Plant-based longevity challenge
A new analysis suggests vegetarians—and especially vegans—were significantly less likely to reach age 100 than omnivores, calling into question simple longevity claims about plant-based diets. Clinical experts quoted in the brief counter that diet effects differ by individual and urge personalized guidance. (chriskresser.com) (medscape.com)
The paper, titled “Vegetarian diet and likelihood of becoming centenarians in Chinese adults aged 80 years or older,” lists Yaqi Li and Kaiyue Wang as co–first authors and was accepted for publication in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) in December 2025. (waltersport.com) The analysis used 5,203 participants drawn from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) who were age 80+ at baseline and followed across enrollment years 1998–2018. (ajcn.nutrition.org) Reported effect sizes showed an adjusted odds ratio of 0.81 for vegetarians versus omnivores (a 19% lower likelihood) and an OR of 0.71 for strict vegans (a 29% lower likelihood), while pesco‑ and ovo‑lacto‑vegetarian patterns did not reach statistical significance. (waltersport.com) The study used a prospective nested case‑control design with 1:1 to 1:4 matching, excluded “unhealthy” centenarians from analyses, and derived diet categories from a simplified non‑quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). (waltersport.com) Investigators reported that the negative association between vegetarian patterns and becoming a centenarian was concentrated in underweight participants (BMI <18.5 kg/m2) and was not observed among participants with BMI ≥18.5 kg/m2, suggesting body mass as an effect modifier. (waltersport.com) Authors and commentators emphasized key limitations—this is observational data subject to residual confounding and reverse causation, diet was measured late in life, and findings reflect a specific Chinese 80+ cohort rather than a general global population—so the paper calls for mechanistic and interventional follow‑ups. (ajcn.nutrition.org)
