"Darryl L. Pierce" > wrote in message
s.com...
> C. James Strutz wrote:
>
> >> > You're right that overpopulation is a problem. However, I contend
that
> > not
> >> > eating meat and dairy raises the quality of life rather than lowering
> >> > it....
> >>
> >> How?
> >
> > Because it's more healthful in the long term.
>
> Healthier *how*?

Plant based foods are lower in saturated fat and cholesterol, which are
known to contribute to coronary heart disease. Plant based foods are also
free of steroids, antibiotics, and growth hormones which have been linked to
cancer.

> > There are many studies
> > showing that people live longer healthier lives on vegetarian diets.
>
> What studies? Can you provide specific references?

There are at least 5 recent studies (Oxford Study, Adventist Mortality
Study, Health Food Shoppers Study, Adventist Health Study, and the
Heidelberg Study) indicating that vegetarians have lower incidents of
various diseases and increased longevity than comparable non-vegetarians.
Here are a few links.

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/70/3/525S.pdf
http://www.eatright.org/Public/Gover...s/92_17084.cfm
http://www.vegetarian-diet.info/heal...arian-diet.htm
http://www.ivu.org/oxveg/Talks/veglongevity.html

Okay, I have given you references to studies supporting vegetarian diets for
better health. Now I would be interested to see if you can produce
references to comparable studies (comparing plant-based diets with
meat-based diets) with opposite results.

> BTB, southern India has
> a primarily vegetarian diet. Southern Indians also have a higher rate of
> heart related diseases and don't live particularly longer than Americans.
> Additionally, the longest lived population (Asian) have a diet rich in
> meat. But, I await your study references.

Diet is only one factor in health and longevity. There are others.