do vegetarians live healthier and longer?

Question

I have never seen a serious study about the actual long term effect of a vegeterian diet. There is lots of controversy.
Does anybody in a neutral position or in the medical field know more about this?

Answer 1

I think, if their diet is very carefully planned, as healthy and as long living as someone on a good meat eating diet, but no more so.

There ARE studies which say they live longer, but they aren't really to be trusted. Veggies are also less likely to smoke, drink or eat junk food, and are generally more health conscious than average. All these factors would obviously affect the results and make veggies seem healthier. As yet there has been no study that has managed to keep meat as the only variable and show that veggies are healthier.

There are many benefits to eating meat, but I won't go into that now.

Answer 2

Vegetarians may feel healthier, but they are missing out on meat protein...the protein you can't get from beans and legumes. Anyone can "eat right" and take care of their bodies, but if you get hit by a bus...what's it all for? I know people who've eaten whatever they want to eat (in moderation) and have lived to be over 100 (my aunt, and great-grandmother). They ate the animals they raised and the produce that they grew. So maybe you could say that they ate "organic" foods and not the processed stuff we buy in the stores. Just watch what you eat, how much you eat, and make sure you have the nutrients you need.

Answer 3

There was a big article in the National Geographic that said there was a definite co-relation between longer life and vegetarianism. It was last November? December?

Answer 4

Man is an omnivore. When you become a vegetarian you have just opted to be an herbivore and have upset your evolutionary track.
Eating meat every day is very unhealthy however and while you dont need meat to survive it contains alot of valuable protein that your body needs. They say you should eat at least 6 ounces of meat a week which is very little. Vegetarianism can make you pale and skinny and being skinny is not as healthy as it looks and being pale is the result of not eating the proteins your body needs for your skin tone.

Answer 5

A lot depends on diet. Some guy in California who just died ate a crappy diet.

he was 112

Answer 6

live longer maybe. healthier i really dont think so i know fat vegetarians and anorexic vegetarians and those vegetarians i know who have a healthy weight are weak and dont have great endurance except for one who i know he eats a lot of eggs.

Answer 7

i was just reading about it on a great website... it's actually hard to tell if vegetarians/vegans live longer, but they usually have a lower risk for high cholesterol, heart disease, and cancer... but you should go to the website yourself and find out what else it says...
www.veganwolf.com

Answer 8

all i can say is that i FEEL must better physicaly. My weight has also stabilized. Finally! i struggled with it for many years and now i eat as much as i want and i actually feel full, but i dont put on wieght

Answer 9

depends

eating veg does not mean just tofu and green veg. it's also mean the methods of cooking. can be fried, stew, steam, etc. just the same for veg and non-veg, eating too much oiling food or deep-fried food are no good.

Answer 10

Its the genes If you don't believe then read this. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13119227/
Have to go now have my beer, chips, greasy hamburger, MacDonald fries., look forward to many more years. Enjoy!