Vegetarian? You'll Probably Live Longer

The latest study giving you a reason to go meatless finds that vegetarians live longer than those who eat meat. Interestingly, the study tracked 73,308 Seventh-day Adventists, because the church promotes vegetarianism, the Wall Street Journal reports. Over the six years participants were tracked, those who didn't eat meat experienced 12% fewer deaths. And the vegetarians were particularly longer-lived when it came to heart disease—19% less likely to die than meat-eaters—as well as in the areas of kidney failure and diabetes.

Researchers found that the number of calories eaten didn't make a difference; they also found that vegetarians were just as likely to get cancer. One difference they did find: Men were more protected by vegetarianism than women were. The paper involves one of the largest and most diverse populations studied so far, and the lead author notes that it was particularly advantageous to look at a group with low rates of alcohol and tobacco use. (More heart disease stories.)