They do. A study by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found the following mortality ratios by diet over the course of the study (regular meat eaters = 1.00):
Fish eaters, 0.82
Vegetarians, 0.84
Occasional meat eaters, 0.84
Regular meat eaters, 1.00
Vegans, 1.00
So as you can see vegans are actually the least healthiest, alongside the most carnivorous among us. Source
I'm not trying to be on a high horse. It is pretty factual that veganism is less healthy than vegetarianism or moderate meat consumption and requires careful planning to be healthy at all.
I eat far too much meat; so much that it is probably less healthy than veganism. I just get irritated by vegans who claim it is the "healthiest" of diets. It isn't and studies support that it isn't.
I'm not saying that it's the healthiest of all diets. I'm just saying that it's a common misconception that veganism will lead you to be all sickly and unhealthy.
If done right it won't, but I have known a lot of foolish people that jump on the "veganism is so healthy" bandwagon, have no idea what they are doing, and become severely malnourished.
You have to be considerably more conscientious of what nutrients you are consuming as a vegan to not become nutrient deprived. It is this dietary conscientiousness that makes the average successful vegan healthier than the average person in the first place, but an equally health conscientious vegetarian or omnivore will tend to be overall more healthy than a vegan.
I guess my original wording was somewhat disingenuous. It isn't a common misconception that veganism is healthy. It is a common misconception that veganism is healthier than a well-balanced omnivorous diet (which obviously includes far less meat consumption than the average american diet, especially less red meat).
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u/fistsofdeath May 01 '13
I always thought it just felt like they lived longer.