The Death Rates Of Vegetarians Versus Meat Eaters Is A Provocative Title But This Subject Needs Your Attention!
The reason why science is continually “proving” the obvious is that our lives as 21st century, high-bred mutants leave us so alienated from the reality of Earth and our fellow earthlings that we actually do not know how to live.
Looking around our planet and viewing the incredible variety of species that make up Nature, one obvious fact that stands out quite clearly but is most likely overlooked is this:
No creatures anywhere are ever confused about what to eat or when to sleep or, in short, do anything….unless, of course, we put them in an artificial environment where there are no natural cues, such as a zoo or a living room.
That is simply because they function under the auspices of ‘instinct’ and have no conflicting information from the artificial and, unfortunately, a revered database of ‘culture’.
Humans, on the other hand, are deliberately cut off from nature and trained very early on (by age 3 years) not to respond instinctually but rather with culturally “appropriate” responses and behaviors.
This profound rejection from our parents that our instincts are unacceptable as well as the conflicting information that culture teaches sits at the root of all our suffering.
Hence, what to eat, when to eat, how to eat, when to sleep, etc become issues that have not only been the subject of human inquiry for eons but constitute much of the scientific inquiry of today.
So, here we have it … a review article looking at published research, which reinforces the unfortunate reality that humans need to “prove” to themselves that they are actually primates, and in fact a sub-family of primates known as “hominids” whose natural, instinctual diet is vegetables, fruit, nuts, and seeds.
What is much more striking than the reported findings of the Seventh Day Adventist study referred to in the above article, were the implications.
This study (http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1710093&resultClick=2) looked at the dietary habits and causes of death in a population of 73,308 Seventh Day Adventists men and women throughout a 7 year period.
The five dietary patterns of this group included (1) non-vegetarian, (2)semi-vegetarian (meat at least 1/month), (3) pesco-vegetarian (fish), (4) Lacto-ovo–vegetarian (eggs and dairy), and (5) vegan (no animal products).
The study looked at all causes of death and concluded: “vegetarian diets are associated with lower all-cause mortality and with some reductions in cause-specific mortality.” In other words, vegetarians, regardless of whatever else they do in their lives, have lower death rates than non-vegetarians.
Death Rates Of Vegetarians Vs Meat Eaters – Plants Are Our Teachers
As alluded to previously, the implications of these findings are far more striking and even profound because the only variables considered in the study were the various consumption patterns with regards to animal flesh and animal products. These were very average Americans.
Clearly, even the vegan group, which consumed no animal products, still ate non-organic, processed, and cooked food with a preponderance of carbohydrates. The health-compromising effects of eating that kind of diet, regardless of whether animal flesh and animal products are consumed impact and contribute directly to all “diseases” from ‘diabetes’ to ‘cancer’ and ‘heart disease.’
In fact, it is often stated by non-vegetarians that “vegetarians look unhealthy” and, indeed they do, often being overweight. That is because they have become “Pastafarians” or “breadatharians” even if they are eating organic.
In fact, since the group of people in this study is a sub-population of a larger group (Seventh Day Adventists), it is likely that they share, at least some if not many of the same lifestyle proclivities.
In conclusion, even people living a modern urban lifestyle and eating processed, non-organic fast food and home-cooked food, can extend their life span by simply eliminating or just cutting down on the amount and kind of animal flesh and animal products.
I find that incredibly amazing since most of the food and lifestyle habits of the modern urbanite are exceedingly unhealthy.
By the way, this is only one of many large studies with similar findings and conclusions.