Health benefits of vegetarianism

Studies have shown that vegetarians are less likely to have the following conditions:

Researchers have estimated that between $28.6 billion and $61.4 billion of health expenditure in the USA in 1992 could be attributed to eating meat (1). They made this calculation by examining how much more common particular diseases were among meat eaters than among vegetarians.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare estimated the medical cost of diet-related diseases in 1988 at $1.5 billion (2). Diet-related diseases such as heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, stroke and cancers are precisely those that are less common among vegetarians.

A number of studies have shown a lower age-adjusted death rate among vegetarians. A UK study of over 6000 vegetarians found that they had a much lower standardised mortality rate than the general population, including lower death rates due to cancer and especially ischaemic heart disease.

The vegetarians also had fewer deaths than the meat eating friends and relatives they had nominated as a comparison group. Even though this control group was also healthier than the general population, the vegetarians were 40% less likely to die of cancer and 20% less likely to die of heart disease than their meat eating friends and relatives (3).

A 21-year study of over 27,000 Seventh Day Adventists (SDAs) in California found that there was a lower age adjusted death rate among this group than among the general population (4). Men had a lower death rate due to coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, all cancers combined, and cancer of the colon, rectum and prostate in particular. Women had a lower death rate due to stroke, diabetes, all cancers combined, and cancer of the colon, rectum, breast and ovary in particular.

The Seventh Day Adventist church encourages its followers not to eat meat or eggs, but some still do. Within the SDA group, consumption of meat was associated with overall death rate (males), coronary heart disease (males and females), and diabetes (males). Egg consumption was associated with over death rate (females), coronary heart disease (females), colon cancer (males and females), and cancer of the ovary. In other words, the more meat or eggs an individual ate, the more likely they were to die of these diseases (4).

Health benefits of a vegetarian diet have been studied most extensively in relation to diseases of the cardiovascular system, and cancers of the reproductive and digestive systems. These diseases will be discussed in separate sections. One other cancer where diet has recently been shown to play a role is Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL). Among over 35,000 American women, those who developed NHL had higher intakes of animal fat, especially from red meat. On the other hand, fruit consumption had a protective effect (5). In a Norwegian study of almost 16,000 people milk consumption was associated with increased risk of developing lymphomas (6).

Other advantages of vegetarianism include weight control. Vegetarians, and especially vegans, are lighter than meat eaters, and are less likely to be obese. Among the Californian SDAs, meat eaters were 1.9 times (males) and 1.6 times (females) more likely to be overweight than vegetarians (7).

Obesity is associated with several diseases, including mature-onset diabetes and gallstones, and vegetarians are less likely to suffer from these diseases. Among the Californian SDAs, the death rate from diabetes was only 45% that of the general population. Within the group of SDAs, those who ate meat were more likely to report having diabetes (7).

A vegan diet can reverse mature-onset diabetes. When the diet recommended by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and a vegan diet were compared over a 12-wek period:

With regard to gallstones, ultrasound showed that 18% of a group of meat eating women had symptomless gallstones, compared to 10% in vegetarians. In addition, around 7% of the meat eaters had undergone a cholecystectomy compared to 2% of vegetarians. The meat eaters were almost twice as likely as the vegetarians to develop gallstones, even when age and body mass were taken into account (9).

Diverticular disease occurs in about 1 in 3 people over 45, and in 2 in 3 people over 85 in North America. Small pouches are formed in the wall of the colon, often as a result of constipation. If bacteria accumulate in the pouches, they can produce inflammation and cramp-like pains.

In over 47,000 men over a 4 year period, the risk of developing symptoms of diverticular disease was positively associated with red meat and negatively associated with fibre. In other words, the more meat the men ate, the more likely they were to develop the disease. On the other hand, the more fibre they ate, the less likely they were to develop the disease (10).

In a UK study, symptomless diverticular disease was much more common in meat eaters (33%) than in vegetarians (12%). The vegetarians, on average, ate almost twice as much fibre as the meat eaters, especially cereal fibre, which is important to increase stool bulk and to decrease the time it takes food to move through the digestive system (11). Vegetarians are much less likely to be constipated than meat eaters (12).

In a Greek study, people who suffered from diverticulosis ate less vegetables, brown bread, potatoes and fruit, and more meat and dairy products than people who remained healthy (13).

In summary, vegetarians are less likely to suffer from heart disease, high blood pressure, cancers (especially of the reproductive and digestive systems), obesity, diabetes, gallstones and diverticular disease. A low fat vegetarian diet can not only reduce the personal suffering involved in ill-health, it can also save the community money be decreasing diet-related diseases.

I would like to see References for this document on Vegetarian Health.

Back to first page of Vegetarian Guide
Go to Vegetarianism and Heart Disease
Go to Vegetarianism and Cancer
Go to Vegetarianism and Colon Cancer
Go to Vegetarian Nutrition
Go to Vegetarian Questions and Answers
Go to Meat Eating and the Environment
Go to Quotes from Famous Vegetarians
Go to Vegetarian Recipes

[ Cruelty | Things to do | About us | Teaching | Press Releases | Membership | Mail us | Links ]

http://www.animalliberation.org.au/vegoheal.html - Mon Jun 22 21:27:07 1998