Does Eating a Plant-Based Diet Increase Longevity?

Eating a plant-based diet has benefits. Fruits and vegetables are a rich source of natural phytochemicals that protect cells against free radicals and reduce inflammation that plays a role in some diseases including cancer and heart disease. That’s a good thing from a health standpoint but can eating a plant-based diet increase your lifespan too?

Plant-Based Diets and Longevity

A large study involving 96,000 residents of the United States and Canada is currently underway and preliminary data from this study was presented at the 2012 Food and Nutrition Conference. It suggests that plant-based diets offer considerable benefits in terms of health and longevity. A number of participants in the study were Seventh-day Adventists who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet – and the data shows that Seventh-day Adventist men and women who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet live 6 to 9.5 years longer than those who eat a meat-based diet. That’s significant in the big scheme of things.

There’s good news for people who aren’t committed to being a complete vegetarian. Even if you’re not ready to take the leap from eating a meat-based diet to a solely vegetarian one – you still get some protection against health problems like heart disease and type 2 diabetes by limiting the number of animal products in your diet. This study found that “flexitarians” enjoy some of the health benefits of vegetarianism. So even if you can’t part with grass-fed hamburgers or an occasional meatball, you can still enjoy some of the benefits by increasing the ratio of plant-based to meat-based foods you eat.

Other Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet

Researchers involved in this study point to some of the other health benefits they found among participants who ate a vegetarian or vegan diet. Vegans were, on average, 30 pounds lighter than participants who ate a meat-based diet, and both vegetarians and vegans had a lower incidence of metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance, precursors to type 2 diabetes.

It’s hard to deny the benefits of a plant-based diet, but vegetarians and vegans are often more health conscious and are more likely to be physically active and avoid bad habits like smoking. This may explain some of the advantages when it comes to longevity. Still, eating whole, plant-based food is an important part of a healthy lifestyle.

Are There Drawbacks to Being Vegetarian?

It’s possible to get enough protein without eating meat, although it takes planning. Most plant-based foods with the exception of soybeans don’t contain all of the essential amino acids your body needs for health. That’s why vegetarians eat a variety of non-meat protein sources to ensure they get all of the protein building blocks their bodies need but can’t make. Protein from plant-based sources isn’t absorbed as well as animal sources so you may need to eat more protein from plants on a vegetarian or vegan diet.

What are some non-meat protein options? Good sources of plant-based protein include lentils, beans, tofu, and tempeh. Some vegetables are relatively high in protein too. Peas have around 6 grams of protein per serving and spinach and asparagus have 3 grams each. You can also get protein from whole-grain foods. Quinoa is an excellent source of non-meat protein with 8 grams per cup.

Getting adequate amounts of iron, zinc, B12, and calcium is a concern for vegetarians and vegans. Vegans are at particularly high risk for deficiencies in these nutrients. Vitamin B12 is found naturally only in meat-based products although some processed foods like cereals are fortified with it. Some so-called plant-based sources of vitamin B12 like blue-green algae aren’t reliable sources, and some even have an analog activity that blocks the function of natural B12. Getting enough of these vitamins and minerals on a vegetarian or vegan diet takes planning.

The Bottom Line?

Adopting a plant-based diet could help you live a longer, healthier life, but you don’t have to completely give up meat to get some of the benefits. The advantage of being a flexitarian is you’re less likely to experience lower levels of B12 and some minerals. However, you choose to do it, add more plant-based foods to your diet – do it for your health – even if you don’t go completely vegetarian.

References:

Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2009;18(1):8-14.

FoodNavigator.com. “Vegetarians Have Longer Life Expectancy than Meat Eaters, Finds Study”

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