Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram. IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Share this —. Follow better. Publication types Research Support, Non-U. Gov't Review. In the ensuing decades, results from several studies have enabled the university to help influence public policy, garner support and tens of millions of dollars in research funding from the National Institutes of Health, and put the city on the international stage for being one of a few international regions where citizens live long, healthy lives.
Gone are the days when Adventist nutrition researchers had to stand on their own and endure ridicule. A native of New Zealand, Fraser became director of the study in and continues to oversee what is widely recognized as the largest ongoing research of vegetarians, as well as Adventists and healthful living.
For Adventists who are vegetarians, men live nine years longer, and women live six years longer. The key finding to longevity? Genetics aside, the more a person eats a plant-based diet, the more likely they are to live longer and healthier. Other longevity-related findings from Adventist health studies include staying active, maintaining a healthy body weight, eating a variety of nuts several times a week and engaging in positive faith activities. Also, no smoking, alcohol or other drugs.
For instance, eating nuts can significantly lower the risk of heart disease. Eating cooked tomatoes may help reduce the risk of prostate cancer. And non-vegetarian Adventists have about a percent higher risk of developing colon cancer than their vegetarian counterparts.
Last year, a couple days after his hip went out, he gave a rousing sermon at his local church. Elder was born on a farm in Salina, Kansas and had his education cut short because of the Great Depression. He became a minister and as the world underwent monumental shifts -- WWII, the civil rights movement, the Beatles breaking up -- Elder moved around the country wherever he was needed to continue his spiritual work.
He tried to retire in the s, but he wrote two books instead. For the last few years, Elder has lived with his wife of 74 years, Mary, at Linda Valley Villa, a unit assisted living facility for seniors. The average age of the residents of the complex is 87 -- a full eight years past the average life expectancy in the United States. However extraordinary it sounds, Elder's age or appetite for life isn't exactly a unique occurrence around here, where people outlive each other instead of retiring.
It's not uncommon for residents to celebrate their th birthdays or still work jobs well into their 90s. That's because he lives in Loma Linda, California, a city where food and faith have worked hand in hand in cracking the code to a long life. Nestled among rugged hills in San Bernardino County, 59 miles east of Los Angeles, is Loma Linda, home to one of the highest concentrations of Seventh-day Adventists in the world.
Nearly half of the town's estimated population of over 24,, identify as followers of the church. It is also America only's designated "Blue Zone," or, according to NPR, one of a handful of communities "across Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the US researchers have identified as having the highest concentrations of centenarians in the world.
The Seventh-day Adventists are known as America's "longevity all-stars" and they largely credit their long life spans to their vegetarian diets. One of the fastest growing Christian denominations, Adventists count 20 million members worldwide among them.
What they choose to eat and how is deeply rooted in their religion. The Adventist philosophy -- "honoring God with the body" -- connects health to faith, instead of treating it as a separate entity that functions outside of it.
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