how does a vegans diet make them live longer than omnivores?!

Being vegan doesn't lengthen your life span. There are just too few vegans around to assess the diet. Supplements for B12 and some other important nutrients haven't been available for more than about 30 years. Before the availability of supplements, vegans were unheard of.

The vegan diet, on the other hand, can be dangerous. Humans are biologically designed to eat meat. We get some nutrients from meat better than from veggies.

Protein is made up of amino acids. Meat (dairy, eggs) contain all the amino acids to make up complete protein. Most veggies only contain some (or weak versions) of those amino acids. You need to eat a wide variety of veggies every day so your body can combine the amino acids and make the complete protein it needs. One of those amino acids, lysine, is found in legumes (beans). You need at least one serving every day of those, three is better.

The heme iron in meat is much easier for your body to absorb than the non heme iron in veggies. You need to eat a lot of iron rich veggies to get the iron you need.

Many of the calcium rich veggies also contain oxalate. Soy does. Oxalates inhibit your body's ability to absorb iron and calcium.

You need to supplement A LOT starting with Vitamin B12 which is not available in any plant foods. You need to take pills, get shots or eat manufactured B12 in highly processed foods. I'll post a link below to a list of supplements a vegan registered dietician recommends that a vegan take on a regular basis.

Cutting one major food group out of your diet can't be a good thing. It takes dedication and presistence to be a healthy vegetarian, much less vegan.

http://www.veganhealth.org/

It doesn't, really.

Vegans tend to pay more attention to the food they eat than omnivores (they usually have to, so they can make sure it's actually vegan).

Thus, vegans tend to pay more attention to nutrition and general health than omnivores. So it really doesn't matter whether you are eating vegan or eating omnivore, just as long as you eat healthy.

A vegan who eats healthy lives no longer than an omnivore who eats healthy.

It doesn't.

Don't listen to food claims. Like whenever someone is like "Acai berries are a superfood, therefore you should eat BOAT LOADS of them for a better quality of life" you should just ignore it. Or whenever something says "all of a sudden breakfast is bad for us--people who cram their 3000 calories at dinner feel better and live longer" (that second one is a real claim by the way), just don't listen to it. Don't listen to anyone who tells you that living a healthy lifestyle is more complicated than it is, because those claims are not based on any real science. Whether you eat meat, or products made from animals like dairy, that does not mean you are healthy or unhealthy, it does not make you live longer.

The oldest person ever recorded, Jeanne Calment, smoked cigarettes for almost 80 years and she lived until over 120 years old, and I'm guessing she wasn't a vegan.

It has more to do with healthy meals and balanced nutrients than with animal products or a lack thereof. Vegans will have a greater chance of outliving those who eat meat and dairy in excess if they consume healthy levels of calories and a good balance of whole (non-processed) foods. However, meat- and dairy-eaters who have balanced diets will most likely be healthier than vegans who eat mainly processed foods, overload on saturated fats, and don't get enough nutrients.

i answered your other question, but i need to point out that daisy is incorrect on a few points, most important being that people are made to be meat eaters. we have long digestive tracts and no sharp teeth and claws/talons for tearing and shredding. biologically we are meant to be herbivores. people can handle meat because our bodies are slowly adapting to it, but not anything like daisy stated.

it is about how much you pay attention to the food you put in your mouth. the more you know about what you eat, the better you will eat. my husband makes fun of me and tells me he's getting free antibiotics (he is omni, i am vegan), and other things like that, but in reality, the way the animal farming industry is (particularly in the united states) you are being pumped so full of antibiotics and hormones, not to mention the adrenaline, that it is causing health issues.

some vegans will choose to be what my friend calls cookies and coffee vegans and they will not be healthy at all. most vegans are also health conscious, which means they pay attention to the chemicals they put in their bodies. i avoid not only animal products, but any kind of hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, and chemicals. do i still eat stuff that has hydrogenated oils, HFCS, and chemicals - yes, but i avoid them as much as possible with some sweets here and there.

It doesn't. All these diets are very healthy if done correctly. The Japanese have the longest lifespan on this Planet. And just like most other places in the world, the vast majority of them are omnivores.

There isn't actually any evidence that vegans have a longer (or shorter) life expectancy than people whose diet includes meat.

$0.02 is right on the money, no pun intended.