Study Shows Veganism Lengthens Life Expectancy

A recent study conducted by the Preventive Medicine Research Institute and the University of California, San Francisco, found that healthy lifestyle choices, such as eating a primarily plant-based diet, can help rejuvenate cells and perhaps lengthen life expectancy. During the study, 35 men were analyzed for five years. The ten men who engaged in a mostly vegan diet full of fruits, veggies, and legumes, exercised six days a week, and practiced stress management techniques, had lengthened cell telomeres at the end of the five-year period. “Shortened telomeres have been shown to play a role in heart disease, colon cancer, stroke, dementia, and premature death,” said research author Doctor Dean Ornish. “But our study is the first to show that any intervention could lengthen telomeres.” Although the study group was small, experts note that it has important implications for future disease-prevention research.