Emily Madsen Can Eating Vegetarian Extend our Life Expectancy?

Can Eating Vegetarian Extend our Life Expectancy? 

According to the food pyramid, the USDA food guide recommends a person to consume 2-3 servings of meat or protein per day. Meat is considered a basic level of the suggested food guideline. I personally live a lifestyle that follows the USDA food guide. I know that I meet the advised intake of meat each day because meat is a part of all three of my daily meals. After watching In Defense of Food, I learned a lot about a concept called vegetarianism and how it affects our life expectancy. Vegetarianism which means that meat is not consumed. They substitute meat for other proteins.  But this raised the question for me: If it's on the food pyramid, they must eat it to survive, right? Are they hurting themselves by not eating a recommended food group in the food pyramid? The answers are, no.  

It is proven that eating vegetarian is not a harm to your health. What vegetarians must remember is to substitute. Vegetarians must substitute the protein they would gave received from meat with other proteins. There are many different alternatives that also contain a lot of protein. Mushrooms, tofu, and eggplant are a few examples of substitutes. Being vegetarian is a chosen lifestyle. Some people are born into vegetarianism through a family decision, or through a religious affiliation. Other people choose vegetarianism on their own because of various reasons. They choose vegetarianism for its health benefits, they might think eating animals is gruesome and distasteful, and they may think about how we do not know where all of our food comes from, especially the meat in which we consume.  

After watching the movie In Defense of Food, I learned that The Seventh Day Adventist group is the longest living congregation in the world. The Seventh Day Adventist group who is a Protestant Christian does not believe in eating meat, and are considered a vegetarian group. The association believes that they should cherish and respect the body that God gave them, and keep it healthy and pure. They trust their long-cherished ritual of being vegetarian, and want to keep fueling their bodies of plant-based things that grow from the ground that God provided them with.

In Defense of Food made me very interested in vegetarianism and research. People who live their lives following a plant-based diet live longer. Statistics show that a person who has eaten plant-based lives ten years longer than someone who has eaten meat throughout their whole life. Becoming vegetarian will change your life for the long run. Ten years is a big difference. Those years can be spent traveling, spending time with family, and trying even more delicious plant-based foods. The gap between plant-based diets vs eating meat and life expectancy is similar to the gap between smoking cigarettes and not smoking. It makes a big impact. 

Seventh Day Adventists are known as the longest living congregation in the world. Their members live longer than other churches all over the world. They trace this back to the evidence of not eating meat. These people say that staying away from the toxins and cholesterol given off by meat has let them live a longer life. They have lower cancer and heart disease rates, and all around longer life expectancy. 

Loma Linda is a town in California that holds the record for the longest living residents in the U.S. The town is made up of 24,000 residents, the secret is that half of which are Seventh Day Adventists. The city is small, and the people who live there follow strict rules about healthy living, and demonstrate ways to follow a healthy lifestyle.  People who live there say that they have visions with God that tell them how to live healthy. They believe that their body is a temple created by God and that they should take care and worship it. Seventh Day Adventists also believe in treating their bodies with natural medicine methods instead of prescription drugs. They say that this is another way they keep their life expectancy so high. The average age of people who live in Loma Linda is 90. This is 12 years higher than the U.S. average life expectancy.  

I decided to ask vegetarians I knew about their experience with the lifestyle.  

The first person I interviewed said that she had been a vegetarian since she could eat. Vegetarianism is a lifestyle that her family deeply believes in, so naturally she did too. She said that she doesn’t think she has missed out on anything, and thinks eating things that are grown is better for short-term, and as well as long-term health. 

 The second person I interviewed has been vegetarian for three years. He became vegetarian after taking a nutrition class in college that "changed his life".  He said as he broadened his horizons with nutrition, he figured out that meat is not necessary, and eating things grown is better. He said he will not go back to eating meat because the way it is processed is disgusting and animals let off unnecessary CO2 into the environment. For example, with so many cows, a lot of excess CO2 is let off, polluting our environment.  

The third person I interviewed is Seventh Day Adventist. She is strong in her belief of vegetarianism. She said that to live this lifestyle is a calling from God to respect the body you are given. She also said that the older people in her church's congregation have not suffered illness, and have lived very long because she says of the undying belief in vegetarianism. She said that the gift God gives them from not eating meat is the gift of living a long, healthy life.  

Vegetarianism is more popular as the years go on. For my generation, the millennials, vegetarianism is a concept we are used to hearing about, and respect. There are many reasons people are vegetarian, and with more studies and statistics, we know even more about why it is good.  

Consuming red meat often welcomes many health problems. It gives people higher cholesterol, increases the chance of colon and pancreatic cancer, and heart disease. When people stay away from meat, they can lower their risk with fighting these illnesses. Living longer, quality lives is worth the change. Those who stay away from red meat have more energy, and are statistically proven to have better all-round health.  

Heart disease cannot just be stopped, but reversed when switching to a vegetarian diet. Arteries that would have been previously clogged can be reversed with a vegetarian diet. This is a great thing because prescription medicines are not having to be used to help people with their heart problems.  

Believe it or not, the consumption of meat makes a big impact on your mental health. It has been proven that people who eat vegetarian have a lower suicide rate. Eating healthy and being mindful about what you eat can save your life.  

Cancer can also be avoided by eating vegetarian. The unhealthy toxins in meat that cause cancer will not affect people because they are staying away from meat. Eating vegetarian lowers the chance of all cancers, and especially lowers the chance of breast cancer in women. Women can boost their chance to stay away from breast cancer in just two weeks of a vegetarian diet. Staying away from red meat has many benefits, and it doesn't take long for the benefits to show. 

While reading all of this information you may think that it is too late for you. Just because you have consumed meat all of your life does not mean you can't make the change now. Slowly cutting red meat out of your life will make a world of difference. You will feel better and be less bloated, and know that you are helping your long-term health. It is not too late for anyone to become a vegetarian. 

In conclusion, becoming vegetarian does indeed lengthen your life expectancy. I am more open to trying vegetarianism since watching In Defense of Food. Cutting meat slowly out of my life, especially red meat will have many positive health benefits. It isn't too late for you to make the change either! 

Emily Madsen 

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