Study/Vegetarians and Longevity

[Guest guest]

Study of Seventh Day Adventist Diet Means Good News For Vegetarians

by Cathy Sherman

NaturalNews

February 6 2008

 

Previously posted to SlFlaVegans @

 

http://www.naturalnews.com/022599.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/z022599.html

 

A study of Seventh Day Adventists, published in 2000,

showed that several of their lifestyle factors

increase longevity and quality of health. The study

was conducted among 34,192 self-identified California

Adventists. Subjects were asked to complete

questionnaires that pinpointed demographics, medical

history, diet, physical activity, and a few

psycho-social variables. Subjects were evaluated for

12 years in regard to deaths and hospitalizations.

 

Comparisons were made among the subjects according to

several lifestyle choices, and secondly, the Adventist

statistics as a whole were compared to the vital

statistics of non-Hispanic Californians in general. It

was found that there was more variation in longevity

between vegetarian Adventists and non-vegetarian

Adventists than between Adventists as a whole and

non-Adventists. It appears that some of the factors

studied are those which can add years to one's life if

adopted.

 

The factors evaluated for the study were:

vegetarianism, body mass index, past smoking (there

were no current smokers), exercise, Hormone

Replacement Therapy (HRT) in women, and eating of

nuts. A vegetarian diet was defined as meat

consumption, never or less than once per month; and

semi-vegetarian as eating of meats more often than

vegetarians, but less than once per week. All others

are non-vegetarians. Few Adventist vegetarians are

vegan. Meat was identified as beef (hamburger, steak,

other beef, or veal), pork, poultry, and fish. Nut

consumption was included in these analyses because of

previously published evidence showing protective

associations between nut consumption and deaths due to

coronary heart disease. Unfortunately, the article did

not define what was considered a nut for the purposes

of this study.

 

Generally it was found that among the non-Hispanic

Californian population, those identified as Seventh

Day Adventists lived longer, on the average of 7.3

extra years for men, and 4.42 more years for women.

Among the Adventist population itself, it was found

that high physical activity, frequent consumption of

nuts, vegetarian status, and medium body mass index

each result in an approximate 1.5- to 2.5-years gain

in life expectancy. Hypertension accounts for the loss

of 4.2 and 3.2 years and diabetes for the loss of 4.6

and 8.6 years in men and women, respectively.

 

The effects ascribed to " non-vegetarian status " are

probably related to the greater intake of foods high

in saturated fat and the lower intake of foods higher

in unsaturated fat, fiber, antioxidant vitamins, and

other phytochemicals. This may affect mortality due to

cardiovascular causes and cancer. Similarly, those who

consume more nuts have been shown to have 35% to 50%

lower rates of coronary events in other studies. This

is probably due in part to the blood

cholesterol–lowering effects of nuts, and perhaps to

their unusually high content of antioxidant vitamin E.

Increased physical activity is associated with

important reductions in the relative risks of coronary

events, stroke, and cancers of the breast and colon.

 

The mechanisms are not entirely understood, but

probably include effects on blood lipid levels, sex

hormones in women, blood insulin level, the immune

system, obesity and on the reduced risk of diabetes

and hypertension. Whatever the mechanisms, it seems

apparent that half of Adventist men and women are

losing more than 4 years of life, apparently due to

their less than optimal behavioral choices which are

also not in adherence to their faith's dietary

guidelines.

 

Of the 5193 observed deaths, 1373 (26.4%) were

ascribed to coronary heart disease, 1074 (20.7%) to

cancer, and 531 (10.2%) to stroke. Almost half died of

other causes which were not listed.

 

The subjects of this California study enjoying the

longest lives were the vegetarians. Other studies have

shown health benefits from vegetarian diets, so one

conclusion is that it is better for one's heart to eat

less meat. A UK study found, for example, in

comparison with regular meat eaters, mortality from

coronary heart disease was 20% lower in occasional

meat eaters, 34% lower in people who ate fish but not

meat, 34% lower in lacto-ovo-vegetarians, and 26%

lower in vegans. There were no significant differences

between vegetarians and non-vegetarians in mortality

from cerebrovascular disease, stomach cancer,

colorectal cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer,

prostate cancer, or all other causes combined.

 

A further note on the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA)

philosophy: The SDA organization is evidently very

concerned with health in general. Their university at

Loma Linda, California, does much in the way of

medical research. It is possible that this concern

filters down into its followers' life choices and

further increases their longevity. Smoking and alcohol

consumption are discouraged. In other ways, though,

SDA followers are like the rest of their neighbors.

For example, they follow the requirements of their

state in regard to vaccinations for their children.

The author found no evidence that SDA parents

complained against the inoculations provided by SDA

schools, nor sought waivers for their children to opt

out of vaccinations.

 

The results of this study and others do strongly

suggest that behavioral choices influence the expected

age at death by several years, even as much as a

decade. The study shows that commonly prescribed

recommendations to improve diet, increase physical

activity, stop smoking, and reduce body weight are

relevant to increasing life expectancy and quality of

life. The addition of nuts to the diet is a less

prescribed habit that seems to provide increased

health benefits as well.

 

Sources:

 

((http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/conten...)

 

((http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/conte...)

 

Key TJ, Fraser GE, Thorogood M, Appleby PN, Beral V,

Reeves G, Burr ML, Chang-Claude J, Frentzel-Beyme R,

Kuzma JW, Mann J, McPherson K.: Imperial Cancer

Research Fund, Cancer Epidemiology Unit, Oxford,

United Kingdom

 

About the author

Cathy Sherman is a freelance writer with a major

interest in natural health and in encouraging others

to take responsibility for their health. She can be

reached through www.devardoc.com.