Evidence from Adventist Health Studies The Adventist Advantage
Adventists pioneers in health. GOD has blessed the Seventh-day Adventist Church with a healing ministry to make man whole.
First Adventist Health Studies 1960-1985 1974-1988 Limited to Adventists in California. Tens of thousands responded More than 125 scientific articles have been published with many ground-breaking discoveries.
30 years ago 34,000 Adventists in California: Made many health discoveries Provided evidence that helped change health policies to improve health for millions of people
Did You Know? The earlier Adventist Health Studies in 1960 and 1976 were among the first epidemiological studies to discover many links between diet and health.
An Extra 10 Years of Life Adventist Health Study-1 demonstrated that 5 simple habits Adventists have promoted for over 100 years extend their life by as much as 10 years in both men and women Regular exercise Eating plant-based diet Eating small amounts of nuts regularly Maintaining normal body weight Not smoking
Health Habits and Life Expectancy in Adventists Men Women Better Habits 1 87.0 years 88.5 years Poorer Habits 2 76.2 years 79.8 years Difference 10.8 years 8.7 years 1 Vegetarians who exercise vigorously at least 3 times weekly, eat nuts >4 times each week. BMI < 25.90 (males), <25.20 (females), never smokers. 2 Converse of the above, including eating nuts <1/week, BMI greater than limits shown above.
Effects of Individual Risk Factors To Increase Life Expectancy Variable Men Women Vegetarian diet 2.38 yrs 1.65 yrs Vigorous Exercise 2.14 yrs 2.19 yrs Frequent Nut Consumption 2.87 yrs 1.18 yrs Avoid High BMI 1.51 yrs 1.90 yrs Never Smoked 1.33 yrs 1.49 yrs
Fatal Heart Disease Californians & Adventists 1976-88 Californians SDA Males SDA Females 45-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74 Years
Cancer Comparisons Californians & Adventists 1976-88 Californians-all cancers 100% Prostate 103% Breast 78% Colon 67% Bladder Stomach Kidney Lung 20% 41% 40% 46%
Life Expectancy AHS-1 1976-88 Years of life Cal. SDA Veg. SDA 85.7 83.3 83.9 81.2 79.5 73.9 Males Females
Proportions of Subjects Surviving to Ages 65 and 85 % males surviving % females surviving Country To age 65 To age 85 To age 65 To age 85 Australia 75 18 86 38 Canada 75 20 86 40 Hungary 61 8 79 21 Japan 81 24 90 41 Sweden 79 20 88 40 UK 75 15 85 33 USA 72 20 84 39
Proportions of Subjects Surviving to Ages 65 and 85 % males surviving % females surviving Country To age 65 To age 85 To age 65 To age 85 Australia 75 18 86 38 Canada 75 20 86 40 Hungary 61 8 79 21 Japan 81 24 90 41 Sweden 79 20 88 40 UK 75 15 85 33 USA 72 20 84 39 California SDA 87 41 89 54 California SDA Vegetarians 89 49 94 60
Diet & Weight AHS-1 1976-88 Veg, Semi Veg. Non Veg. Weight in pounds 169 176 183 139 145 152 Male Female
1st to discover! Fruits & vegetables reduce cancer risk
Fruit & Lung Cancer AHS-1 1976-88 <3/wk <1/day >1/day Relative Risk
1st to discover! Meat increases risk of colon cancer.
Meats & Colon Cancer AHS-1 1976-88 Never <1/wk 1+/wk Relative Risk
Red Meat & Colon Cancer AHS-1 1976-88 Never <1/wk 1+/wk Relative Risk
White Meat & Colon Ca AHS-1 1976-88 Never <1/wk 1+/wk Relative Risk
1st to discover! Beans reduce colon cancer risk.
Legumes & Colon Cancer AHS-1 1976-88 <1/wk 1-2/wk >2/wk Relative Risk
1st to discover! Tomatoes reduce prostate cancer risk.
Tomatoes & Prostate Ca AHS-1 1976-88 <1/wk 1-4/wk >4/wk Relative Risk
Legumes & Prostate Ca AHS-1 1976-88 <1/wk 1-2/wk >2/wk Relative Risk
Soy Milk & Prostate Ca AHS-1 1976-88 Never <1/day 1/day >1/day Relative Risk
Meat Consumption and Cancer Meat Frequency Cancer Site Never <1/week >1/week Colon 1.00 1.50 1.85 Prostate* 1.00 1.15 1.41 Ovary 1.00 1.39 1.75 (Postmenopausal 1.00 1.59 2.30 <3/week >3/week Bladder 1.00 2.38
1st to discover! Nuts reduce risk of heart disease.
Nuts & CHD Risk AHS-1 1976-88 <1/wk 1-4/wk >4/wk Relative Risk Male Female
Nuts & CHD Risk AHS-1 1976-88 <1/wk 1-4/wk >4/wk Relative Risk Vegetarian Non-Vegetarian
1st to discover! Meat increases risk of heart disease in men.
Beef & Fatal CHD Risk AHS-1 1976-88 Never <3/wk 3+/wk Relative Risk Male Female
Fish & CHD Risk AHS-1 1976-88 Never <1/wk 1+/wk Relative Risk
1st to discover! Whole wheat bread reduces heart disease.
Bread & CHD Risk AHS-1 1976-88 White Mixed Whole Relative Risk
1st to discover! 5 + glasses of water a day lowers heart disease risk.
Risk of FATAL CHD according to WATER INTAKE Males & Females (n= 27,342) RR 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 Age adjusted 1 1 0.6 0.64 0.53 0.46 0 Events 23 39 53 25 51 49 Women Men Glasses/day <=2 3 to 4 5+
Exercise & All Deaths AHS-1 1976-88 Low Medium High Relative Risk