

Oh, and thanks for that image regarding the hamburger vomit - I was just getting ready for lunch and I believe I'll just have a salad...

:puke: :eyes:


mark

[A Cooper]

8. Your welcome

:evilgrin:

[jobycom]

10. No way. I know how I felt before I became vegetarian.

I would not go back to that for all the money in the world, even if I had some desire for meat. At the time I felt sick all the time, had cholesterol issues, was worried about becoming diabetic, and I looked five years older than I was. Now I meet former classmates and they all talk about what good genes I must have, how lucky I am not to be on medications like them, what I do to get rid of wrinkles. It's all from not eating meat. The one that amazed me was my concentration. Back then I used to have what I called "Meat fog head," because every time I ate meat I'd get foggy headed--not too bad, but noticably. I'd make jokes about it, like I'd forget a name after I ate, and I'd say "Sorry, it's the meat fog head." I just thought I joking. About a week after giving up meat I woke up one morning and literally felt like someone had washed my mind, like I could see and smell more clearly, think more clearly. Then I realized just how cloudy I had been. I still don't know if that was from meat, although later I ran across a passage about the Romans. The Romans were, like most other historical cultures, largely vegetarian, only eating meat at religious sacrifices or large feasts. Meat was far too expensive through most of history for people to eat much of it, except the nobility in most cultures, and nomadic peoples who raised animals by herding. It was far too costly to raise an animal to slaughter off crops. Anyway, the Romans had a word meaning "meat-drunk," meaning that when they ate meat they felt a little drunk. The same thing I was describing.

I think most meat eaters are stuck in that fog so continuously they don't know they are in it. There may be some people it doesn't affect that way--people whose ancestry comes from areas where a lot of meat was consumed, like the steps of Asia or maybe Scandinavia. But the point is, there is no way I'd go back to that. Even without feeling morally just more happy with myself and in general disgusted by the thought of eating something I have such a strong rapport with, I wouldn't want to go back to that.

I'm sure it's not for everyone. But it is definitely for me. :)

[HopeHoops]

4. So vegetarians who are heavy drinkers should live WAY longer than non-drinking meat-eaters.

Just sayin'

[jobycom]

11. That's the way I read it, too.

:applause:

[old mark]

7. ...but my cardiologist put me on Atkins last February, and I stopped drinking alcohol 22 years ago.

Am I dead and just don't know it? :shrug:




Is this.....heaven? :thumbsdown:

mark

[A Cooper]

9. Pinch yourself

If you can feel it then you are not dead :rofl:

[jobycom]

12. My favorite cousin's doctor put her on a muscle relaxent for her emphasema.

It killed her two days later. I don't trust doctors much.

And obviously, doctors know that instructing someone to become vegetarian is unlikely to get results. :) They work with what they can.

[old mark]

15. My former doctor was treating me for carpal tunnel syndrome -

turned out tha pain was because I had no circulation in my cardiac arteries - the best one I had was 85% blocked. Had a quintuple bypass. I get it all checked out from time to time, and it is as clean now as when it was done.

I am not much for doctors, either, though...


mark

[Dr. Strange]

13. Yeah, but if you're going to spend that extra time cheering for the Cowboys...

well, what have you really gained?

[jobycom]

14. Eh gaddamit.