GO VEGETARIAN

Living vegetarian

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

A study indicates vegetarians have a somewhat lower risk of death. At Loma Linda University, which is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist church, Michael Orlich and colleagues looked at data on about 73,000 U.S. Adventists, including many vegetarians.

Orlich says the risk of death was moderately lower among vegetarians, including some who ate dairy and eggs or fish.

Orlich says previous research has not given a completely clear answer about whether vegetarians live longer. But he says:

“This research gives more support to the idea that certain vegetarian dietary patterns may be associated with reduced mortality and increased longevity.”

The study in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at healthfinder.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.