Vegetarians Are Healthier

According to research published in Diabetes Care, vegetarians have better scores when it comes to blood sugar, blood fats, blood pressure, waist size, and body mass--which together can reduce metabolic symdrome (prediabetes) risk. In the recent study over 700 subjects, 2 of every 100 vegetarians had at least 3 metabolic syndrome factors, compared with 37 of every 100 semivegetarians (eating meat or poultry less than once a week) and 39 of every 100 nonvegetarians. And the vegetarians in the study were 3 years older than the nonvegetarians, on average--making their robustness even more impressive. --Delicious Living, August 2011.

Suzanne

New study - Whole food vegetarian diets reverse and eliminate many serious illnesses

by Kim Evans

(NaturalNews) A new study found that plant based diets are a fundamental solution to our public health crisis, especially with some of the most serious and debilitating illnesses. The physicians at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute found that the frequency and the cost of many illnesses, including obesity, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, can be considerably reduced just by switching to a whole food, nutrient dense, plant-based diet that doesn't include meat or dairy. Sometimes, the diseases were reversed just with these diet changes too.

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, who led the study, said: "We are potentially on the cusp of what could be a seismic revolution in health. This will never come about from another pill, another procedure, another operation, or construction of another cardiac cathedral. It will come about when we are able to show the public the lifestyle that will halt and eliminate 75% of these common, chronic killing diseases. The most essential component of this lifestyle is whole food plant-based nutrition."

This is foundational for a population that often eats meat and dairy daily and also one that often has one health problem or another. It's also eye opening for people who still believe that medical doctors have the health care answers, even though medical doctors are often only required to take one nutrition class (and that class is often about how foods and drugs interact). That seems to be lacking quite a bit when dietary changes can reverse and eliminate 75% of the most serious problems - and most people get the serious problems after having several smaller problems.

Dr. Esselstyn initiated this study to treat seriously ill patients with coronary artery disease with plant-based nutrition, and he generally succeeded in the reversal or removal of their disease.

According to Esselstyn, "Patients lose weight, blood pressure normalizes, and type 2 diabetes improves or resolves, as does angina, erectile dysfunction, and peripheral vascular and carotid disease." He also added that today's adolescents are but a decade or two away from compounding our healthcare epidemic.

Of course, the best time to start a dietary program that has the potential to change the quality of your future is always today. While adding tons of fruits and veggies to your diet and dropping the meat and dairy can reverse many diseases, it's also definitely better to just avoid the disease route all together. Many people who practice this type of diet also find that they feel better emotionally and have better energy, which just equates to a better overall quality of life too.

More:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/art...
http://www.torontosun.com/2011/07/2...
http://blog.cncahealth.com/post/201...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2...

Suzanne

One of my close friends was just talking to me at church, that a researcher wrote a book on how and what to eat. So my friend said he checked the book and to his surprise found the part on the author coming across Adventist. Well he found that the Adventist who ate meat, even once a week were no different in statistics of people who ate meat all the time. Then the interesting part, to get the full benefit he found that Adventist had to be fully vegetarian or vegan, and then statistics showed a major improvement. I will see if I can find it and post it...

I've been a vegetarian for 36 years (I'm 51). Back when I was teaching military pilots and aircrew members how to survive in the wilderness (1980-88) my fellow instructors used to say, "As a vegetarian there's no way you can keep pace given the physically demanding nature of our job." In answer to their comments I simply invited them to hang out with me for a day. At days end they had a completely different opinion of vegetarianism.

However, there is more to it than merely not eating meat and eating the right combinations of wholesome foods. That in itself is not enough. In fact, it is woefully inadequate. Health is a whole package affair. It requires all of Newstart, all of the 8 natural laws of health. I have friends who are not vegetarian and have no problem keeping up with me on mountain expeditions. What little meat they do eat seems to have little to no effect on their ability to hike hard and climb high.

I've also been a vegetarian for 36 years, but I'm 52.

Study: Vegetarian diet may help children stay fit, avoid obesity

by Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

(NaturalNews) With the poor quality of many of today's conventional meat products, a vegetarian diet just might be an appropriate fit for some modern children, one of three that are now overweight in the US.

A new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that people of all ages, including children, that adhere to a vegetarian diet generally have lower average body mass indexes (BMI) than others, and are generally leaner than their meat-eating counterparts.

The report explains that obesity is less prevalent among vegetarians, and that average BMI increases progressively higher depending on how much meat a person eats. Vegans, for instance, generally have the lowest BMI, while vegetarians that eat dairy and eggs have a slightly higher average BMI. Meat eaters, suggest study authors, have the highest average BMI of all.

Besides simply the visible weight benefits, adhering to a vegetarian diet may also improve lipid profile, say the authors, which means that a person is less likely to experience coronary heart disease. This means that vegetarians may have a lowered risk of developing high cholesterol, or having a heart attack or stroke.

Because a plant-based diet can contain far more nutrients, complex carbohydrates, fiber, and water, than a meat-based diet, it is more likely to promote lean body mass rather than added fat, says the team. The extra fiber found in plant-based diets also contributes to making a person feel "full" more quickly than a meat-based diet would, which results in less food being eaten.

"[O]besity represents a significant threat to the present and future health of children and leads to a wide range of physical and psychological consequences," write the study authors. "(A) plant-based diet appears to be a sensible approach for the prevention of obesity in children."

The report does not, however, differentiate between meat-based diets that include pastured meats, and meat-based diets that include conventional, feedlot-derived meats. The two differ greatly, as pastured meat contain higher levels of beneficial nutrients than does conventional meat, and is also higher in healthy fats and amino acids like omega-3s (http://www.naturalnews.com/027199_m...).

Also, when choosing a vegetarian diet, it is important to carefully select foods, especially when children are involved, that contain a full profile of necessary vitamins and minerals. Some vegetarian diets lack crucial nutrients like B vitamins, vitamin D, zinc, iron, and calcium, as well as protein, which is essential for the growth and development of healthy muscle mass.

Sources for this story include:

http://newhope360.com/vegetarian-di...

Suzanne

Wow, a woman who states her age publicly! Ha! Congrats on choosing a healthy lifestyle for soooooooo many years. Ha!

Marge Jetton also did that and she was more than twice my age! She died this year, right? That's a pity.


Congrats to you, too!

Vegetarians Have Lower Cancer Risk Than Meat Eaters

by David Gutierrez, staff writer

(NaturalNews) Vegetarians are significantly less likely to develop cancer than non-vegetarians, according to a study conducted by researchers from universities in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and published in the British Journal of Cancer.

"These interesting results add to the evidence that what we eat affects our chances of developing cancer," said a spokesperson for Cancer Research U.K. "We know that eating a lot of red and processed meat increases the risk of stomach cancer."

Researchers followed 61,566 British adults and compared cancer rates among vegetarians, those who ate fish but not other kinds of meat, and those with no dietary restrictions. They found that the lifetime risk of developing cancer was 14 percent lower in vegetarians than in the general population. The protective effect was greatest for stomach cancer, bladder cancer, Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and blood cancers. Vegetarians were less than 50 percent as likely to develop lymph and blood cancers as nonrestricted eaters, while their risk of a rare bone marrow cancer known as multiple myeloma was 75 percent lower. Fish-eaters had a lower risk of blood and lymph cancers than nonrestricted eaters, but their risk was still higher than that of vegetarians.

It is the first study specifically showing a link between a vegetarian diet and a lower risk of bone marrow cancer.

"Dietary advice to myeloma patients remains aligned with national guidance -- that they should eat a healthy, balanced diet high in fiber, fruit and vegetables and low in saturated fat, salt and red and processed meat," Myeloma U.K. said.

Red and processed meats have previously been linked to elevated rates of stomach cancer. Processed meat is believed to be particularly dangerous, due to the N-nitroso compound used to preserve them and the high temperatures they are cooked at.

The researchers found that vegetarians and fish eaters had roughly the same risk of stomach cancer, about one-third less than the risk experienced by unrestricted eaters. This adds evidence to the theory that red and processed meats are particular risk factors for this kind of cancer.

Sources for this story include: news.bbc.co.uk.

Suzanne

You also have to take into account what meat and the fat that comes with it does to the mind, to say nothing of the body. Are there any studies on that....?