By Emily Murray

Bad news for meat lovers! According the largest study of its kind, your veggie-loving peers may outlive you!

There have been countless studies which have pointed out the potential health drawbacks of eating meat (especially red meat) but according to the recent Loma Linda University research, there are other negative health consequences we may have never considered.

The study consisted of 70,000 subjects and after comparing data over six years, it was discovered that vegetarians generally have a 12% lower risk of death than their meat-eating peers.

The results were slightly different for women and men however. While women saw only a slight difference in their longevity or risk of certain heart related illnesses, there was a larger gap in heart health between meat eating and vegetarian men. Men who cut meat from their diet are less likely to die from heart disease or other conditions affecting the heart.

Like most nutrition or health habit based studies, there are certain questions that come to mind. If a person is cutting meat out of their diet to improve their health, it stands to reason that they may also be partaking in other health conscious  activities that have an impact on their longevity as well. This then begs the question, is it the lack of meat or the addition of healthy practices that contribute to a longer life?

Whether you agree with the statistics or not, it’s been proven that being a vegetarian is correlated with being married, completing a higher level of education and also reduced weight. These are all factors that may be part of the reason for the increased health and longevity of non-meat eaters.

So can we say that this a solid conclusion to be made between abstaining from meat and living longer? Perhaps not, but the message may be that those who are health conscious tend to live longer – a good reminder for all of us.