Why vegetarians and vegans suffer less from killer diseases and live longer than meat eaters. 

How was it that people were led to believe that meat was some kind of wonder food essential to human survival? It isn’t, it never was and more to the point, it is meat and animal products that are associated with ill health while plant foods are the key to a long and healthy life. Here are just a few of the disease nasties that tend to affect vegetarians less than meat eaters and which you may be able to avoid by going veggie.

Roll your mouse over the captions below to find out more.

Other conditions helped by going veggie!

Allergies
Plant foods cause fewer allergies than meat and dairy because the body doesn’t react to plant proteins in the same aggressive way it does to animal products.

Cancer in general
Veggie diets usually contain lots of fruit and vegetables which are rich in antioxidant vitamins E, C and A (betacarotene) and selenium. They destroy free radicals that damage cells and can cause cancer. When they’re cooked, plant foods don’t release the same levels of the cancer-causing nitrosamines and heterocyclic amines as meat. Vegetarians are 40 per cent less at risk of dying from cancer.

Colic
Plant diets positively reduce the risk of colic because they avoid cow’s milk.

Crohn’s Disease
A vegan diet is effective in treating this condition - commonly associated with high-fat, low-fibre diets and cow’s milk.  

Ear infections
These are often linked to allergies so diets without milk reduce the risk.

Eczema
Again it’s milk protein that is often the culprit. Plant-based diets reduce the risk.

Fibromyalgia
A chronic, painful muscle disorder that can be alleviated by a vegan diet. 

Gastrointestinal problems
Intestinal bleeding caused by allergy to milk is the main reason for anaemia in children. No milk, much less risk of anaemia.

Migraines
Dairy foods are one of the main triggers for migraines so a vegan diet may reduce the risk.

SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome)
There is a possible link between dairy allergies and cot deaths. Again, a vegan diet is thought to reduce the risk.

To find out more about how you could improve your health by going veggie, visit our sister charity The Vegetarian & Vegan Foundation.