Are plant-based diets better for longevity?

For the past decade, the dominant message in mainstream nutrition has been that plant-based diets are the path to a longer life and that animal foods should be eliminated or drastically reduced.

A new study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition directly challenges that narrative. Researchers followed over 5,000 Chinese adults aged 80 and older for up to 20 years and found that vegetarians were 19% less likely to become centenarians compared to omnivores, while vegans fared even worse, 29% less likely to reach 100.

The critical detail most coverage missed: the omnivores in this study weren't eating the Standard American Diet. They were eating traditional Chinese food, plenty of rice and vegetables, plus regular fish, eggs, pork, and seafood. That combination, plant foods and animal foods together, is the dietary pattern we see across virtually every traditional population that supported good health and long life.

The plant-based longevity narrative has always rested on a flawed comparison: plant-based diets versus processed junk food. When you compare well-planned omnivorous diets to vegetarian or vegan diets, the advantage disappears or reverses.

Animal foods provide nutrients that plants either don't contain or supply in poorly absorbable forms: B12, heme iron, bioavailable zinc, EPA and DHA, and complete proteins in optimal ratios.

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