6th International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition at Loma Linda University Health to Showcase Latest Research on Plant-Based Diets and Health

Loma Linda, CA (PRWEB) February 22, 2013

Longevity. Cancer and diabetes prevention. Obesity. Aging. Sustainable eating.

All these headline-making topics have one thing in common – breakthroughs in the scientific research of vegetarian diets.

From Feb. 24 – 26, more than 700 researchers, experts, and advocates of plant-based diets will convene as Loma Linda University Health hosts the 6th International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition (6ICVN). Held just once every five years, 6ICVN is the only time when some of the world’s greatest scientists and scholars in plant-based diets gather to unveil major research findings and raise some provocative ideas.

“We are very pleased to welcome to 6ICVN these top minds who promise to bring us exciting findings and breakthroughs from the world of plant-based diets,” says Dr. Tricia Penniecook, dean of Loma Linda University School of Public Health.

“Professional and public interest in vegetarian nutrition has reached unprecedented levels because of clear links between plant-based diets and health. 6ICVN will provide a forum for a review of all the best research, concepts, and applications of vegetarian dietary practices for preventing diseases and promoting health,” says Dr. Joan Sabate, 6ICVN chairman and chairman of the Department of Nutrition at Loma Linda University School of Public Health.

This year’s event will feature breaking news of results from a landmark worldwide nutrition clinical trial, to be published in an upcoming edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Other major research to be presented at the conference:

•     The link between diet and longevity. Among the most consistent findings in nutritional epidemiology is that certain diet patterns are associated with lower chronic disease risk over very long follow-up periods. Learn about the latest research showing the link between the benefits of plant-centered diets, limiting intake of processed foods and living longer.
•     Can higher blood levels of omega-3 fatty acid reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s? Risk for dementia, most notably Alzheimer Disease, rises with age, doubling every five years after age 65 to eventually impact 30 to 50 percent of those over 90 years of age. With an aging population and no cure in sight, researchers have discovered that you can reduce reduced risk of Alzheimer’s with higher blood levels of the omega-3 fatty acid, DHA.
•     Reducing the risk of osteoporosis. In contrast to an earlier, almost exclusive focus on calcium and vitamin D for protecting bones, recent investigation of diet and osteoporosis has identified many components that affect bone mineral density and risk of fracture. Total dietary patterns that are healthy and balanced and heavily plant based are beneficial to bone as well as to heart disease and other chronic conditions.
•     How vegetarian diets can reduce body weight. Losing weight continues to be the quest of millions of Americans. In observational studies, people following vegetarian diets typically have lower body weights. A new study of 608 participants who adopted vegetarian diets found that participants lost between 1.8kg and 7.8kg. The upshot? Eat your veggies to lose weight.
•     How what you eat can hurt the planet. For millennia mankind has obtained the necessary food for its sustenance in a sustainable manner. This isn’t the case anymore. Against the backdrop of current worldwide population growth, particularly the rise of the middle class and its appetite for foods of animal origin, current global food production and consumption patterns are not sustainable. Scientists have recently shown that we have already trespassed several of the safety boundaries that govern planetary homeostasis, including loss of biodiversity and climate change.

For more information, go to: http://www.vegetariannutrition.org

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About Loma Linda University Health (LLUH)
Loma Linda University Health includes Loma Linda University's eight professional schools, Loma Linda University Medical Center's six hospitals and more than 900 faculty physicians located in the Inland Empire of Southern California. Established in 1905, LLUH is a global leader in education, research and clinical care. It offers over 100 academic programs and provides quality health care to 40,000 inpatients and 1.5 million outpatients each year. A Seventh-day Adventist organization, LLUH is a faith-based health system with a mission "to continue the teaching and healing ministry of Jesus Christ."

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