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A new study that we really, really want to be accurate, claims that despite what you you have heard (or read), vegetarians are actually “less healthy” than meat-eaters. Any arguments? Didn’t think so. Oh, crap there’s one guy in the back. Okay, fine I will elaborate.
The study, conducted by the Medical University of Graz in Austria, found, among other things, that people who ate less meat were more likely to have negative health habits.
In this study of 1,320 subjects (330 people for each form of diet – vegetarian, carnivorous diet rich in fruits and vegetables, carnivorous diet less rich in meat, and carnivorous diet rich in meat), here was what they discovered…
Our results revealed that a vegetarian diet is related to a lower BMI and less frequent alcohol consumption.
That sounds good, right? Wait, there’s more…
Moreover, our results showed that a vegetarian diet is associated with poorer health (higher incidences of cancer, allergies, and mental health disorders), a higher need for health care, and poorer quality of life.
We told you that vegetarians and vegans were less happy than meat-eaters!
So why is this the case? Glad you asked…
“Our results have shown that vegetarians report chronic conditions and poorer subjective health more frequently. This might indicate that the vegetarians in our study consume this form of diet as a consequence of their disorders, since a vegetarian diet is often recommended as a method to manage weight and health.”
They continue…
Vegetarians in our study suffer significantly more often from anxiety disorder and/or depression. Additionally, they have a poorer quality of life in terms of physical health, social relationships, and environmental factors. Moreover, the use of health care differs significantly between the dietary habit groups in our study. Vegetarians need more medical treatment than subjects following another form of diet. However, this might be due to the number of chronic conditions, which is higher in subjects with a vegetarian diet.
Of course, further study must be done before any of this is taken as gospel. And naturally, there are naysayers who even go so far as to say the entire study is bunk.
To them I say, “Let them eat meat.”
God, I am so hungry now.
H/T FHM