So, recently I had a discussion with a guy and he told me about the "longest living cultures" on Earth and what they ate and how Veganism is basically wrong. Now, I did a quick Google search on "longest living cultures", no thorough research. I came by this article: https://draxe.com/the-worlds-longest-living-cultures/ which at one point says:
Animal Protein/Fats
Contrary to popular belief, longevity doesn’t belong in the vegetarian domain. These people do eat a large quantity of herbs, fruits and vegetables, but animal products play a large role in their diets. Meats, cheeses, butters, yogurts and lard are staple components in these diets. These animals are grass-fed, free-range and respected
The guy also writes the following:
Well let's see. Everyone in my family has eaten pretty much the same way. Vegetables, fruits, very little grains, steroid/hormone free, grass fed beef, free range chickens that eat their natural diet which is actually bugs and seeds and Alaskan Salmon. We also exercise and do not touch junk food. Earliest anyone has died is 86 and the longest living was 106. No one has had any form of disease whatsoever. :)
Can anyone explain/debunk this for me? He also critiques nutritionfacts.org, saying it wasn't all science based and not 100% accurate.
Thanks in advance!
Replies
Those cultures aren't vegetarian, but look what is also missing. HFCS, Cheetos, and other junk food. I also know those cultures get lots of exercise, fresh air, and sunlight. That being said its clear their lifestyle is superior than the average 1st world country.
As for vegetarian in a primitive tribe, it doesn't make sense in that food > starvation. Even if the food isn't optimal. Back to 1st world countries we have wronged our bodies for so long that we need a more ideal diet to offset the abuse our bodies have taken.
Again, the diet his family has eaten is vastly superior to the junk we put in our bodies today. Fast food, soda, etc.
I haven't looked at every part of nutritionfacts.org, but if you look at the sources which Greger puts in the videos, they are scholarly peer reviewed. In fact, I haven't found a non-peer reviewed source yet.
Lets add some peer reviewed sources on the importance of exercise, sunshine, and diet:
"Although results varied by physical activity indicator and sex, our findings provide further evidence for the combined effect of high television watching and low physical activity engagement on the risk for obesity in children and adolescents."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3103566/
"Humans can fulfill their vitamin D requirements by either ingesting vitamin D or being exposed to the sun for enough time to produce adequate amounts." doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2009.06.090037 J Am Board Fam Med November-December 2009 vol. 22 no. 6 698-706
http://www.jabfm.org/content/22/6/698.full
"Cytotoxic activity, which is expressed as lytic units, was significantly higher in vegetarians than in their omnivorous controls by a factor of 2. The total number of white blood cells, lymphocytes, and other subpopulations did not differ between vegetarians and nonvegetarians. The enhanced natural cytotoxicity may be one of the factors contributing to the lower cancer risk shown by vegetarians."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2771803
In conclusion lifestyle plays a major role in longevity and health and vegetarians have the advantage. I hope you find this an adequate response Patrick.
You'd do well to get hold of Dr. Colin Campbell's book "The China Study"
It is a deeply researched examination of the correspondence between a high plant based diet and reduced incidence of disease in that country.
Also, check out "The Blue Zones"
While not purporting to advocate veganism, it does describe the shared commonalities of the longest living cultures on earth, which just so happens to include a high plant to animal product consumption ratio.
That sounds about right. I think you can do ok with some animal products, but I also think that a vegan can do it better. Notice that there is no mention of commercial dairy products.
Raw veganism is hard to find in this species, it seems that most societies continue exploiting animals in some fashion.
We do find a trend: As the ratio of plant/animal foods increases, there is a corresponding increase in longevity. Data on long living vegans is hard to come by, so the best we can do is extrapolate.
Makes sense. Less than 1% of the worlds population is Vegan. Maybe more, but it's a tiny fraction. How can there be much data around on long living vegans.
Thanks!