Vegetarians AGE faster
While reading a scientific paper on the benefits of a carnivorous diet I noticed a paper in the list of references at the end that I had never seen cited. I tracked the paper down, read it, and learned that vegetarians have significantly higher rates of advanced glycation end products (AGE) than do omnivores.
Before we get into the study, let’s take a moment and discuss AGEs so we’ll all be on the same page. When proteins are incubated with sugars, over time the sugar attaches irreversibly with the protein in a process called glycation. (There are many names for the reaction: the Maillard reaction, Schiff’s base formation, the Amadori reaction, etc. with minor differences between these different processes, but debating the differences is pointless for our purposes.) If the protein performs a specific function in the body due to its unique structural conformation, and it finds itself with a sugar attached to it that it can’t get rid of, then this protein suddenly doesn’t function so well and becomes a junk protein that the body has to dispose of.
Since most of the structures in our bodies are made of protein, and since all of these proteins are bathed in blood that contains glucose, the normal course of events is for a portion of these proteins to undergo glycation. And the longer the proteins are in contact with the sugar, the more glycated proteins will be formed. All this goes on continuously in our bodies so as we age we accumulate more and more of these substances, thus the clever name AGEs.
If we set out two beakers filled with a protein solution and add an amount of sugar to one and double that amount of sugar to the other, we will end up with many more glycated proteins in the beaker with more sugar. The same thing happens in the body. If blood sugar is chronically high, then there are more glycation products. One of these products – hemoglobin A1c – is used to measure the average blood sugar concentration over the previous couple of months.
Hemoglobin is the protein in the red blood cells that binds to and transports oxygen throughout the body. There is always sugar in the blood, some of which binds to the hemoglobin via the glycation process. If the blood sugar goes up and stays up as it does in diabetes the elevated concentrations of glucose end up producing more glycated hemoglobin, called hemoglobin A1c. (Fructose is a much more potent glycating agent (it’s actually called a fructating agent) than is glucose (blood sugar), so the inclusion of high-fructose corn syrup into almost everything isn’t doing us a lot of good glycation-wise.) And hemoglobin isn’t the only protein being glycated – it’s just the one that’s commonly measured.
More glycated proteins are not a good thing. We all want our proteins to work as nature intended and not be gummed up by having a sugar hanging off of them. These glycated proteins end up in the lysosomes, the refuse boxes of the cells, and are thought to be one of the driving forces behind the aging process. Cells with too much junk don’t function properly. And when enough of our cells don’t function properly, we don’t function properly. (Click here to read an old post about de-junking your cells)
With that background in mind, let’s take a look at the paper.
Researchers looked at a group of 19 vegetarians (lacto-ovovegetarians) and used as a comparison a group of 19 omnivorous subjects recruited from the same region (Bratislava, Slovak Republic). As you can see from the table below, the omnivores (Traditional) actually consumed a little more carb (saccharides) each day than did the vegetarians (Alternative), but not enough to reach significance. What the vegetarians ate more of in significant amounts were fruits and vegetables, giving them a significantly increased intake of fructose.
When researchers measured levels of carboxymethyllysine, an glycation product that represents
a general marker of oxidative stress and long-term damage of proteins in aging, atherosclerosis and diabetes
it was found to be significantly elevated in vegetarians as compared to omnivores. Fluorescent AGEs are basically a direct measurement of AGEs in the blood. As the authors point out fluorescent AGEs serve
as an index of advanced glycation [and] increase linearly for human serum albumin [a blood protein] incubated with glucose and exponentially when fructose [is] added to the incubation medium.
Fluorescent AGEs were also significantly higher in the vegetarians.
Another interesting aspect of this study is the finding of the authors that the vegetarians
do not use high temperature for culinary treatment. They prefer heat treatment at lower temperature for short period of time.
I find this intriguing because so many anti-meat zealots constantly harp about the dangers of overcooking meat (or cooking it on a grill) because of the AGEs that are produced in the process, which, they seem to believe end up in the bodies of those who eat grilled or overcooked meat. I don’t think it’s too much to assume that most of the omnivores eat meat, and some probably overcook it or grill it, yet they have less accumulation of AGES than the oh so fastidious vegetarians.
I’m sure I’ll get a slew of comments from surly vegetarians after this post telling me how healthy they are and how healthful the vegetarian diet is. But in this case the data show otherwise.
Very interesting article!
However, I think much more details are needed in terms of what these ‘vegetarian’ diets were. Were they whole food diets with no processed starch and sugar, or were they junk food vegetarian diets with tons of overly processed and imitation foods? I think these facts are very crucial. Yes meat eaters want to pat themselves on the back that they are doing themselves good on this front, but just being vegetarian doesn’t mean they’re actually eating real food. I think the same thing goes for meat-eaters eating a whole food diet with properly raised and prepared meats vs. a junk-food diet with processed meats and other products. It’d be interesting to see a study done with these variations for more clues regarding AGE’s in the body. Also including raw vegan whole food diets.
[...] gain very little health benefit from shunning or protesting MEAT AS FOOD. Unbiased (read: Non-PETA) research confirms this. Any source of protein besides animal meat (yes, that includes soy) yields [...]
My husband is from a small town in Slovakia. There is no such thing as a vegetarian in his town. Their celebrations revolve around roasting pigs and eating smoked lard. Sausage is also a staple. They use white flour and sugar in everything. They don’t know what a raw vegetable is. Fruit is limited by what they grow or find in the mountains. It is preserved in heavy sugar syrups. Milk is available raw but few adults drink it.
From what I could tell while visiting for several months was that the people over 30 are overweight and aging very quickly. Old women are badly hunched over and very wrinkled. The older men are very angry all the time. The young girls while very beautiful in their 20′s start looking decades older in their 30′s.
Diseases of note are appendicitis (at least 2 victims in every family including my husband’s) and various digestive disorders -ulcers, gallstones, severe constipation and enlarged bowels.
These were the facts as I observed them. No judgements here. Perhaps Bratislava is different but I think one would be very hard pressed to find a vegetarian who doesn’t eat massive amounts of overcooked eggs, pasteurized milk, vegetable oils (now available in every store) and white flour/sugar products. They have great mountain spring water though!
[...] gain very little health benefit from shunning or protesting MEAT AS FOOD. Unbiased (read: Non-PETA) research confirms this. Any source of protein besides animal meat (yes, that includes soy) yields [...]
I’ve been vegan for 16 years. All I ever hear is how young I look. People often guess that I am 10+ years younger than my actual age. Choosing a plant based diet is the best thing I ever did for myself. I never get sick. Never get the flu. I don’t even have a doctor because I never need one. What do you make of that, hmmmmm?? Manny vegetarians eat a ton of dairy and eggs… only vegans eat no animal products. I wonder if this study applies to vegans? My guess is no.
Is thiEur J Nutr. 2001 Dec;40(6):275-81.
Plasma levels of advanced glycation end products in healthy, long-term vegetarians and subjects on a western mixed diet.
Sebeková K, Krajcoviová-Kudlácková M, Schinzel R, Faist V, Klvanová J, Heidland A.
Institute of Preventive and Clinical Medicine, Bratislava, Slovak Republic. sebekova@upkm.sk
That is a very small sample and of very little value therefore. I do also have a few other comments. First let me say I have been doing research on glycation for some time. I am a biochemist and director of research and development of a small pharmaceutical company and a vegan. My research point to fructose as a culprit in promoting glycation. I, myself, and recommend to others to not drink more then 8 oz of fruit juice per day and never drink the sugar spiked drinks. I also suggest that they go easy on fruits such as melons peaches and other low flavanoid/flavanol containing fruits. So I do agree with your position of fructose being something to minimize eating. However, vegetables have little if any fructose and are rich in elements that inhibit glycation. I have identified hundreds of infhbitors of glycation from botanical sources in my research. I have also identified hundreds of pro-glycation ingredients from animal based products. carboxymethyllysine is a marker for glycation but by no means the only one. In my research we have identified many. But another very interesting and important confounding issue when using fluorescense is that many of the flavanoids in the vegetables do fouorophores and thus can comfound the testing. That is blood and skin autofluorescense must be done after 6-8 hours of fasting or the reading can be high from ingested botanical highly fluorescing entities.
There is no healthier diet then a balanced vegan diet with the highly colored vegetables being at the center of the diet.
Fruit is moderation and plenty of complex carbs in addition.
s the research you are quoting? from 2001
I don’t know any vegetarians who do it for health reasons. They do it for humane reasons. They love animals. They don’t want to eat dead bodies. Further, there are ecological reasons. the earth cannot support all those farm animals. And the animals, unless you are eating organic, are fed antibiotics and hormones as well as food they were not meant to eat. There are healthy and unhealthy vegetarians; the unhealthy ones don’t bother to try to create a balanced diet and many eat junk food. They are only focused on not eating meat, not on eating healthy. There are tons of unhealthy carnivores as well; eating meat does not guarantee health.
I find your article disappointing for several reasons: First and foremost that a doctor would quote a study that used only 38 test subjects; secondly that no VEGANS were studied – Vegetarians eating diets heavy in milk, cheese and eggs are still consuming animal products, and many people claim to be “vegetarians” while still consuming fish and poultry.
I also find it shocking how little you know about the vegan diet. Low in protein? Not by a long shot! And as far as aging is concerned, I can tell you as a 48 year old vegan the one comment I get on an almost daily basis is that I look about 20 years younger than my actual age. I have no wrinkles, I literally only got my first gray hair last year, and I have more energy than most people half my age. I have been a vegetarian for 22 years – the last 3 years of that vegan and I can tell you that the health benefits of going vegan were remarkable. I now have no symptoms of the asthma and allergies I’d had my entire adult life. I quite literally went from using my inhaler several times a day to using it maybe 2 or 3 times a year, and I haven’t had to use any of the pills I used to take at all. My husband who went vegan at the same time as I did noticed that he now no longer gets the headaches that used to plague him pretty constantly. Both of us have noticed that we are now rarely sick.
When I see other women my age who are meat eaters I am usually taken aback at how old they look compared to me. I usually try not to tell them my age because I don’t want to hurt their feelings! So needless to say it was shocking for me to read this article and then to see the comments afterward. All I can think is, “Have these people ever SEEN a vegan?!”
I suggest you do a little research on what a real vegan diet consists of – not a meat eating diet where someone has just subtracted the meat – but an actual healthy diet in which no animal products exist and would actually be redundant.
To lump all vegetarians into a category of “frail and pale” is ridiculous, and just simply bashing a vegetarian diet and the people who choose to not eat rotting animal flesh.
Studies and conclusions can be drawn to create many different answers. There are healthy vegetarians, and healthy meat-eaters….just look at history, and you’ll find people who have lived long and relatively healthy lives on both sides of the spectrum. While I believe diet is very important, genetics, and spiritual / emotional health are equally important to a long and healthy life. But the aim of this blog post and most of the responses here is to bash vegetarians and their diet while insinuating that a meat only diet is the best diet for longevity and health.
Some of the statements made here are irresponsible and false. Protein, and a healthy diet doesn’t just exist in animal flesh, look deeper than the typical cliche’s if you really want to find the truth.
I’m a vegetarian because it’s cruel what’s done to animals to feed humans, and I have no issues with my health or the way I feel and look.
Ah, yes, the usual everybody-else-is-doing-it-wrong argument. Yes, I HAVE seen (and known) quite a few vegans, and they’ve all looked like the deuce. And no, they were not healthy by any stretch of the imagination.
I have made comments here previously. I have been doing research on glycation and natural anti-glycation agents. I do in-vitro studies looking glycation inhibition and also use skin auto-fluoroescence (SAF) to determine systemic glycation load. Vegans that have diets with high simple cards as a main component do have higher SAF than vegans that typically have low amounts of simple carbs in the diet but have diets rich in vegetables and whold grains. However, individuals that have high intake of meat and low intake of vegetables also have higher SAF.
I am a 62 year old vegan. The mean SAF for a man my age is 2.1-2.4. My SAF is 1.7. That is a reading typiucally found in a man age 40-45.
What percent of your diet is raw (enzymes intact) ?
Because that is one of the secrets to slowing aging.
Eric
Diets must be individualized. There is no one perfect diet for the masses. Eating less volume of food is very important as well as fasting to give the body a natural detox cycle.
I believe in regular vitamin/supplement fasts as well. (obtain from vitamins 1-2 days a week)
Drinking iodized water, getting plenty of sun exposure and supplementing with Vitamin D3 is important.
The rest can be managed with bio feedback, meditation, proper stress/relaxation cycles, fresh foods and a good outlook on life.
To your health!
Eric
This study does not impugn the vegetarian diet at all. However, is does point to problems with any diet high in fruit, whether it be vegetarian, paleo, meat-eating, vegan, or whatever.
“This study does not impugn the vegetarian diet at all. However, is does point to problems with any diet high in fruit, whether it be vegetarian, paleo, meat-eating, vegan, or whatever.”
*** For starters…..maybe you missed the title?
A more meaningful study would be one that compares vegetarians whose diets don’t contain any animal foods with meat eaters. A lacto-ovo vegetarian is still consuming animal proteins and fats. It’s a misnomer to call someone with such a diet a vegetarian.
I agree that there is no singular diet plan that will work for the masses. I was a meat eater for 27 years and had a slew of health issues that the Dr.s couldn’t figure out. After tests, tests and more tests I decided to do a little experimenting with my diet. I did the clean eating thing- no refined foods, grass fed beef, organic everything. I didn’t notice much of a change. I still had horrible allergies and fatigue. I did the low carb thing and was miserable and hungry the entire time. I have been vegan for almost 3 years. One of the first things I noticed was that I did not miss meat and dairy at all. I thought for sure I’d be having some crazy cravings, headaches… something. After all, that’s what happened when I gave up carbs. After that first day, I never looked back. I had never tried a diet that made me feel better on the first day. After the first 3 weeks, I noticed huge (positive) changes in my skin, body and mood. I can honestly say that I feel better and look better… as long as I stay away from a lot of refined food. A vegan diet can provide everything the body needs. However its very easy to fall into eating convenient, pre made, processed food because its, well, convenient. I think no matter what diet you chose to follow, its important to eat “real” food. I think processed foods do the most damage.
Anyway, I really just meant to ask you this question
I read somewhere (and I wish I could remember where) that different blood types may do better with a plant based diet than others. Just wondering if you have any thoughts or information about that. Thanks for your time
The short answer is that I think the dieting according to blood types in not valid. There is no real scientific data (at least that I’ve seen) demonstrating that blood types have anything to do with diet.
Thanks