Life Longevity linked with a Plant-Based diet in Seventh-day Adventists

Good Afternoon Everyone! I hope that you and your families are staying safe and healthy! Speaking about healthy, today we are going to be talking a little bit about life longevity and disease prevention through a vegan and vegetarian diet. A few months ago, I had written another post about curing illnesses through veganism (go check that out if you haven’t already!), but today I would like to speak to another aspect of this: life expectancy and increasing human lifespan through a vegan diet.

Now, it is no secret that plant-based diets are good for your body’s inner organ functionality, but another great aspect to this type of lifestyle is that they also make you look good on the outside. I’ve seen so many stories on the internet of people losing X number of pounds after turning vegan or vegetarian and even looking younger after making the switch. Now, why is that? The truth is, when you turn plant-based you most likely are making the switch from high-sugar, high-carb foods to foods that are more-fibrous, nutritious and that are going to keep your tummy satisfied longer. For example, sugar-packed beef-jerky gets replaced with carrots and hummus, or cookies and milk is substituted with walnut date cake. The foods that become the replacers are far more nutritious, healthy, and wholesome for your bodies that makes you lose the extra weight, making you feel better about yourself.

There is another aspect to this, of course. And that, my friends, is increasing the number of years you live by serving your palette only nutritious, plant-based foods. To this, I will be speaking about the Seventh-day Adventist Church as our prime example. For those of you who don’t know who the Seventh-day Adventists are, they are a church based on beliefs in abstaining from harming yourself and other life forms, whether that be through consuming a plant-based diet, avoiding smoking and alcohol, and exercising-this group seeks to avoid any form of activity that is harmful or “mind-altering” to your physical well-being. Culturally, Seventh-day Adventists believe in balance and harmony between nature and its beings and therefore mostly all of its disciples follow a vegan diet. They originated as a Protestant Church, beginning in the formative years of the United States and continue to serve as a freedom-based group today.

Beginning in 1958, a study was conducted on this group of individuals by the Loma Linda University in California to determine whether vegans and vegetarians live longer than the rest of the average human population. The results from the study generated a positive response, with evidence claiming that vegans and vegetarians live up to at least six, sometimes even up to nine, years longer than the average meat-consuming human. Today, the university continues to conduct their research and are finding new and fascinating information about this vegan group: they have conducted weight studies estimating that the average vegan is, by weight, 30 pounds lighter, have a lower Body Mass Index (BMI), and are less insulin-resistant, meaning they are less susceptible to Type 2 Diabetes, than their meat-eating counterparts. Yes, you may argue that the Seventh-day Adventists also abstain from other harmful health practices, such as smoking and drinking caffeine and/or alcohol, but there is significant evidence to prove that food choices play a notable and determining role in both life expectancy and quality of life that these individuals lead.

If you are interested in learning a little more about health benefits of veganism and some amazing stories of people who have been able to change their quality of life, I suggest you check out the following documentaries on Netflix:

• The Game Changers
• What The Health
• Forks over Knives

These are great documentaries that expose some of the scandals of the meat industry and bring to light many of the benefits of a healthy, wholesome vegan diet. Thank you all for joining me today, I wish you all a wonderful day!

Sources:

• Adventist
• Prime Peta
• Spectrum Magazine
• “Albion 7th Day Adventist church” by Leonard J Matthews is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0