Study Finds Pesco-Vegetarian Diet May Lower Mortality Risk in Older Adults

New Delhi: While plant-based diets have been widely regarded as healthy, a study released on Friday suggests that they may not provide sufficient sustenance for older adults, highlighting that incorporating seafood could offer additional benefits.

The study, conducted by Loma Linda University, US, showed that a pesco-vegetarian diet -- which includes fish and other seafood as a primary source of protein, along with vegetarian elements -- may be a more viable option for elderly people.

Vegetarian diets are linked to a decreased risk of several cause-specific deaths as well as overall mortality, particularly in middle-aged and male participants.

However, very old vegetarians were, in the study, found to have somewhat greater risks for neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease, dementia, and stroke. But, the elderly on a pesco-vegetarian diet showed a small but noticeable advantage over other vegetarian and non-vegetarian diets.

“A vegetarian diet appears to offer protection from risk of death through middle-aged years, but once it helps people get into their 80s that overall advantage seems to disappear for those adhering to a strict vegetarian diet,” said Gary Fraser, professor at the Loma Linda University School of Public Health.

“These increased risks of neurological conditions among vegetarians in their 80s weren’t huge, but something is going on there that we shouldn’t ignore if we wish the vegetarian advantage to continue for all vegetarians in their later years,” Fraser added.

The study analyzed data from a total of 96,000 participants, both American and Canadian natives. It found that vegetarians had a 12 per cent lower risk of death compared to non-vegetarians.

Participants with a pesco-vegetarian diet had an 18 per cent reduction in death, while those with a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet -- a diet that excludes meat, fish, and poultry but uses dairy and eggs -- had a 15 per cent reduction.

Vegans had a 3 per cent decrease in risk, with male vegans showing better results than females, so even by a narrow margin, pesco-vegetarian diets were deemed the best.

Overall this could very well become a new trend in the global lifestyle chart but this diet still warrants further study, said the team.