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Roger Ebert's Journal

He writes about food sometimes, and posted this.

I like how it doesn't say what the meat-eaters actually ate. My guess: all the carbs they could handle.

I hate stuff like this - I'm sick of arguing about it when people just point to this crap they've read.

Vegetarian diet

Quote:

A new US study suggests that vegetarians may be at significantly lower risk of developing a condition associated with heart disease, diabetes, and stroke than people who eat meat.

Announced April 13, researchers found that vegetarians (those who eat meat of any kind less than once a month) experience a 36 percent lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome, a precursor to heart disease, diabetes, and stroke, than non-vegetarians. To measure metabolic syndrome, researchers tested for five risk factors: high blood pressure, high HDL cholesterol, high glucose levels, elevated triglycerides, and an unhealthy waist circumference. The benefits of the herbivore diet also held up when adjusted for factors such as age, smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity.

"I was not sure if there would be a significant difference between vegetarians and non-vegetarians, and I was surprised by just how much the numbers contrast," said lead researcher Nico S. Rizzo, PhD, of Loma Linda University in the US. "It indicates that lifestyle factors such as diet can be important in the prevention of metabolic syndrome."

Another study supporting trending toward a plant-based diet, from the German Cancer Research Center in 2008, found that vegetarians reduced their risks of an early death by 50 percent for men and 30 percent for women.

A study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry earlier this year also found that meat eaters had significantly higher cardiovascular risk factors than vegetarians, although it also revealed that a vegan diet, which eliminates all animal products, may increase people's risk of blood clots and the hardening of arteries - conditions that can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

Researchers in the vegan study noted that strict vegan diets tend to lack key nutrients like iron, zinc, vitamin B12 and omega-3 fatty acids, which can lower the risk of heart-related diseases. Vegetarians and vegans can ensure the health benefits of their diets by filling their plates with good sources of omega-3 fatty acids, such as walnuts, flaxseeds, and for vegetarians, omega-3 enriched eggs.

The new study is published in the March issue of American Diabetes Association's journal Diabetes Care.

Access the abstract here: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/co...35-51d7277d831e

I love it when I person who is obviously unhealthy lectures me about food. A man at church with a beer belly protruding 3 feet just told me how healthy whole grains are and how much damage I'm doing to myself by avoiding them...

"Researchers in the vegan study noted that strict vegan diets tend to lack key nutrients like iron, zinc, vitamin B12 and omega-3 fatty acids, which can lower the risk of heart-related diseases."

Am I not getting something? They're saying that zinc, vitamin B12 and omega-3's are bad (I wouldn't debate iron)?

So yay for vitamin deficiencies?

Or did they mean that those vitamins lower the risk of heart-related disease? It seems to be worded really weirdly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jay1988

Yeah, I don't see how having a vitamin deficiency is anyway to sell being a vegan lol. It is saying they are missing those vitamins that can lower the risk of heart-related diseases...so how does any of this make sense?

To tell the truth, anytime I see the word "may" I usually become extremely skeptical going forward. Seeing as "may" was the 8th word in, I became skeptical very quickly lol.

Of course they aren't taking into account that people who eat meat probably eat other stuff too, and that meat isn't the problem. It's just the fact that they eat meat that's the problem. Demonizing meat. Meat is the scapegoat for poor health apparently.

A lot of the vegetarians that I know pretty well don't seem very healthy to me, some of them are even extremely overweight. It's not because of the veggies...I am sure you can figure it out, lol.

Did the journalist mean to say "High LDL"??

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jay1988

I think it is badly worded. They go on to say:

Quote:

Vegetarians and vegans can ensure the health benefits of their diets by filling their plates with good sources of omega-3 fatty acids, such as walnuts, flaxseeds, and for vegetarians, omega-3 enriched eggs.

So I assume that they are acknowledging that being deficient in these things is a bad thing.

I think Roger Ebert is a wonderful writer and I share his love of film; but he has fallen for nutritional dogma. He spent some time at the Pritikin Institute; very low fat; lost some weight. Then, shortly after, came down with cancer, and has been dealing with very significant challenges ever since.

I'm not saying one has anything to do with the other. And Pritikin committed suicide after his own leukemia recurred. I'm just saying it's not much of a track record, there.

Quote:

A study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry earlier this year also found that meat eaters had significantly higher cardiovascular risk factors than vegetarians, although it also revealed that a vegan diet, which eliminates all animal products, may increase people's risk of blood clots and the hardening of arteries - conditions that can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

Researchers in the vegan study noted that strict vegan diets tend to lack key nutrients like iron, zinc, vitamin B12 and omega-3 fatty acids, which can lower the risk of heart-related diseases. Vegetarians and vegans can ensure the health benefits of their diets by filling their plates with good sources of omega-3 fatty acids, such as walnuts, flaxseeds, and for vegetarians, omega-3 enriched eggs.

I think they're saying that a vegetarian diet is healthy, but a vegan diet is too restrictive. That a vegan diet may cause heart disease, while a vegetarian diet that might include eggs.

Nutrient deficiency as a cause of heart disease?

Quote:

Abstract
OBJECTIVE The study objective was to compare dietary patterns in their relationship with metabolic risk factors (MRFs) and the metabolic syndrome (MetS).

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Cross-sectional analysis of 773 subjects (mean age 60 years) from the Adventist Health Study 2 was performed. Dietary pattern was derived from a food-frequency questionnaire and classified as vegetarian (35%), semi-vegetarian (16%), and non-vegetarian (49%). ANCOVA was used to determine associations between dietary pattern and MRFs (HDL, triglycerides, glucose, blood pressure, and waist circumference) while controlling for relevant cofactors. Logistic regression was used in calculating odds ratios (ORs) for MetS.

RESULTS A vegetarian dietary pattern was associated with significantly lower means for all MRFs except HDL (P for trend < 0.001 for those factors) and a lower risk of having MetS (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.30–0.64, P < 0.001) when compared with a non-vegetarian dietary pattern.

CONCLUSIONS A vegetarian dietary pattern is associated with a more favorable profile of MRFs and a lower risk of MetS. The relationship persists after adjusting for lifestyle and demographic factors.

Adventist?

The Seventh-day Adventist Position Statement on Vegetarian Diets

Quote:

The vegetarian diet recommended by Seventh-day Adventists includes the generous use of whole grain breads, cereals and pastas, a liberal use of fresh vegetables and fruits, a moderate use of legumes, nuts, seeds. It can also include low fat dairy products such as milk, yogurt and cheeses and eggs. It is best to avoid high saturated fat and cholesterol foods such as: beef, lamb, pork, chicken, fish and seafood. Coffee, tea and alcoholic beverages provide few nutrients and may interfere with the absorption of essential nutrients.

Moderate intake of alcohol may be beneficial. But excessive alcohol intake, leading to metabolic derangement, is fairly common. Just one possible difference in lifestyle between vegetarian-compliant vs non-compliant Adventists.