PLOS is a medical journal which came out with a study on nutrition. Their conclusion: if a 20 year old went on a plant based diet (vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, brown rice, whole foods) instead of a western diet (a lot of animal protein, dairy, sugars, etc) their life expectancy would increase 10-13 years. A 60 year old making the same change would see their life expectancy increase by 8 years, an 80 year old would see expectancy increase by 3+ years.
The change in life expectancy is akin to the difference between a smoker and a non-smoker.
That is a lot of years.
My doctor told me that when he was in medical school he had all of an hour education. My doctor is in his early 60s. The implication is that many doctors have not been trained in nutrition. I anticipate that nutrition will be on the cutting edge of medical care in the next years. I also expect that the dairy and meat industries and perhaps those defending established medical practice will be antagonistic toward the implications of some such studies.
10 years…. 8 years… 3 years – is a lot of living.
Some wonder – where does the protein come from? Nutritionists suggest that we have more protein than we need in our diets. The federal agencies which promoted protein rich diets were influenced by representatives from the meat and dairy industries. There is a surprising amount of protein in grains and vegetables.
There will be lots of pushback on nutritional issues. They touch a raw nerve. And my experience has been that everyone seems to have a strong opinion.
I just keep thinking: 10…. 8… 3 years. That is a lot of living. God has given us a gift.
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