I was wondering whether vegetarians are healthier than meat eaters?

Answer 1

Definitely - no bowel cancer , no heart disease, no strokes

Answer 2

While vegetarians have a lower incidence of heart disease, the number one cause of death in the western world, whether vegetarians live longer than carnivores is a lineball decision. As far as cancer is concerned meat-eaters especially those who like their red meat are at risk of succumbing to pancreatic, prostate, breast and bowel cancer. Vegetarians should not rest on their laurels, however, as they can be deficient in iron, vitamin B12, protein and a health-giving substance called carnosine found predominantly in meat that has the potential to protect against cataracts, cancer and Alzheimer's disease as well as help diabetics to resist the development of heart disease and premature death. Laboratory research also indicates that carnosine might contribute to extending lifespan which would go some way to explaining why meat-eaters run neck and neck with vegetarians when it comes to the longevity stakes.

Answer 3

My friend is a vegan and she is no more unhealthier than any of you. You just have to know what foods to eat so you can still get the necessary nutrients. Cutting out meat from your diet can be very good for your health, not all vegetarians do it for the animals, some do it for the health benefits.

Answer 4

there is a LOT of controversy on this topic. personally, i believe that vegetarians MUST be healther because they are not consuming the flesh of another human being. i have heard that we have lower cholesterol and saturated fat than meat eaters and of course vegetarians could never get food poisoning from meat. one thing i know for sure is that is has been scientifically proven that red meat causes several types of cancer.

Answer 5

At Yale, Professor Irving Fisher designed a series of tests to compare the stamina and strength of meat-eaters against that of vegetarians. He selected men from three groups: meat-eating athletes, vegetarian athletes, and vegetarian sedentary subjects. Fisher reported the results of his study in the Yale Medical Journal.25 His findings do not seem to lend a great deal of credibility to the popular prejudices that hold meat to be a builder of strength.

"Of the three groups compared, the...flesh-eaters showed far less endurance than the abstainers (vegetarians), even when the latter were leading a sedentary life."26
Overall, the average score of the vegetarians was over double the average score of the meat-eaters, even though half of the vegetarians were sedentary people, while all of the meat-eaters tested were athletes. After analyzing all the factors that might have been involved in the results, Fisher concluded that:

"...the difference in endurance between the flesh-eaters and the abstainers (was due) entirely to the difference in their diet.... There is strong evidence that a...non-flesh...diet is conducive to endurance."27
A comparable study was done by Dr. J. Ioteyko of the Academie de Medicine of Paris.28 Dr. Ioteyko compared the endurance of vegetarian and meat-eaters from all walks of life in a variety of tests. The vegetarians averaged two to three times more stamina than the meat-eaters. Even more remarkably, they took only one-fifth the time to recover from exhaustion compared to their meat-eating rivals.

In 1968, a Danish team of researchers tested a group of men on a variety of diets, using a stationary bicycle to measure their strength and endurance. The men were fed a mixed diet of meat and vegetables for a period of time, and then tested on the bicycle. The average time they could pedal before muscle failure was 114 minutes. These same men at a later date were fed a diet high in meat, milk and eggs for a similar period and then re-tested on the bicycles. On the high meat diet, their pedaling time before muscle failure dropped dramatically--to an average of only 57 minutes. Later, these same men were switched to a strictly vegetarian diet, composed of grains, vegetables and fruits, and then tested on the bicycles. The lack f animal products didn't seem to hurt their performance--they pedaled an average of 167 minutes.29

Wherever and whenever tests of this nature have been done, the results have been similar. This does not lend a lot of support to the supposed association of meat with strength and stamina.

Doctors in Belgium systematically compared the number of times vegetarians and meat-eaters could squeeze a grip-meter. The vegetarians won handily with an average of 69, whilst the meat-eaters averaged only 38. As in all other studies which have measured muscle recovery time, here, too, the vegetarians bounced back from fatigue far more rapidly than did the meat-eaters.30

I know of many other studies in the medical literature which report similar findings. But I know of not a single one that has arrived at different results. As a result, I confess, it has gotten rather difficult for me to listen seriously to the meat industry proudly proclaiming "meat gives strength" in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Answer 6

I am much healthier than I used to be in my meat-eating days (over ten years ago). I feel better overall and I haven't had the flu during this period.

Answer 7

It all depends. You could be a total vegan, but an excessive drinker and smoker.

If you are a vegan who does so for health reasons rather than moral I'd say yes most often they would be healthy.

I don't eat meat and people assume I eat healthy that it so not the case. I'd have a frappuchino for lunch daily.

Answer 8

they can be, but not always.

vegetarians can get the same nutrients that meat eaters do - through tofu, and beans, but it is up to them if they wish to be healthy instead of just eating lots of junk food and coke everyday. They have the same choice as us meat eaters.

Answer 9

I do suspect they're more healthy overall, but a new study shows that vegetarians are more intelligent as well . . .

Answer 10

vegetarian is good for a short stint, like a month or so - but
we need meat for some trace elements and other nutrients

Answer 11

yes we are. Like fast food burgers? I thaught so. honey, you are eating a bucket load of fat and steroids