Is a Vegetarian Diet Healthier?

Seven million people in the United States call themselves vegetarians—those who don’t eat meat, fowl, or fish (but often include dairy products and eggs). But while vegetarians claim their diets are healthier, many carnivores and omnivores extol the virtues of eating high on the hog: Consuming meat, after all, is simply following nature’s dictate, for hungry humans have been devouring everything they could lay their hands on through at least the past 100,000 years of evolutionary history, and probably much longer.

So who’s got legitimate bragging rights?

Evidence has been building for two decades that people who eat a mostly vegetarian diet have the upper hand. But even scientific studies may not be enough to convince meat eaters to give up their lust for flesh in exchange for a longer, more disease-free life. 

What we eat, of course, isn’t the only determinant of health. For instance, even with the best diet in the world people who aren’t active will fall prey to diseases of sloth. Sedentary Death Syndrome is estimated to cause 300,000 premature deaths a year in the U.S., mostly due to cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

The types of food consumed within a specific diet also will have an effect on health.

“It is important to point out that both [omnivorous and vegetarian] diets can be disastrous or healthy,” says Ryan Andrews, a dietician and exercise physiologist with the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center. “Jujubes and beers constitute a vegan [plant-only] diet. Cheese and sausage constitute an omnivorous diet.  Obviously we know these aren’t the best food choices for optimal health.”  

A well-designed vegetarian diet, as opposed to a junk food vegetarian diet, would be low in fat and high in plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds, says Susan Bowerman, Assistant Director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition.

“These foods are all cholesterol-free, low in total fat and saturated fat, rich in vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals which offer numerous health benefits,” Bowerman says. “The diet would also naturally be high in fiber, which is also of benefit.”

And what are these benefits? Numerous studies from around the world have shown that plant-based diets not only extend life spans but also protect people from a number of diseases that plague heavy meat-eaters. The longest-lived peoples in the world all consume a mostly vegetarian diet, with a small percentage of protein derived from meat.

Take Okinawans elders, for example. They live longer than any other people on the planet, with an average life expectancy of 81.2 years (the U.S. average is 76.8). Inhabitants of this Japanese island have 80 percent less heart disease and cancer of the breast and prostate than Americans, and half the rate of dementia and cancer of the ovaries and colon. Although genetics contributes to their longevity and superior health, the major player is lifestyle, scientists have found. Besides high levels of physical activity and low body fat levels, Okinawan elders  eat a lot of soy, vegetables, and fish, plus a moderate amount of alcohol. Compared to Americans, they  consume twice as many vegetables and three times more fruit, but 10 times less meat, poultry and eggs. (But paradise is being lost. Younger generations of Okinawans have switched to a more modern diet and lifestyle. Consequently, they have twice the rate of obesity as other Japanese, and more risk factors for heart disease. Dying at a younger age than their elders, younger Okinawans may eventually lower the average lifespan of the island.)

“Okinawan elders eat an average of seven servings of vegetables and fruit a day [the National Cancer Institute recommends five], two servings of flavonoid-rich soy products per day; omega-3 rich fish several times a week; and minimal dairy products and meat,” report the authors of The Okinawa Program.