If being a vegetarian was all that great, natural selection would have favored them, rather than omnivore and the females who sexually selected for provides of meat. :)

The third choice isn't biased at all, now is it? I don't understand the need bring race and wealth envy into this discussion.

Can't there just be a "no, I don't believe it" response?? I've never even heard of the book listed in the no response. I don't care if people read it or not.
I don't think vegetarians live longer - three of my great grandparents lived to the upper(!) 90's and all ate meat, two of my grandparents are in their late 80s; my husband's grandmother, who is the youngest of 5, is in her late 80s and only her oldest brother is dead.
Living a healthy life in general is far more important than not eating a diet which contains a protein which we evolved to consume. . . there's nothing wrong with being vegetarian, my youngest barely eats meat, and it can be just as nutritionally balanced and healthy as a omnivorous or vegan diet, but claiming it increases lifespan significantly just seems silly.

I love the "well my grandparents lived to be...". It completely misses the point. Someone may eat dirt for 150 years and seem healthy. Does that mean everyone would be as healthy doing the same thing? NO. It's like saying "well it snowed in Wisconsin this last winter, so global warming is crap". Way to not understand the problem.
So, being a vegetarian, I'm a bit biased, but leaving out the correlation does equal causation bit(which I can certainly agree with), are there any credible studies that links meat consumption with longer life?
Also, if it's all about the rich white kids living longer, please explain the results of the china study.
Is vegetarianism the one true answer? No, of course not. But it's certainly not hurting, which is why I don't understand the hostility most meat eaters have towards vegetarians...
Another thing I'd like to point out is that Michael Pollans book clearly doesn't say "be a vegetarian" but it does say, in essence, "eat mostly plants". If you were to follow his suggestions, you probably would live longer. You would probably stretch the amount of meat most Americans eat in one day out to a week or even a month. It's really about balance, and for the last 100 years or more, the "typical American diet" has been tilting farther and farther out of balance.

I wonder why someone thought there should be a poll on wether this study is true or false, and or/relevant...

I beleive in democracy, but opinion and belief cannot replace scientific data.

Why does it matter so much that people believe it or not?

These are facts from a study, and what people "beleive" is just gossip after all. We all like gossip, but this is a bit hard for me to digest...

Then again, its another chance for the article to get exposure, wihc is a good thing after all.

I just dont think you can be a "treehugger" and eat meat if you want an opinion. And I beleive that there are plenty of studies out there that prove that meat is not a healthy food choice. Therefore, I have no doubts about the german study on longevity...

Wether food is processed or not may have impacts on someone's health, but this is a case about veggies vs meat. The B answer is way off topic!!

I suggest you visit the following webpage that is a much off topic on the same subject: "Why is a vegetarian diet more eco-friendly". It may be a simple collection of facts. But add them up and you get a really vivid picture of the ecological footprint of meat production/consumption.

Eating meat is not only hazardous to your health, it is also jeopardizing humanity's longevity...

http://www.vegemontreal.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=106&Itemid=88&lang=en

Beleive it or not!

It's not the length of life that counts . . . it's what you do with your life. All things in moderation.

I am the one quoted for the "no" comment. I realize Pollan's books say "eat mostly vegetables". I was actually trying to find a middle ground between the two extremes in the comments: the "yes" comment quoted above and "You'll have to pry my turkey leg from my cold dead hand" or something to that effect. I agree that it is all about a balanced diet, and I actually eat relatively little meat. I just think it's hard to avoid processed foods if you're a vegan. A lot of those soy products are probably worse than a little meat.

I try to avoid commenting on the vegetarian posts because I've been vegan for 14 years and I'm just so tired of responding to the same comments, myths, misconceptions, arguments over and over again.

The "new" study doesn't really say anything all that different thant he conclusions reached by Cornell Professor T. Collin Campbell in his book, "The China Study."

While it is true that in today's society vegetarians tend to be better educated and maybe even wealthier than the general population writ large, "The China Study" didn't suffer from that bias and reached the conclusion that people would live longer with less meat consumption.

I agree with mrbell!

As a long-time vegan (13 years!), I can say that many of the health problems I have are due to stress... which is something I have to still nip in the bud. it's more aobut how you live, your purpose, although for me not eating meat was a huge part of having the world make more sense to me... which made my life better.