Vegetarians are less healthy and have a lower quality of life than meat-eaters, scientists say

[surajmal]

Show us the data. It is' date=' at best, a somewhat reasonable hypothesis. Until there is an evidence-based conclusion, there is nothing to see.[/quote'] What a nerd.

[Brainfade]

Maybe reading the original paper will help: http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchObject.action?uri=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0088278&representation=PDF

[Brainfade]

What a nerd.

Nerds rule :-).

[EnterTheVoid]

completely agree. you shld also notice the japanese do a hell of physical work. I believe many prefer cycle for daily commutation. their daily routine is much different from us. veg or non veg, if ppl don't run around and just sit in front of computer, the food they take is complete waste.

And Meat they eat is mostly Fish, lot of it raw or cooked in a stew. Far healthier than Fried Fish that the Bengalis Love. In fact Fried Fish is just as bad as a Samosa. There is one particular region in Japan on one of the islands, where the longevity is close to 89 or so years. Secret of their success -- BITTER GOURD ! or popularly known as Karela.

Okinawa' date=' lots of nori , fresh fish and bitter gourd.[/quote'] Even than, it comes down to eating the right food in the right proportions at the right time. Basically, food and exercise are kept simple, everything else is as sophisticated as you can imagine. This is my observation from covering the following Japanese cities: - Tokyo - Kyoto - Osaka - Kobe - Himeji - ***ushima - Takayama and Shirakawa-go - Hiroshima - Miyajima - Nagasaki - Gunkanjima - Nara - Nikko - Kawaguchiko - Kamakura and a few others. I have sampled the local cuisine in all of these places and its the same story. In their meals, veg to non veg is at a 70:30 ratio. No wonder they live so long!

[EnterTheVoid]

As for exercise, this is the principal difference I found between Japanese and Westerners: - Japanese: Walk everywhere. - Everyone else: Drive everywhere and than sit on their fat arses for long periods of time. Just the simple act from getting from one train station to another means you are walking up and down long flight of stairs.

[Brainfade]

Even than, it comes down to eating the right food in the right proportions at the right time. Basically, food and exercise are kept simple, everything else is as sophisticated as you can imagine. This is my observation from covering the following Japanese cities:

Spot on. Calorie control. Balance of carb/protein/fat plus adequate fiber. Regular exercise. About the only things that have been proven to work consistently for almost everyone. Everything else is conjecture.

[The Outsider]

70:30 ratio in terms of what?

[randomGuy]

What the hell does a lower quality of life mean.....I do understand Vegan lifestyle that many westerners adopt as an extreme step to shun meet is stupid but Indian vegetarian diet has the perfect mix of all necessary nutrients.

Couple of my vegetarian pandat friends could beat the crap out of non-veggies in our group n one of those two was the college's arm-wrestling competition winner.

[EnterTheVoid]

70:30 ratio in terms of what?

The ratio of veg to non veg. A typical Japanese meal would consist of - A bowl of rice - A salad of some sort (lettuce/corn/peas) - A hard boiled egg - A soup/broth of some sort - Oolong/green tea - A choice of meat (fish/chicken/beef/pork) Fruits, vegetables, rice and soups/broths make the base of their food. Your choice of meat is than added on top. Here is another interesting fact: If you go to any Japanese restaurant, they would start by serving you a glass of warm water. Not coke, pepsi or any other drink loaded with sugar, just plain and simple water. Your typical meal would look like this:

[EnterTheVoid]

Even with their take away foods, its the same story:

[EnterTheVoid]

Same story with Korean food: Visits to Japan/South Korea were enough to stop making me eat western style junk food. Stopped eating that ****, cold turkey.

[Detonator]

^ @ETV, they look very similar to south indian meals. :isalute:

[CSK Fan]

^Ok, I will talk abt myself only if thats more acceptable. I find it pretty easy to get a balanced diet on veg. food. I live on a normal north Indian vegetarian home food plus milk and fruits. Have undergone comprehensive health check-up including blood test in which all parameters (hemoglobin etc) came out normal. I do not feel that I want to sacrifice on fruits intake due to the veg. diet.

You can be perfectly healthy yet lacking in physical strength, stamina, etc

[Tiger80]

Couple of my vegetarian pandat friends could beat the crap out of non-veggies in our group n one of those two was the college's arm-wrestling competition winner.

Veg or non veg diet plays secondry role in your health , height , strength , stamina. It is genes followed by lifestyle that play major role.My brother is non smoker and drinker and follow very good diet yet he is not at all strong or have very good stamina. One of his friend smoke 5 cigrattes a day , drink enormous amount of alcohol and eat very little .Yet he has much better stamina than my brother .So should my brother start telling everybody that smoke and drink as this will make you fit? There are 100s of cases where you will find a person following very good lifestyle yet not at his/her best of health or having good strength etc and there are cases where youngsters follow crap lifestyle .Eat junk smoke, drink , but have very good stamina or strength

[CSK Fan]

Veg or non veg diet plays secondry role in your health , height , strength , stamina. It is genes followed by lifestyle that play major role.My brother is non smoker and drinker and follow very good diet yet he is not at all strong or have very good stamina. One of his friend smoke 5 cigrattes a day , drink enormous amount of alcohol and eat very little .Yet he has much better stamina than my brother .So should my brother start telling everybody that smoke and drink as this will make you fit? There are 100s of cases where you will find a person following very good lifestyle yet not at his/her best of health or having good strength etc and there are cases where youngsters follow crap lifestyle .Eat junk smoke, drink , but have very good stamina or strength

Yeah but diet starts making a difference once you start growing older

[randomGuy]

You can be perfectly healthy yet lacking in physical strength' date=' stamina, etc[/quote'] That depends - Compared to an average diet-conscious non-vegetarian - No Compared to an average athlete - Yes. Btw, too much protein gives you weak bones, weak kidneys etc. Protein requirement is abt 40 gm daily which is easily available in say 8 Rotis, 500 gm milk/Curd and a bowl of daal.

[jusarrived]

One thing I observed is that veggies tend to eat lot more junk than meat eaters. Theres always a wafers or some other oily snack which goes in with their meal. Off course not everyone...but quite a big percentage.

[The Outsider]

The ratio of veg to non veg. A typical Japanese meal would consist of - A bowl of rice - A salad of some sort (lettuce/corn/peas) - A hard boiled egg - A soup/broth of some sort - Oolong/green tea - A choice of meat (fish/chicken/beef/pork) Fruits, vegetables, rice and soups/broths make the base of their food. Your choice of meat is than added on top. Here is another interesting fact: If you go to any Japanese restaurant, they would start by serving you a glass of warm water. Not coke, pepsi or any other drink loaded with sugar, just plain and simple water. Your typical meal would look like this:

I know what a Japanese meal is. I am asking how 70:30 is measured? Weight? Volume? Protein?

[Yoda-esque]

^ @ETV' date=' they look very similar to south indian meals. :isalute:[/quote'] Just increase the rice quantity five fold,add a few fried vadais,some papad,pickle and buttermilk curd hehe

[cowboysfan]

I don't know about this study but veggies are definitely boring to hang out with and they are party poopers too.