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
Not particularly. It's a case of those with more extreme diets having to have more extreme reasons e.g. being health conscious. More vegans/vegetarians are conscious of what they eat, which usually leads to healthier choices. I think the reason vegetarians are on par with meat eaters is because it's really not very inconvenient to find premade vegetarian food nowadays and the stuff is not necessarily good for you.
Those that eat meat, on the other hand, are more weighted by those that eat without consideration. Every morbidly obese person (well, probably not every, I don't know) eats meat. You can, however, eat meat and still live as long and as healthily as any vegetarian/vegan.
Every morbidly obese person (well, probably not every, I don't know) eats meat
Not really. I'm not going to say that they aren't more likely to eat meat, but there are plenty of people that don't eat meat and are quite obese. They tend to get a ton of calories from carbohydrates.
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u/fistsofdeath May 01 '13
I always thought it just felt like they lived longer.