A systematic review of 86 cross-sectional and 10 cohort prospective studies have shown that vegetarian and vegan diets reduce heart disease and cancer risks, while improving health and protecting against early death from disease.
According to the meta-analysis published in the Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, researchers examined a total of 96 articles comparing vegetarian and vegan diets to omnivorous diets for various risk factors, chronic conditions, and mortality rates. Those following vegetarian and vegan diets had lower weights, total and LDL-cholesterol levels, and glucose levels, compared with those following omnivorous diets. In addition, the vegetarian and vegan groups had lower mortality rates from heart disease and cancer, compared with the omnivorous diet groups.
Vegan Diets Reduce Heart Disease and Cancer Risk
Such a review of so many studies is an important step forward in promoting that plant-based diets are healthier for the human body than animal protein centric diets. Often, the seemingly dated argument that vegans do not get enough protein is thrown about and yet, the 96,469 large Adventist Health Study shows that vegans tend to live longer. Importantly, the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, the Nurses’ Health Study, and the EPIC-PANACEA study, to name just a few, show that higher protein is associated with diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
A wide range of harmful things occur when we ingest animal protein, despite whether the animal was grown in a factory farm or on an organic green meadow.
Today, diets are largely heat-processed and as a result contain high levels of Advanced Glycation End-Products (AGEs). While naturally present in uncooked animal-derived foods, cooking results in the formation of new AGEs. They’re known to contribute to increased inflammation and oxidation, which are linked to the epidemics of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In contrast, carbohydrate-rich foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains contain relatively few AGEs, even after cooking.
Heterocyclic Amines (HCAs) are chemicals that are caused by the heating of amino acids in animal meat and fish. HCAs are recognised by the USDA as carcinogenic and epidemiological studies show associations between intakes of Heterocyclic Amines and cancers of the colon, rectum, breast, prostate, pancreas, lung, stomach, and esophagus.
N-Nitroso Compounds have been known for 40 years ago to be present in processed foods treated with sodium nitrite, such as bacon or prosciutto. Consumption of these meats leads to production of the carcinogenic chemical, N-Nitroso Compounds, which is strongly associated with colon cancer. While fruit, vegetable and plant extracts inhibit NOC formation by destroying nitrosating agents and exert a protective effect against various epithelial cancers.
Animal meat contains heme iron found which is highly oxidising and can form free radicals. Heme iron has been strongly associated with affecting the pancreas, which is responsible for the production of insulin and glucagon to regulate blood sugar. Studies have found that high heme iron intake and increased body iron stores are significantly associated with a greater risk of type 2 diabetes, while non-heme iron and supplemental iron intakes are not significantly associated.
A sugar called Neu5Gc is naturally produced in the bodies of most mammals, but is not produced by humans because of a mutation that occurred after our last common ancestor with great apes. As Neu5Gc is not produced by humans, the human body views red animal meat as a foreign invader and triggers an immune response to the foreign sugar. This produces antibodies that then spark inflammation, which is a powerful force in cancer development where it aids and abets tumour growth.
Large studies show that animal protein intake is associated with higher levels of IGF-1. IGF-1 is a natural human growth hormone produced primarily by the liver and promotes cell growth in childhood, but if these levels remain too high in adulthood, IGF-1 can promote abnormal growth—the proliferation, spread (metastasis) and invasion of cancer. Animal protein actually stimulates IGF-1, where as plant protein decreases IGF-1 levels.
Metabolic acidosis occurs when the body has too much acid. While our body is constantly balancing out pH levels so that acidosis does not occur, the prevalence of sulphur-containing amino acids in animal protein creates an acid load to the human body, which needs to be buffered. Acidosis can be seriously problematic if it is recurring—that is, if we continually load acidic foods each day onto our already natural process to balance our pH levels, chronic acidosis can occur and is implicated in inflammation and disease, and can lead to a condition called pathogenic metabolic acidosis, which causes degeneration of the kidneys. On top of that, acidity is a well known factor associated with cancer where lower pH levels in the extracellular space promote the invasive and metastatic potential of cancer cells.
It’s little wonder that those following a plant-based diet with regular exercise are known to to live longer.
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