Researchers have found that Seventh-Day Adventists have significantly longer-than-average life expectancies. They ascribe this longevity to church members' high rates of vegetarianism and regular exercise and virtually non-existent rates of smoking. In a study comparing California Adventists with Californians who were not members of the religion, researchers at Loma Linda University found that Adventists' life expectancies surpassed those of the general population. Male Adventists had a gain of more than 7 years over other men, while female Adventists had a life expectancy nearly 4.5 years longer than that of other women. Adventists have "always focused on health as a virtue and these findings show they are perhaps the longest-lived group that has ever been formally studied." Based on the Adventists' lifestyle data -- such as the fact that 40% exercised vigorously for at least 15 minutes three times a week, and fewer than 1% currently smoked-the researchers estimate that these habits account for up to 10 years of life expectancy in this population. The Adventists' rate of vegetarianism was significantly higher than that of the US population as a whole, as was their rate of regular exercise. "As far as I know," he said, "there's never been a quantification of the number of years one can expect to be added." Archives of Internal Medicine July 9, 2001;161:1645-1652
The idea that eating well, exercising and shunning cigarettes promotes health is nothing new -- experts continually hammer the message home. What is new here, is that clean living has been linked to a longer life. I have great respect for Seventh Day Adventists and believe in many of the principles their denomination advocates. However, I am not convinced that their teaching on vegetarianism is accurate. I certainly can be wrong here. This, and many other studies, clearly show that Adventists as a group are far healthier than most Americans. There are many other alternative explanations for this, besides the elimination of animal foods though. Clearly exercise, ideal body weight and not smoking or drinking to excess could easily account for the increase in life expectancy Adventists have. I believe their life expectancy could be far closer to over 100 years if they included high quality animal protein in their diet. Of course this would be ideally raised animal protein such as grass fed beef. I hope to offer that on the site next week, so please keep posted on this. Eating animals that were not fed properly and polluted with hormones and pesticides will certainly be less than ideal. This is, of course, only my professional opinion and I recognize that this may not represent the truth. I constantly seek to identify the truth and at this point in my review of the scientific evidence, I am convinced that we require regular amounts of animal protein.
Additionally, Dr. Stephen Byrnes reminds us that according to data published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1994, vol. 59 (supplement), 1136S- 1142S, Adventists have higher cancer rates than the general population.
Though the study (also conducted by Loma Linda) showed that SDAs had lower rates of some cancer, e.g., breast, it also clearly showed that SDAs had higher rates for several others, particularly those of the reproductive tract. The possible explanation for this is their vegetarian diet which exposes them to higher levels of estrogenic pesticide residues on the assorted grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits.
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The Myths of Vegetarianism
Vegetarian Diet in Pregnancy Linked to Birth Defect
Vegetarian Diet Can Cause Repeat Miscarriages
Vegetarian Diet May Increase Alzheimers Risk
Faulty Reasoning in the Biblical Nutrition Movement