For the past few years, increasing our lifespan has been the main focus of so many researchers. Clearly, our meal choices have a crucial influence over health aspects such as immunity, blood pressure and heart health.
With all that in mind, specialists can’t help but wonder: do vegans live more than the rest of the world? Finally, we have the answer.
Numerous studies published in the Journal of Nutrition show that adopting a vegan diet can lower the risks of cancer, obesity, type 2 diabetes and even heart disease. However, there hasn’t been an exact evaluation on the impact of veganism on longevity – up until now.
Scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital monitored over 130,000 subjects (vegans and omnivores) for more than 30 years. One of their conclusions was that eating 10% more animal protein could translate into a 2% higher risk of death from various causes and an 8% greater risk of dying from heart disease.
Come and think about it, meat, eggs and dairy are indeed among the most highly processed food categories. Depending on how you cook them, these foods can be dangerously high in artery-clogging cholesterol and saturated fats. Moreover, animals are often given hormones which makes their meat high in toxins and even antibiotics which we end up consuming.
“Every 3% increase in calories from plant protein reduces the risk of death by 10%.”
This is perhaps the most stunning finding of the Massachusetts General Hospital study. Simply said, being vegan might just extend your lifespan a bit – but even this study is debatable. Vegan people could generally have a balanced lifestyle too along with healthy weight over time. These aspects alone can alter the results of the study, as it only separated vegans from omnivores without taking other important factors into consideration too (physical activity, mental health and so on).
However, there is one important conclusion to keep in mind: eating plenty of vegetables and fruit is crucial for living a long, healthy life by keeping your body healthy and reducing the risk of long-term illness.
What’s the fun in being vegan? This Instagram vegan recipe creator explains it all.
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