Study Says Fish-Enhanced Vegetarian Diet Best for Elderly
By Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences
Center
Researchers at Loma Linda University Health found that
vegetarian diets are associated with lower risk for all-cause mortality and
many cause-specific mortalities, especially among males and middle-aged
subjects. However, slightly higher risks were observed among very elderly
vegetarians for neurological conditions such as stroke, dementia, and
Parkinson’s Disease. Despite this, the pesco-vegetarian diet continued to offer
a small but noticeable advantage over other vegetarian and non-vegetarian
diets, even in elderly people.
Neurological Risks in the Elderly
Gary Fraser, MBCHB, PhD, distinguished professor at Loma
Linda University School of Public Health and principal investigator of the
study, said a vegetarian diet appears to offer protection from the risk of
death through middle-aged years, but once it helps people get into their 80s
that overall advantage seems to disappear for those adhering to a strict
vegetarian diet.
“These increased risks of neurological conditions among
vegetarians in their 80s weren’t huge, but something is going on there that we
shouldn’t ignore if we wish the vegetarian advantage to continue for all
vegetarians in their later years,” Fraser said.
Study Details and Findings
The study was published on August 2 in the American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The study used data from the Adventist Health Study-2, a massive cohort of nearly 96,000 people who identify as Seventh-day Adventists and lived in the United States and Canada during the study’s baseline recruitment between 2002 and 2007, with follow-up through 2015. Data from that group has been used for numerous studies on health, disease, and mortality over the years. This study analyzed data from more than 88,000 subjects and approximately 12,500 deaths in the study cohort. Dietary data were collected using a questionnaire and then categorized into five patterns: non-vegetarian, semi-vegetarian, pesco-vegetarian, lacto-ovo-vegetarian, and vegan.
Fraser said his team found that Adventist vegetarians
overall had about a 12% less risk of death compared to Adventist
non-vegetarians. Study participants with a pesco-vegetarian diet had an 18%
less risk of death. Those with a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet (including dairy and
eggs) had a 15% lower risk of death. Vegans overall had a less than 3%
decreased risk of death, but male vegans fared much better than
non-vegetarians, in contrast to females.
“Overall, this is some of the clearest data that American
vegetarians are greater protected from premature death than non-vegetarians,”
Fraser said.
Reference: “Cause-specific and all-cause mortalities in
vegetarian compared with those in nonvegetarian participants from the Adventist
Health Study-2 cohort” by Grace P Abris, David J Shavlik, Roy O Mathew, Fayth M
Butler, Jisoo Oh, Rawiwan Sirirat, Lars E Sveen and Gary E Fraser, 2 August
2024, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
DOI:
10.1016/j.ajcnut.2024.07.028
Support for the analysis of the study was provided by Loma
Linda University Health’s Research Affairs department. Initial cohort funding
support came from grants from the National Cancer Institute and the World
Cancer Research Fund.