Disturbing Study about Vegetarians

3114 Views 39 Replies 19 Participants Last post by Jasminedesi16, Feb 9, 2015

Ryan61

Discussion Starter · Jan 24, 2015

I just happened to be doing some research and I ran into this very odd article about vegetarians. I was able to toss a side the insults from the comments below the article, and some of the poor choice of words from who ever wrote the article, however, what I found deeply disturbing is, what the study claims to be as fact. Just to name a few, the study claims that vegetarians in general are more prone to cancer, heart attacks, heart disease , and other illnesses, and are more mentally disturbed than meat eaters. Furthermore it claims that there is no higher risk of heart disease by eating meat. It's not a very long article, and would like to know what you guys think. Please try to avoid the comments from the omnis.

thanks

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Go Vegan

· #2 · Jan 24, 2015

Er this article seems to be kissing the meat industry's ass...Even when they are not quoting "facts", they still use language to try to make out people who don't eat meat are weirdos...

Who funded this research? I think there is a strong degree of bias here...

I can assure you that colorectal cancer is linked to meat consumption, and heart disease is linked to fatty food consumption - of which foods like cheese and fatty meats are the main contributors...

I'm not trying to be flippant, but pick up any medical textbook and you will see that this is the case...

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Capstan

· #3 · Jan 24, 2015

You can't believe everything you read....

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Ryan61

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jan 24, 2015

Go Vegan said:
Er this article seems to be kissing the meat industry's ass...Even when they are not quoting "facts", they still use language to try to make out people who don't eat meat are weirdos...

Who funded this research? I think there is a strong degree of bias here...

I can assure you that colorectal cancer is linked to meat consumption, and heart disease is linked to fatty food consumption - of which foods like cheese and fatty meats are the main contributors...

I'm not trying to be flippant, but pick up any medical textbook and you will see that this is the case...

I believe what you say is true, however, I still found it disturbing. In the mean time, I will continue doing my own research. Thanks, for contributing. It makes me feel better actually.

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Go Vegan

· #5 · Jan 24, 2015

Ryan61 said:
I believe what you say is true, however, I still found it disturbing. In the mean time, I will continue doing my own research. Thanks, for contributing. It makes me feel better actually.

Yes do your own research and you will see the truth...

For each of the studies this article mentions there are 10 studies showing the link between red meat in particular and a whole host of medical problems...

Reactions: 2

MozIsMyShepherd

· #6 · Jan 24, 2015

Ryan61 said:
I just happened to be doing some research and I ran into this very odd article about vegetarians. I was able to toss a side the insults from the comments below the article, and some of the poor choice of words from who ever wrote the article, however, what I found deeply disturbing is, what the study claims to be as fact. Just to name a few, the study claims that vegetarians in general are more prone to cancer, heart attacks, heart disease , and other illnesses, and are more mentally disturbed than meat eaters. Furthermore it claims that there is no higher risk of heart disease by eating meat. It's not a very long article, and would like to know what you guys think. Please try to avoid the comments from the omnis.

thanks

Do you have a link please?

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Go Vegan

· #7 · Jan 24, 2015

Click on the underlined word "this"...

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MozIsMyShepherd

· #8 · Jan 24, 2015

Oh I see being blind I didn't even notice it stand out

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LedBoots

· #9 · Jan 24, 2015

Ryan61 said:
I just happened to be doing some research and I ran into this very odd article about vegetarians. I was able to toss a side the insults from the comments below the article, and some of the poor choice of words from who ever wrote the article, however, what I found deeply disturbing is, what the study claims to be as fact. Just to name a few, the study claims that vegetarians in general are more prone to cancer, heart attacks, heart disease , and other illnesses, and are more mentally disturbed than meat eaters. Furthermore it claims that there is no higher risk of heart disease by eating meat. It's not a very long article, and would like to know what you guys think. Please try to avoid the comments from the omnis.

thanks

Well, the article did not state that only one percent of the study subjects were vegetarian. They also included fish eaters as vegetarians, counting for another 1.2%. And since there were far more females than males in the "vegetarian" group, mental illness and ED would logically be higher because they are more common amongst females. The study (I downloaded from the link in your article) is therefore bunk, in my opinion. I didn't read farther than I quoted here.

"54.7% female; response rate: 63.1%).
While 0.2% of the interviewees were pure vegetarians (57.7% female), 0.8% reported to be vegetarians consuming milk and eggs (77.3% female), and 1.2% to be vegetarians consuming fish and/ or eggs and milk (76.7% female). 23.6% reported to combine a carnivorous diet with lots of fruits and vegetables (67.2% female), 48.5% to eat a carnivorous diet less rich in meat (60.8% female), and 25.7% a carnivorous diet rich in meat (30.1% female). Since the three vegetarian diet groups included a rather small number of persons (N = 343), they were analyzed as one dietary habit group."

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Go Vegan

· #10 · Jan 24, 2015

"0.2% of the interviewees were pure vegetarians"

See I knew something was wrong with this study lol

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dropscone

· #11 · Jan 24, 2015

There's a good dissection the study (and inaccurate reporting on it) on the NHS website - http://www.nhs.uk/news/2014/04April/Pages/Vegetarians-have-poorer-quality-of-life-study-claims.aspx

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Go Vegan

· #12 · Jan 24, 2015

dropscone said:
There's a good dissection the study (and inaccurate reporting on it) on the NHS website - http://www.nhs.uk/news/2014/04April/Pages/Vegetarians-have-poorer-quality-of-life-study-claims.aspx

This NHS article refutes the false claims nicely

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amira23

· #13 · Jan 24, 2015

Well, gee, after reading this stupid article I wonder why I'm living a very healthy retirement with no chronic diseases, no heart disease, no diabetes, no eye problems, no obesity, and no acid reflux. My horses get fed every morning at 5:30 and every afternoon at 3:30 by me with no help. I ride and give riding lessons at age 68. But I've only been a vegetarian since 1990 (25 years) so maybe the problems just haven't kicked in yet.

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natty6

· #14 · Jan 24, 2015

"In the analysis, the University of Graz found that vegetarians were also twice as likely to suffer for anxiety or depressions than big meat eaters (9.4% to 4.5%)."

As for this- correlation does not mean causation. I believe that severe and chronic anxiety and depression tend to make individuals more empathetic to others and strive to prevent others from suffering as they do- thus more prone to veganism.

Also, many vegetarians become vegetarian after being diagnosed with illness and especially heart disease. The study showed no mention of controlling for this.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Reactions: 3

Go Vegan

· #15 · Jan 24, 2015

amira23 said:
Well, gee, after reading this stupid article I wonder why I'm living a very healthy retirement with no chronic diseases, no heart disease, no diabetes, no eye problems, no obesity, and no acid reflux. My horses get fed every morning at 5:30 and every afternoon at 3:30 by me with no help. I ride and give riding lessons at age 68. But I've only been a vegetarian since 1990 (25 years) so maybe the problems just haven't kicked in yet.

Living proof that the study is false!

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River

· #16 · Jan 24, 2015

Don't believe anything that's not peer reviewed and in a scientific journal.

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Vegan Dave

· #17 · Jan 24, 2015

Ryan61 said:
.....the study claims that vegetarians in general are more prone to cancer, heart attacks, heart disease , and other illnesses, and are more mentally disturbed than meat eaters. Furthermore it claims that there is no higher risk of heart disease by eating meat. It's not a very long article, and would like to know what you guys think. Please try to avoid the comments from the omnis.

Let's see.....a short article vs. The China Study - the most exhaustive and comprehensive food-based study ever conducted in history, with findings in direct opposition to this article.

I'm going with The China Study.

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melimomTARDIS

· #18 · Jan 24, 2015

Even if there werent any health benefits to vegetarianism, I would still be a vegetarian. Try to wrap your head around that

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Joan Kennedy

· #19 · Jan 24, 2015

I read this study when it came out. It didn't control for how long people had been vegetarian. They could just as easily have stated their findings as "people with heart disease, cancer, and other illnesses are more likely to try giving up meat than members of the general population."

Reactions: 4

LedBoots

· #20 · Jan 24, 2015

amira23 said:
Well, gee, after reading this stupid article I wonder why I'm living a very healthy retirement with no chronic diseases, no heart disease, no diabetes, no eye problems, no obesity, and no acid reflux. My horses get fed every morning at 5:30 and every afternoon at 3:30 by me with no help. I ride and give riding lessons at age 68. But I've only been a vegetarian since 1990 (25 years) so maybe the problems just haven't kicked in yet.

Reactions: 2

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