[pooh]

I've read about a study involving 7th Day Adventists. Loma Linda University in CA reported on a study involving approximately 70,000 participants. There was a 12% lower risk of death for vegetarians compared to non-vegetarians.

Plant based diets have been linked to a lower likelihood for heart disease, why is not yet understood. May be substances meat contains...saturated fat, the compound carnitine, cholesterol that are the culprits. Is it the plant foods, the type, the amounts, less meat, or a combination? Women did not show the same benifits as men.

A British study of the vegetarian diet in over 47,250 participants did not find the same mortality results. American vegetarians consume more fiber and vitamin C, this could be a factor for such difference between the two studies.

Generally speaking, people who are vegetarians may be married, be more educated, older, thinner. They more likely exercised, do not smoke and may not drink. Researchers noted that all of these are also factors that could play a role in their lower risk of death.

It’s not clear whether avoiding red meat and processed meats plays a role in boosting life or whether the foods that vegetarians are eating lowers their risk of dying compared with non-vegetarians, said Dr. Michael Orlich, the program director of the preventive medicine residency at Loma Linda University.
He said he is planning a study to help identify which foods are explaining these results.

Eating plant foods didn’t seem to protect participants against cancer, which struck both the vegetarians and non-vegetarians in roughly equal measure.

Those in the study were given a questionnaire to assess their diet. Researchers found that 5,548 people were vegans, 21,177 were vegetarians that ate dairy and egg products, 7,194 were vegetarians that included fish in their diets and 4,031 were semi-vegetarian, which includes eating meat infrequently. The rest were meat eaters.

Studies are just that, studies. They lead to more research, help draw conclusions and could lead us on our way towards a better understanding of who we are, how we "work," how and why certain processes take place.

While I have no doubt we reap what we sow, I will again postulate that a totally vegetarian or vegan diet is not the only factor to longevity....and researchers, too, are still seeking such information.