Abstract
Two recent studies of the health effects of vegetarian diets reported conflicting results: the EPIC-Oxford study reported a significant increase in strokes among vegetarians compared to meat-eaters among a predominantly Caucasian cohort, while another, performed on Taiwanese Buddhists, reported significantly lower incidence of strokes among vegetarians. This was doubly puzzling given the pronounced decrease in cardiovascular events among the EPIC-Oxford group. In this article, we make a detailed comparison of the actual dietary intake of various food groups by the cohorts in these studies. We then use the nutritional principles of Ayurveda—traditional Indian medicine—to show how these apparently contradictory results may be explained. Systems of traditional medicine such as Ayurveda possess profound knowledge of the effects of food on physiology. Ayurveda takes into account not just the type of food, but also multiple other factors such as taste, temperature, and time of consumption. Traditional cuisines have evolved hand in hand with such systems of medicine to optimize nutrition in the context of local climate and food availability. Harnessing the experiential wisdom of these traditional systems to create an integrative nutrition science would help fight the ongoing epidemic of chronic lifestyle diseases, and improve health and wellness.
Highlights
Vegetarianism and veganism are diets growing rapidly in popularity because of perceived health benefits, and because of social justice and sustainability concerns [1,2]
The EPIC-Oxford study was a longitudinal cohort study in the United Kingdom that examined the effects of diet— a vegetarian diet—on cardio- and cerebro-vascular disease
This was in line with prior research: the most consistent benefits of vegetarianism have always been in cardiovascular health [3,4]
Summary
Vegetarianism and veganism are diets growing rapidly in popularity because of perceived health benefits, and because of social justice and sustainability concerns [1,2]. Over 18 years of follow-up, vegetarians had a 22% lower rate of ischemic heart disease compared to meat-eaters. This was in line with prior research: the most consistent benefits of vegetarianism have always been in cardiovascular health [3,4]. The large size of the cohort and duration of longitudinal follow-up made this very unlikely to be an artefact Afterward, another cohort study, this time from Taiwan, reported on the influence of diet on stroke incidence. One consisting of 1424/5050 vegetarians with 30,797 person-years of follow-up and another of 2719/8302 vegetarians with 76,797 person-years of follow-up, the authors found that stroke incidence was significantly lower among vegetarians. In this Perspseecctoivned, wstuedtayk(eTCa HdeSe).pTerheloloatkteart’sthoevereraplol retnedergdyieitnstoafkethaensdtupdroypcoorhtioorntsof protein and fat and adopt the peirnstpaekcetiavree olofwAeyr,uarnvdedtah,aItnodficaa’srbtorahdyidtrioanteahl imgheedri,ctahlasnysthteemO,xtfoortdry-EtPoICexs-ubjects—so much plain these seemisnogltyhairtrtehceonmceilaatb-eleatreerssuoltfs.TCHS consumed fewer calories, less protein and fat, and more carbohydrate than even the EPIC-Oxford vegetarians
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