Vegetarians more likely to think they are unhealthy, study finds

Research by the Medical University of Graz say vegetarians are more likely to think they have poorer health and relationshipsVegetarians are more likely than meat-eaters to believe they are unhealthy, according to a new study.Having analysed interviews with more than 1,300 people, researchers at the Medical University of Graz found those with a veg-only diet were more likely to feel unhealthy and think they have a poorer quality of life in terms of physical health, social relationships, and environmental factors.Searching a database of 15,000 samples, researchers from the Institute for Social Medicine and Epidemiology compared hundreds of vegetarians in age, sex and social backgrounds to people who choose a more carnivorous lifestyle."The vegetarians have indicated that they have a worse subjective health condition, more health restrictions and increased allergies, and incidences of cancer and mental illness," epidemiologist and lead researcher Nathalie Burkert said.While Burkert stressed that the limits of the study meant it would be impossible to conclude the cause and effect between a vegetarian diet and unhealthy living, the research team advised that further studies were "urgently needed" to determine this.They also found that vegetarians have a lower body mass index and say they consume less alcohol.For those looking to defend their meaty appetite however, the findings did suggest the more favourable diet was the so-called Mediterranean diet – high in fruit and vegeta...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Tags: theguardian.com Diets and dieting News Vegetarianism Food & drink Vegetables Vegetarian food and drink Life and style Food science Source Type: news