Those who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet have a decreased risk of dying from causes such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and kidney failure, according to a large analysis published by the U.S. National Institute of Health and funded by the National Cancer Institute.
For the analysis, a research team at Loma Linda University explored the connections between dietary patterns and death rates in men and women following the Seventh-day Adventist religion, studying over 73,000 people ages 25 and older.
Participants were categorized into dietary groups based on their reported food intake during the previous year. 29% reported being lacto-ovo vegetarians (eating eggs and/or dairy, but red meat, fish or poultry less than once per month), 10% were pesco-vegetarians (eating fish, milk and eggs), 8% were entirely vegan, and 5% were “semi-vegetarians” (eating fish, red meat or poultry less than once per week, but more than once per month).
