Vegetarian diet less healthy new study suggests

geebusuk
geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Conclusion:
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. Therefore, a continued strong public health program for Austria is required in order to reduce the health risk due to nutritional factors. Moreover, our results emphasize the necessity of further studies in Austria, for a more in-depth analysis of the health effects of different dietary habits.

Study here.
http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchObject.action?uri=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0088278&representation=PDF

Of course, correlation≠causation.
I suspect both are a symptom of lack of logical reasoning :P.

Replies

  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
    I want to read this later. The claim is counter-intuitive (to me), so I'll be a bit skeptical. But I still want to see what they have to say.
  • Illona88
    Illona88 Posts: 903 Member
    Has it occurred to them that it might be the other way around? That people became vegan/vegetarian because they were sick.

    At least that was the case with me and a lot of my veggie friends.

    I have several allergies and suffered from severe migraines. I did some research and tried things out and found that eating vegan helps me avoid most of my allergies and has made my migraines a lot less frequent and intense.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    Has it occurred to them that it might be the other way around? That people became vegan/vegetarian because they were sick.
    Yes, it had.
    If you read the study, you'll see they discuss this :).
  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
    Yes, they discuss it. They admit that they don't know the answer, and that the test subjects may have become vegetarian because they were sick:


    "Potential limitations of our results are due to the fact that the survey was based on cross-sectional data. Therefore, no statements can be made whether the poorer health in vegetarians in our study is caused by their dietary habit or if they consume this form of diet due to their poorer health status. We cannot state whether a causal relationship exists, but describe ascertained associations. More- over, we cannot give any information regarding the long-term consequences of consuming a special diet nor concerning mortality rates. Thus, further longitudinal studies will be required to substantiate our results....."
  • sodakat
    sodakat Posts: 1,126 Member
    My husband and I owned a large sail boat for 10 years for which we needed crew when we did special events (think pirate). We found that most of the people who had time to sail for weeks or months were young and many of them were vegetarians or vegans. Part of our "deal" with the crew was that we furnished all food. It was very, very difficult to keep enough food on hand and prepare the foods that the vegetarians and vegans needed, on board the ship in the small galley. They seemed to eat all the time and the limited storage space we had for fresh fruits and vegetables made it tough to offer them what they wanted daily while giving the rest of the crew a fair portion. I also noticed that the non-meat eaters were always looking for food and were into the "snack bars" multiple times between meals.

    It was super hard to provide them with enough protein also. We soon requested that they bring their own snacks on board, and eventually we turned down people who did not eat meat.

    One girl wanted to sail so badly that she told me she would become a meat eater if we let her crew a trip! Against my better judgment, after talking to her dad, I agreed to let her come on a 4 day sail. That girl ended up eating more steak than anyone in the crew! (We grilled on deck every evening.) She told me she hadn't eaten meat in 3 years prior to this trip. I wasn't sure I believed her because she also went to town on the bacon or sausage every morning. I guess maybe she couldn't get enough once she decided to eat meat again...

    Something I did notice, and this is purely anecdotal of course, is that the non-meat eaters were never quite as "strong" after a few days sailing.
  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
    My husband and I owned a large sail boat for 10 years for which we needed crew when we did special events (think pirate). We found that most of the people who had time to sail for weeks or months were young and many of them were vegetarians or vegans. Part of our "deal" with the crew was that we furnished all food. It was very, very difficult to keep enough food on hand and prepare the foods that the vegetarians and vegans needed, on board the ship in the small galley. They seemed to eat all the time and the limited storage space we had for fresh fruits and vegetables made it tough to offer them what they wanted daily while giving the rest of the crew a fair portion. I also noticed that the non-meat eaters were always looking for food and were into the "snack bars" multiple times between meals.

    It was super hard to provide them with enough protein also. We soon requested that they bring their own snacks on board, and eventually we turned down people who did not eat meat.

    One girl wanted to sail so badly that she told me she would become a meat eater if we let her crew a trip! Against my better judgment, after talking to her dad, I agreed to let her come on a 4 day sail. That girl ended up eating more steak than anyone in the crew! (We grilled on deck every evening.) She told me she hadn't eaten meat in 3 years prior to this trip. I wasn't sure I believed her because she also went to town on the bacon or sausage every morning. I guess maybe she couldn't get enough once she decided to eat meat again...

    Something I did notice, and this is purely anecdotal of course, is that the non-meat eaters were never quite as "strong" after a few days sailing.

    You obviously bought a meat boat. Vegan boats are much larger have huge galleys with monster vats for washing produce.
  • sodakat
    sodakat Posts: 1,126 Member
    LOL, maybe my story was silly. True though.
  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
    LOL, maybe my story was silly. True though.

    Not silly. It was anecdotal, but interesting. And after trying vegan, whole food plant based eating for three months, I believe you and understand how it could happen.
  • Okapi42
    Okapi42 Posts: 495 Member
    I'm a vegetarian because meat never agreed with me - especially chicken, to which both my father and I are actually allergic. So I definitely think I switched for health reasons. It's been 10 years, and I've never even been tempted.

    But I do hate to be the picky eater in any given group...
  • Rocbola
    Rocbola Posts: 1,998 Member
    Wasn't this a thread yesterday?
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    Wasn't this a thread yesterday?
    Quite possibly.
    I read about it on the independant (newspaper) app yesterday, however didn't find anything when I did a search on here - maybe my search skills were lacking.
  • reginald715
    reginald715 Posts: 1
    As a strict vegetarian the truth of the matter is diet is no panacea and Vegans and Vegetarians must admit this. Many take B 12 supplements, but also can defeciant in Iron and Zinc. I switched because I suffered from gout, so for those who switch listen too your body because it may signal your lacking minerals, also if your Vegan, especially male, avoid soy products which increases chances of impotence. Being Vegetarian can have wonderful benefits, but our bodies are different and those who follow it, do yourrresearch and stay away from dogma which is so pervasive among some (not all) Vegans and Raw Foodists. Peace & Love.

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