Living a longer, healthier, and happier life.

Are you headed for one of the chronic diseases that ravage the lives of millions every year? Maybe it's time for a diet change.

He's dead!" "Forty-one years

"He seemed so happy. A man who had everything." "His poor family." "I just don't understand it." Why?"

Have you known someone who died prematurely, maybe from a heart attack, stroke, or cancer? What thoughts ran through your mind? Your attention, at least momentarily, may have turned to your own health, to ways you can prevent an untimely death.

If you're reading this magazine, you no doubt are interested in living and maintaining a healthy life, and when you consider the growing evidence, an important step in that direction is being a vegetarian.

Cardiovascular disease and cancer account for two thirds of all deaths in the United States, and the two main causes that people can do something about are cigarette smoking and a poor diet. When it comes to diet, the three main problems are too much fat (especially animal fat); obesity; and lack of fiber. And a diet with considerable animal products affects all three factors.

Heart disease. Heart attacks in men are four times greater in those who are nonvegetarians in their 40s than vegetarians. Scientists state: "A more vegetarian diet without excess calories can lower cholesterol and ... should lower coronary heart disease" (InterSociety Commission for Heart Disease Resources Report, 1984).

The major reason for the greater heart attack risk among nonvegetarians is because of cholesterol and saturated fat. All cholesterol and 70 percent of saturated fat in the average American diet come from animal products. Our bodies make cholesterol in sufficient amounts, so we don't need it in our diet.

But more than this, animal products are without fiber, are high in fat, and are low in linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid that lowers blood cholesterol.

Frequently diseases have been attributed to such causes as use of tobacco when perhaps the greater problem was a poor diet. For example, in Japan more men smoke than in the United States, yet they have only one quarter the heart attack rate as seen in the U.S. This is because their diet produces a much lower blood cholesterol level.

In the United States it has also been noted that smokers consume more saturated fat and cholesterol than nonsmokers. So at least some of the health problems of U.S. smokers can be attributed to more than smoking.

One study showed that total vegetarian men who do not use animal products of any kind have only 14 percent the expected heart attack death rate, lacto-ovovegetarians have 39 percent, and meat eaters 50 percent the expected rate, as found in the general population. The nonvegetarians in this particular group also did not smoke, which is why their rate was lower than the general population.

Another interesting note: men who ate nuts daily had only half the fatal heart attack rate as those who rarely ate nuts. This is now being investigated further.

Diabetes. Another part of the study found that those who ate meat six times or more a week had 3.6 times greater risk of diabetes being on their death certificate. And the major cause of death among Type 11 diabetics (adult onset b") is heart disease. After further study it was discovered those who were not diabetic were at greater risk of developing diabetes if they were on a nonvegetarian diet. It appears that fruits and vegetables have a protective effect.

Treatment of Type 11 diabetes today is primarily by a low-fat, little-or-no cholesterol diet and one that is high in fiber. The diet is also low in calories since most Type 11 diabetics are overweight. These recommendations can readily be met by a vegetarian diet.

Cancer. Meat eaters were found to have a 28 percent higher risk of breast cancer, 51 percent higher risk of prostate cancer, and 66 percent higher risk of ovarian cancer.

High consumers of meat, milk, eggs, and cheese had a 3.6 times greater risk of prostate cancer compared to low consumers. Ovarian cancer in women appear to be related to the amount of meat and eggs consumed. A study of over 142,000 Japanese women showed breast cancer risk to be 3.8 times greater in daily users of meat compared to those who ate it less than once a week.

In Japan cancer of the pancreas is 2.5 times more frequent in those who eat meat daily compared to vegetarians.

Studies have also found that high consumers of fruits and vegetables have a lower cancer risk. Cancer of the pancreas is much lower. And those who eat cabbage once a week have only one third the risk of colon cancer as those who eat it once a month. in a study of people over 65 years of age, high consumers of vitamin A and C foods had only a third the cancer death rate as low consumers of these fruits and vegetables.

A study in Norway of 11,083 men in which 53 developed lung cancer showed those with low vitamin A intakes were at three times greater risk of getting lung cancer compared to those with normal intakes.

Osteoporosis. One study found that vegetarian women at age 80 had bones as dense as nonvegetarians at age 60. This 20-year advantage may have been because of the lower protein intake of vegetarians. A high protein diet increases the excretion of calcium.

Obesity. The high fat content of animal products contributes to the two-and-one-half times greater risk of obesity in nonvegetarians. Obesity increases the risk of heart disease by about 50 percent, cancer of the prostate two and one-half times, and colon cancer three times. There is also a higher risk of breast and endometrial cancer.

Adventist health study and longevity. Much of this data comes from the largest scientific study ever done on vegetarians. This $6 million government-sponsored research is known as the Adventist Health Study. Seventh-day Adventists are a good group for scientists to study since they abstain from tobacco and alcohol and about half are vegetarians and half are not. It's an ideal group to look at the effects of the vegetarian versus the nonvegetarian diet.

Approximately 50,000 Seventh-day Adventist were studied, primarily in California, over 30 years. Results showed that Adventist men live 8.9 years longer and women 7.5 years longer than the general population. This is not unique to the United States. Studies of Adventists in Holland show the figures to be 8.9 years for men and 3.7 for women. In Norway it is 4.2 years for men and 1.9 years for women. A small study in Poland showed an advantage of 9.5 years for men and 4.5 years for women.

The overall mortality rate of Adventist men is 49 percent of the expected, coronary heart disease 45 percent, stroke 48 percent, diabetes 40 percent, and suicide 44 percent.

Adventist men who ate meat five days a week, compared to those using it less than once a week, had a 1.7 times greater death rate, when all causes of death were combined. Adventist men and women who consumed eggs five days a week compared to those using them less than once a week had a 1.2 times greater death rate. Also, daily users of green salads had 70 percent the risk of dying compared to those who ate salads less than once a week.

Finally. It's no wonder that the National Academy of Sciences is recommending eating five servings of fruits and vegetables and six of grains and beans every day for all Americans. One serving high in vitamin C and one high in vitamin A should be eaten. These foods, along with beans and whole grains, will reduce the risk of both heart disease and cancer.

Don't try to get the vitamins you need from a pill in the drugstore. it is the fruits and vegetables that are needed. For example, there are 200 carotenoids or compounds chemically related to beta-carotene. Buying beta-carotene or vitamin A from the drugstore could mean you're missing 199 of these carotenoids that may be doing you a lot of good, especially when it comes to cancer prevention.

The best diet is one that emphasizes fruits and vegetables, whole-grains, and dried beans. These foods are abundant in vegetarian diets.

John Scharffenberg, M.D., M.P.H., is chief executive officer at the Pacific Health Education Center in Bakersfield, California, and adjunct professor of nutrition and international health at Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California.

The China Diet Study

Why do only 4 of every 100,000 adult males die of heart disease in China each year, compared with 67 of every 100,000 in the United States (in women, the ratio is 3 Chinese to 19 Americans). Why is the breast cancer rate five times higher in the U.S. and cancer of the cervix eight times higher in American women than in Chinese women?

A study beginning in 1983 of more than 6,000 Chinese adults may provide some answers. This research, known as the China Diet Study, gives some important insights into the link between diet and disease. Here are some findings:

* The Chinese average less than 15 percent of their total calories from fat. Americans average close to 40 percent.

* Blood cholesterol levels among the Chinese average 127 milligrams per decaliter, while Americans average 212 milligrams per decaliter.

* Americans get around 70 percent of their protein from animal sources. The Chinese get only about 4 percent of their protein from animal sources. The highest rates of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes among the Chinese are found in those who eat the most animal protein.

* The Chinese eat three times more dietary fiber than Americans.

* Osteoporosis is rarely seen in China, even though the Chinese consume only half the calclum that Americans do. Nearly all their calcium comes from green leafy vegetables, legumes, and grains. The implication is that excess protein (which contributes to flushing calcium out of the system through the urine) and a lack of exercise are major culprits.

* Although the Chinese consume more calories than Americans Americans are 25 percent heavier. The Chinese diet is plant-based and contains only one third the amount of fat that the American diet does.

* Iron-deficiency anemia is rare in China, even though the people eat little meat.

* The Chinese diet contains about 70 percent more vitamin C than the American diet, an important vitamin for the absorption of iron.

  Cancer Advantage From
Use of Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and vegetables (high consumers)
    Pancreotic cancer                          half the risk
    Oral and pharyngeal cancer                 half the risk
Cabbage (one/week versus less than one/month)
    Colon cancer                              1/2 the risk
Vitamin A  adequate versus nonadequate)
    Lung cancer                               1/3the risk
Vitamin A and C fruits (high versus low consumers)
    Total mortality in over 65 age group      only 30%
Green salads (daily versus less than one per week)
    Death from all causes combined                 70%
Vegetable use (high versus low)
    Mortality from nine cancers combined           70%
Effects of a Meat
Containing Diet
Coronary heart disease
   Men in 40s     4 times
   Men in 60s     2 times
Cancer
   Breast         28% greater
   Prostate       51 % greater
   Ovarian        66% greater