[jambutty]

Originally Posted by polly

The following were or are vegetarians/vegans

John Wesley died aged 88
Ghandi died aged 79
Yehudi Menuhin died aged 83
Einstein died aged 76
Dr Benjamin Spock died aged 95
Charles Darwin died aged 73
Epicurus died aged 71
General Branwell Booth died aged 73
Henry Ford died 84

There are of couse many more. In general veggies tend to live longer than meat eaters.

So 9 people reached past 70 before dying. Big deal! Is that supposed to prove that veggies live longer? How many didn’t get to 70?

I doubt if any one of your list were vegetarians from birth. More likely it was a choice later in life. In any case there are many centurions who spent their life tucking into animal products. The queen and Philip eat meat. My mother and uncle lived to well past 80 years of age and they ate meat and fish and dairy products. My father died at 52 but that was because the war was responsible for his death. My grandmother died aged 95 and she not only ate meat she also killed chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys on her farm.

I will be 71 in April and I eat red or white meat and fish, I eat eggs and drink proper milk at least as proper as you can get these days. My vegetable intake is and always has been limited to peas, baked beans, the very occasional lettuce and other salad vegetables. I don’t eat much fruit either.

The point is that longevity is not down solely to diet. Genetics plays a major role, as does life style.