Vegetarians healthier?

Im not supporting the facts in this article nor am I denying them, just thought it was an interesting piece:


Vegetarians not healthier
September 11, 2002
Vegetarian teens are not necessarily healthier than their meat-eating peers, says new research, because despite their healthy diets, they are not more likely to adopt other healthy practices like exercising more or cutting back on smoking or drinking alcohol.
In a study of Swedish and Norwegian vegetarian teenagers, researchers from the Umea University in Sweden found that contrary to findings from other studies, a low-meat diet does not guarantee other healthy habits.

Weight concerns not the motivation
Lead study author Dr Christel Larsson surveyed over 2 000 Swedish and Norwegian 15- to 16-year-old students, of whom 149 reported being low-meat consumers. Almost three-quarters of these students were female.

The low-meat eaters did not differ from the meat-eating students in weight or body mass index, Larsson and her colleagues reported in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

The low-meat eaters were also similar in their opinion about their weight, indicating that a concern about weight gain was not the major reason for the students choosing a low-meat diet, the researchers report.

Meat-eaters healthier
Health reasons were also not behind the choice to avoid meat, the report found. In fact, those students who ate meat were more health conscious and tended to be healthier than the vegetarians.

Women on low-meat diets reported being sick more often than their peers, while low-meat eating men found that they were tired and experienced headaches more often than their peers. Both the men and women also reported being depressed more often than the meat-eaters.

The researchers found no difference in exercise habits, alcohol or smoking habits between the low-meat eaters and the meat-eaters. – (HealthScout)

[Attalus]

MagiK, the only diet that has been proven to increase lifespan is the Mediterranean Diet, which includes some meat, but lotsa veggies and pasta. Vegetarians are likely to be deficient in many of the lineolic acids and other vital fatty acids found in meat. I have several overweight vegetarians in my practice, practically all of them teenagers.

[Djinn Raffo]

Thats an interesting article..

Speaking from personal experience i was a vegetarian for three years and started eating meat again because i was in sort of a situation where the only food we had was deli meats for a few days...nothing but deli meats..was a flyin camp treeplanting..gong show..anyway.. i can honestly say i feel healthier when i do eat meat in some moderation..as in a few times a week...compared to when i ate no meat whatsoever.

[ 09-13-2002, 03:16 PM: Message edited by: Djinn Raffo ]

Well don't look at me [img]smile.gif[/img] I left teenage a long time ago and Im a devout carnivore...well ok Im not...Im an omnivore...I admit it...

Question...Would a pedivore eat children or feet?

[ 09-13-2002, 03:17 PM: Message edited by: MagiK ]

[Arvon]

No! Just worse hunters!!!!!

[Attalus]

Originally posted by MagiK: Well don't look at me [img]smile.gif[/img] I left teenage a long time ago and Im a devout carnivore...well ok Im not...Im an omnivore...I admit it... Question...Would a pedivore eat children or feet?

LOL, a PEDOvore would eat children. A PEDIvore would eat feet. A Petite-Four is a small cake that tastes like wax.

[Rokenn]

The main problem with most people who are vegiterians, esp young people. Is they tend to substitute carbos for meats. And unless you are a high performance athelete, lots of carbos are not the best thing in the world for you. Since your body will convert the excess carbs into fat, for later use.

Originally posted by Rokenn: lots of carbos are not the best thing in the world for you. Since your body will convert the excess carbs into fat, for later use.

yeah tell me about it Im a Pizza freak...too many carbos in them

Originally posted by MagiK: a low-meat diet does not guarantee other healthy habits.

I stopped reading right here LOL.
NO DIET guarantees other healthy habits!
My son is a vegan and I would say that is his only bad habit. Last time I saw him he was thinner than I remembered him being (but then too, we are both thin people and he said he weighed the same as he has for years). We made sure he got plenty to eat before he left though LOL. He can't believe I call eating a hobby ha ha ha (and its my favorite hobby! )

[Lox]

Well of course vegetarians aren't healthier, they taste too good. Everyone knows that if something tastes good it isn't good for you.