Have you ever heard of the term Polypharmacy? It means having to take five or more prescribed medications, and it comes with a high risk of adverse drug events as well as a high mortality rate. But don’t worry, a new study now shows that a vegan diet is linked to a fewer number of prescribed meds amongst older adults (60 and up).
According to the study, published in the medical journal “American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine”, a plant-based diet and healthy lifestyle choices decrease the number of medications needed at an older age by 58% compared to diets containing meat. Vegetarian participants also consumed fewer medications than meat eaters.
The authors of the study stated that “Our results show that eating healthy, especially a vegan diet, may be protective in leading to a reduced number of pills taken, either by preventing the development of risk factors and/or cardiovascular disease or by helping on the controlling of such conditions”.
