Meat's place in the diet has been the subject of much research and controversary.
While we are plotting along eating our greens and saying n-o (thankyou) to meat, scientists in white lab coats and fat black-rimmed glasses are hunched
over incubators and microscope slides prodding vegetables, grains and beans with tongs, tweezers and forceps...all searching for the answer to: 'Is it really better to not eat animals?'
So after all their hard work what have they found?
One of the largest studies to date involved a group of Seventh Day Adventists in the United States.
The Seventh Day Adventist church is a branch of christianity, and the Adventist people are well-known for promoting a healthy way of living that
recommends a vegetarian diet and the avoidance of alcohol, smoking, coffee and drugs.
Not all Adventists follow these recommendations, however, 35% adopt a vegetarian lifestyle.
Note: in this study 'Vegetarian' is a broad description of people who may be:
Vegan: no animal products at all
Lacto-ovo: eats dairy and eggs
Pesco-vegetarian: eats fish, dairy and eggs
And 'Semi-vegetarian' refers to people who eat meat or poultry less than once per week
So. after researchers looked at the health and lifestyles of 60,000 Adventists from 2002-2006 what did they find?
Vegans have a healthier body weight than non-vegetarians.
Vegans had the lowest body mass index of 23.6kg/m^2 (healthy weight), with a progressive increase in BMI proportional to the amount of animal products in the diet.
Non-vegetarians had the highest BMI at 28.8kg/m^2, which put them as a group in the overweight category.
Vegans and Lacto-ovo Vegetarians have half the risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes compared to non-vegetarians
The prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes increased with increasing consumption of animal foods in the diet.
Type 2 Diabetes was less common in Vegans at 2.9%, with non-vegetarians having the highest rate at 7.6%.
Pesco-vegetarians and Semi-vegetarians have approximately 25% lower risk of Type 2 Diabetes compared to non-vegetarians.
Are you are thinking "yeah yeah i already knew that' and wondering what all the fuss is about?
The fuss is the strength of this study. There are alot of studies going on, yet good quality evidence is hard to find.
There are 2 main reasons why the evidence from the Seventh Day Adventist study is so strong:
1. The study was done on a large group of the population (60,000 people!) over 4 years.
2. The study was from one group (helps remove some of the variations that naturally occur between people preventing high-quality evidence)
HALLELUJAH! thankyou Seventh Day Adventists!
We now REALLY know that following a vegetarian diet has many positive health beneifits which even an occoasional meat eater can gain some benefit from
But Remember... its not only our own physical health we are thinking about.
As the Greek philosopher Pythagorus cited in the 6th Century BC:
'Physical health, ecological responsibility, and philosophical concerns' are the reasons people choose to exclude meat from their diets.
Ahhhh....sigh of relief.
You can now store that in your ammunition belt for your next "Veg is better!" conversation.
Reference: Tonstad S et al. Type of vegetarian diet, body weight, and prevelance of type 2 diabetes. overweight and obesity over the adult life course and incident mobility limitation in older adults. Diabetes Care 2009; 132: 791=796
