Shorter life spans for meat eaters

Washington D.C : The blows just keep on coming for non-vegetarians. At the heels of the news that bacon causes cancer and hot dogs contain human DNA comes this: A new review has found that meat consumption raises mortality rates.

Conducted by physicians from Mayo Clinic in Arizona, the review of large-scale studies involving more than 1.5 million people found all-cause mortality is higher for those who eat meat, particularly red or processed meat, on a daily basis.

After analysing six studies that evaluated the effects of meat and vegetarian diets on mortality, the authors recommended that the physicians should advise patients to limit animal products when possible and consume more plants than meat.

Researcher Brookshield Laurent said, "This data reinforces what we have known for so long your diet has great potential to harm or heal. This clinical-based evidence can assist physicians in counseling patients about the important role diet plays, leading to improved preventive care, a key consideration in the osteopathic philosophy of medicine."

The reviewers also found a 3.6-year increase in life expectancy for those on a vegetarian diet for more than 17 years, as compared to short-term vegetarians.

The study is published in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association.