JAMA Internal Medicine says Vegetarians May Live Longer...where does that put us?

http://healthland.time.com/2013/06/04/vegetarians-may-live-l onger/

This is my major concern regarding WLS in general. This overriding focus on protein...which generally, especially in weight loss mode, manifests itself in the form of animal protein. With my family's overabundance of cancer (myself included) I don't partake in soy more than in a marginal fashion. I really don't want a life that's hugely animal protein to the detriment of living the longer life I was hoping to achieve via this surgery. Have I taken a step forward only to take a step back?  After the weight loss portion of this journey, is it possible to have more of a plant based diet and steer (ha ha) away from animal protein?  

Sandra

I don't eat a lot of meat.  I have increased fish but I don't eat much meat at all.  I eat a lot of tuna, cod, beans, boca burgers, fake kielbasa, lentils, etc.  One does not have to survive on dead 'critter' ;o) to do well.  There are many vegan and vegetarian WLS folks.

I plan on going back to my vegan lifestyle once I reach maintanance.  It can be done using plant proteins.

Me too!!  One of the hardest parts of deciding to have surgery was giving up (at least temporarily) my vegan diet.

That said - though I aspire to live on plants, I am unsure my body will thrive on all those carbs.  It will be a wait and see game.

A

This is not a new finding.  It has been long known that Adventist live longer than any other group.  They have a focus on a Vegetarian and overall healthy lifestyle.

We don't HAVE to get our protein from meat.  It's just easiest to do it that way.

Diane is right, this is far from new.  I will ease up on meat for sure when I hit goal.  As for giving up dairy (as I did pre-surgery when I was a vegan), I am not sure.  I nearly live on cottage cheese now.

A

I'm three years out and maintaining nicely, with good labs, on a mostly vegan diet.  It can be done!

Appreciate all your responses....Thank you!

Most of the societies that are vegetarian and live longer also exercise and overall have a healthier lifestyle than us in a lot of ways. Personally, I don't think you can isolate out the diet and claim it's all the diet.

I know when I was a vegetarian (many, many moons ago), my diet wasn't healthy in any way. I pretty much lived on Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and Cheese Pizza. OTOH, I eat meat now but my diet is much healthier because I ate a lot more vegetables and a lot less processed foods.

So it's not just meat vs. meatless. There's a lot more to what makes up a healthy diet than where your protein comes from.

Plus, as far as I can tell, exercise kind of trumps everything and can make up for all sorts of dietary woes.