Are Vegetarians Less Healthy Than Meat Eaters? Study Raises Questions
by Monte Sahlin
By AT News Team, May 13, 2014
An article in the journal PLOS One has reported a study conducted by researchers at the Medical University of Graz, Austria, which concludes that, in the population studied, vegetarians suffer from higher risk of asthma, cancer, allergies, and poor mental health, compared to their meat-eating counterparts. PLOS One is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access, online publication dedicated to rapid dissemination of research from all scientific disciplines.
While vegetarians may have a lower body mass index (BMI), vegetarian diets were shown to be tied to generally poorer health, poorer quality of life, and a higher need for health care than their meat-eating counterparts in Austria. Also, according to the report, a vegetarian diet characterized by a low consumption of saturated fats and cholesterol that includes increased intake of fruits, vegetables and whole-grain products carries elevated risks of cancer, allergies and mental health disorders.
The study surveyed more than 15,000 people, a mix of vegetarians, vegetarians who eat eggs and cheese, and meat-eaters. The results showed that more than 30 percent of vegetarians surveyed had allergies, while less than 17 percent of participants who regularly included meat in their diet had allergies. Vegetarians also had a 50 percent increase in heart attacks and a 50 percent increase in incidences of cancers.
In the report vegetarians are found to have some elements of healthier lifestyles. They are less likely to smoke tobacco and also drink less alcohol. The research also found that vegetarians were more physically active, had better socioeconomic status, and had better health behaviors overall.
“Our study has shown that Austrian adults who consume a vegetarian diet are less healthy (in terms of cancer, allergies, and mental health disorders), have a lower quality of life, and also require more medical treatment," the researchers conclude. "Therefore, a continued strong public health program for Austria is required in order to reduce the health risk due to nutritional factors.”
Response from Adventist Health Study Research Team
Because many studies of Seventh-day Adventists have had significantly different findings, Adventist Today asked for comments from researchers at Loma Linda University (LLU) who have worked on these projects under grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Gary Fraser and Dr. Pramil Singh of the LLU School of Public Health stated, "We congratulate the authors on their study of Austrian vegetarians. As the authors point out it is not possible with this study design to decide whether associations are causal in the direction of diet causing or preventing disease."
"It is well known that many subjects who experience chronic disease, including cancer, may gravitate toward a plant-based diet. Then the association results from causation in the reverse direction i.e. disease causes a dietary preference. It would have been helpful to know about past dietary habits and the duration of the diets in the Austrian study. Thus we suggest that this study is an interesting sociological description of vegetarians in Austria as compared to others, but has little to say about the cause of disease."
"Interestingly, our data on U.S. vegetarians also suggests that they are less likely to participate in preventive health testing against cancer(see notes 1 and 2 below), although as distinct from the Austrian findings, vegetarians that we study longitudinally have lower rates of many common chronic diseases ( see notes 3-5).
"A previous longitudinal study of German vegetarians has also found that they experienced much lower mortality from cancer, cardiovascular disease, and lower total mortality (6). British vegetarians may also derive some benefits (see notes 7 and 8), but perhaps less clearly so.
"U.S. vegetarians as compared to non-vegetarians in our studies do seem to experience better mental health (see notes 9 and 10), a finding that differs from the Austrian data, perhaps reflecting different motivations for the dietary choices. So findings among studies of vegetarians are somewhat diverse for some disease endpoints, and this is perhaps not surprising as vegetarians worldwide have diets that may differ greatly. Thus one would not expect the same health consequences in U.S., British, Austrian, German, and Indian vegetarians, as we have previously discussed (see note 11).
"We would strongly suggest that studies of vegetarians describe their diets with additional qualifiers that will allow the reader to understand more clearly what the study participants are actually eating, this both in terms of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and also particular foods and food groups (see note 12)."
Reference notes attached to the statement from Gary E. Fraser MD, Ph.D.; Pramil Singh DrPH
1. Ibrayev Y, Oda K, Fraser GE, Knutsen SF. Utilization of prostate cancer screening according to dietary patterns and other demographic variables. The Adventist Health Study-2. J Cancer. 2013 Jun 28;4(5):416-26. doi: 10.7150/jca.6442.
2. Ibrayev Y, Oda K, Dang K. et al. Utilization of colorectal cancer screening in persons with different dietary patterns. The Adventist Health Study-2. American Journal of Epidemiology Volume: 175 Supplement: 11 Pages: S29-S29 Published: JUN 15 2012
3. Fraser GE. Diet Life Expectancy and Chronic Disease. Studies of Seventh-day Adventists and other vegetarians. Oxford University Press, New York, 2003.
4. Orlich MJ1, Singh PN, Sabaté J, Jaceldo-Siegl K, Fan J, Knutsen S, Beeson WL, Fraser GE. Vegetarian dietary patterns and mortality in Adventist Health Study 2. JAMA Intern Med. 2013 Jul 8;173(13):1230-8. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.6473.
5. Tantamango-Bartley Y1, Jaceldo-Siegl K, Fan J, Fraser G. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. Vegetarian diets and the incidence of cancer in a low-risk population. 2013 Feb;22(2):286-94. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-12-1060. Epub 2012 Nov 20.
6. Frentzel-Beyme R, Chang-Claude J. Vegetarian diets and colon cancer: the German experience. Am J Clin Nutr. 1994; 59 (supp): 1143S-1152S.
7. Key TJ1, Appleby PN, Spencer EA, Travis RC, Allen NE, Thorogood M, Mann JI. Cancer incidence in British vegetarians. Br J Cancer. 2009 Jul 7;101(1):192-7. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6605098. Epub 2009 Jun 16.
8. Crowe FL1, Appleby PN, Travis RC, Key TJ. Am J Clin Nutr. Risk of hospitalization or death from ischemic heart disease among British vegetarians and nonvegetarians: results from the EPIC-Oxford cohort study. 2013 Mar;97(3):597-603. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.112.044073. Epub 2013 Jan 30.
9. Ford PA, Jaceldo-Siegl K, Lee JW, Youngberg W, Tonstad S. Intake of Mediterranean foods associated with positive affect and low negative affect. 2013; J Psychosom Res. 74(2):142-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2012.11.002. Epub 2012 Nov 22
10. Lee JW, Morton KR, Walters J, Bellinger DL, Butler TL, Wilson C, Walsh E, Ellison CG, McKenzie MM, Fraser GE. Cohort profile: The biopsychosocial religion and health study (BRHS). Int J Epidemiol. 2009 Dec;38(6):1470-8. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyn244. Epub 2008 Dec 3.
11. Fraser GE. Vegetarian diets: what do we know of their effects on common chronic diseases? Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 May;89(5):1607S-1612S. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.26736K. Epub 2009 Mar 25. Review. Erratum in: Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jul;90(1):248.
12. Rizzo NS, Jaceldo-Siegl K, Sabate J, Fraser GE. Nutrient profiles of vegetarian and nonvegetarian dietary patterns. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2013 Dec;113(12):1610-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2013.06.349. Epub 2013 Aug 27.
17 May 2014 @ 1:14 am
We were not evolved to be strict vegetarians. We are omnivores. Omnivoric diets with representation of all food groups, along with healthy life styles are probably superior to the vegetarian cult diets of SDA's and vegans.
17 May 2014 @ 8:10 am
While I am a strong supporter of epidemiological research, such research often includes selective elements that lead to questionable conclusions. First, of course, is the potential for confusing correlation with causality. But, next, is the potential for correlated factors to load results. For example, people who have various health issues–perhaps especially such things as allergies–to resort to unusual ways of addressing their health problems, including various fads or vegetarian or vegan diets. And, let's face it, psychometric scales might well identify individuals who are prone to resorting to unusual or extreme diets as having mental health issues. Are vegans and vegetarians nuts? No, not all of them.
17 May 2014 @ 9:36 am
If we were really evolved as omnivores, why do we have to cook flesh foods for purposes of mastication and digestion? Why don’t we just eat it and enjoy it like the carnivorous animals do?
The vegetables that we cook don't really have to be cooked to be digested. I suppose the flesh may not either; but does anyone doubt that our bodies are far, far better suited for peaches or grapes than for raw animal flesh?
Just the other day, while driving down a country road I disturbed a vulture enjoying some road kill. Think about it. (Is this yet another example of where common sense would seem to trump everything?)
17 May 2014 @ 12:37 pm
Stephen and others interested in thoughts on why humans usually cook their food may wish to read Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human (Profile Books, 2009), by my friend (with whom I had dinner last night in La Jolla), Richard Wrangham. While I am not endorsing the book or the ideas, I do know Richard to be a thoughtful guy who has done a lot of work on this issue, and I think the information in this book should be given serious consideration. The ideas have been discussed widely, both by critics and supporters.
18 May 2014 @ 4:00 pm
To be candid, it’s doubtful that I’ll be investing any money on Wrangham’s book. Certainly I have some interest; but if we are omnivores, then by nature we are ’designed’ or ‘evolved’ to process both flesh and plant food with practically equal facility; which clearly is not the case. If it was the case, we wouldn’t need to cook pigs to eat them. Our teeth, jaws, and digestive tracts are designed to eat grapes, peaches, and apples.
Admittedly this begs the question about carnivores—seemingly evolved or designed to eat flesh; but I’m (obviously) interested in human beings. For all intents and purposes the scriptural narrative and record is all about us. (Besides, is rapid adaptive evolution proven impossible?)
Doesn’t it make sense that we cooked with fire because we are human rather than cooking with fire making us human? Tell us what your friend says Joe.
Isn’t the point of all of this: whether we were designed as we are; or whether we randomly evolved this way?
Jack Hoehn reasoning would imply that we were purposefully designed to evolve this way; or that we evolved this way designedly. This would, among other things, negate the idea that we were created in the image of the Designer (I would think). It would also seem to negate the scriptural ‘death as consequence for/of sin’ philosophy. In other words, this approach undermines scripture, whether well-meaning (as I reckon), or not.
This whole religion thing, at least from a Judeo-Christian perspective is about human minds. Our minds are the battlefield, aren’t they?
18 May 2014 @ 5:47 pm
Evaluation of atmospheric poisionous fallout could be a factor on plant and grass foods, in various locales. i have been a meat eater for all but 20 years of my upper 80's life. i eat a lot of seeds, nuts, fruit, salads, 2-3 ounces of sweet red wine daily in fruit juices, 3 cups of coffee, in the mornings only, and occasionally some meat, although the quantity is perhaps 4-5 ounces per. i generally eat only twice a day.i find as i age the quantity of food intake is less and less. i agree with Steven that the teeth of humans was designed for softer foods, and not the sinews of meat. Thatsthe reason we have hamburger & other processed meat products. There's no doubt humans can eat anything and love it, if fed the product as soon as babies have teeth. The cannibilism regimen of air crash survivors in the Andes in SA, prove that man will eat anything in order to live. Was there a reference to the longevity of the Austrian vegans??
19 May 2014 @ 1:13 am
A vegetarian or vegan diet can be unhealthy if it is heavy on processed and refined foods, sugars, caffeine, and fats. I mean, potato chips are vegan, but that does not make them healthy or nutritious. It is necessary to eat the Superfoods that meet your bodies requirements for true physical and Spiritual wellness.
19 May 2014 @ 4:07 am
While hunter-gatherer societies did not have to worry about eating too many potato chips or hamburgers and hotdogs, many of them did have to worry about getting enough calories to sustain life. Gathering (nearly vegan, aside from gathering eggs and shellfish) was pretty vital, but often insufficient. And in some areas of human habitation, people came to depend heavily on meat and animal fat–even large amounts eaten raw in some societies. Am I wrong, or does not scripture indicate that God loves the smell of sizzling lamb fat. Aha! Just a thought. Maybe that's what hell is all about. It could be fueled by a large number of obese people….
19 May 2014 @ 7:39 pm
You’re humorous, but it’s not clear to me what the typical sacrifice of lambs has to do with whether our bodies were designed to eat plants or animals.
Deb Britenbaker makes an excellent point about other stuff (processed and manmade foods) that our bodies weren’t exactly designed to process.