34 replies to this topic

[Ron]

Just anecdotally, we have a raw vegan store/restaurant in my city, and the owner looks pretty good for being in her 60s:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwp_LrHU3Z8
That said, I'll sometimes hang out and have a smoothie in the store and just people-watch. I always expect a glowing, youthful clientele but I typically see the opposite. Most customers look haggard and a little "off". Maybe it's selection bias or maybe it's too many cashews, I don't know. I tend to think youthfulness past a certain age is mostly genetics and mentality. I would never smoke, but I don't even think that is necessarily a deal breaker (Johnny Depp is a lifelong smoker).

[TheFountain]

I somehow doubt the people you see in healthfood stores are all adhering to a strict vegan or vegetarian diet with an emphasis on zero junk food. I mean I use to talk to a few people in healthfood stores myself and the snack foods most of these people consume on a daily basis are not what one would consider applicable to healthy life styles. Sesame sticks, okay in moderation, halvah, okay in moderation, dried fruits, okay in moderation. But people do not adhere to that principle let alone removing 'healthy junk food' from the diet completely. And the sentiment on this forum seems to be that vegan diets are synonymous with an inability to stay away from sugar and processed foods. Any diet that does not accomplish the latter is going to be an abysmal failure. Also I think a lot of the people we see in health food stores tend to be those who just started out in this plight to become 'healthier' or to 'age more gracefully' as they reach their 40s and beyond. Open your ears some time when you are in a health food store, you would be surprised at how many of the customers are just starting, especially the way older ones.

Edited by TheFountain, 28 July 2011 - 04:13 PM.

[Luminosity]

Not where I live. I've been here since the sixties and I recognize people. This is a big vegetarian hot spot. It's true that diets that are too strict or hard to follow lead to snacking and bingeing. I've come to see that the binges are part of the diet.

Edited by Luminosity, 04 August 2011 - 05:16 AM.

[hooter]

probably genetics, a longevity diet would include meat and fish

[Turnbuckle]

I think the question in the opening post could have been reversed with equal validity, considering there is no data to be found. There is data on longevity, however, and it turns out vegans don't fare as well as lactoovovegetarians (dairy and egg but not meat) and those who eat fish but not meat--

Mortality from ischemic heart disease was 24% lower in vegetarians than in nonvegetarians (death rate ratio: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.62, 0.94; P<0.01). The lower mortality from ischemic heart disease among vegetarians was greater at younger ages and was restricted to those who had followed their current diet for >5 y. Further categorization of diets showed that, in comparison with regular meat eaters, mortality from ischemic heart disease was 20% lower in occasional meat eaters, 34% lower in people who ate fish but not meat, 34% lower in lactoovovegetarians, and 26% lower in vegans.

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pective studies

So do lactoovovegetarians look better than vegans?