Far from us promoting any specific religious group (haha) it’s worth noting that Seventh-day Adventists seem to be on to something!
Findings of an extensive epidemiological study reveal that vegetarianism plays a big part in longevity of 7th Day Adventists. On top of this there are a number of factors that come into play to live a healthy long life.
Studies over the last five decades in Loma Linda Seventh-day Adventist community in Southern California reveal that: “Adventist males tend to live 7.3 years and females 4.4 years longer than their gender counterparts in the general Californian population, within the same cohort, vegetarians had more modest 1.5 to 2.4 years longer life-expectancy than non-vegetarian Adventists. This suggests that other non-dietary factors of the Adventist lifestyles may also contribute to their longevity”.
What are these mysterious lifestyle factors?
Well, resting for the whole of Saturday (starting Friday night) which reduces stress (so in modern lay person terms – a ‘device free day’); a culture of exercise; a healthy communal lifestyle (including eating healthy meals and spending time together); little to no alcohol or cigarettes; and moderation of animal protein intake.
Whatever our personal spiritual beliefs are, the insights gained from these long terms studies of 7th Day Adventists can give us faith we are on the right track to optimal health if we take up some of their lifestyle practices!
This is our considered but brief and light introduction to the topic. For further information please check out: