- 期刊
- OpenAccess
綜論：臺灣素食者之疾病風險
Review: Health outcomes associated with vegetarian diet in Taiwan
摘要
近年來，慢性非傳染性疾病已成為全球重大的健康問題，不僅對病人的生活品質、家庭照護及經濟造成影響，更因此加重了整體國家的醫療支出。近期已有許多研究指出素食飲食對人體健康具有好處。為了探討素食飲食與不同慢性疾病發生率之間的相關性，慈濟健康研究及慈濟素食研究針對臺灣的慈濟志工分別進行了六年與九年的追蹤。研究發現素食者在血糖、血壓、膽固醇、尿酸、非酒精性脂肪肝皆優於非素食者。追蹤結果亦發現，比起葷食飲食，素食飲食與較低的糖尿病（降低46%）、缺血性腦中風（降低59%－74%）、痛風（降低39－67%）、白內障（降低20%）發生率有相關；而在女性，素食飲食與較低的泌尿道感染（降低18%）及膽結石疾病（降低48%）有相關性。素食者的整體健保花費與葷食者相比降低17%支出，有助於改善臺灣目前龐大的醫療經濟負擔。
並列摘要
Chronic noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading causes of death globally. NCDs have posed tremendous challenges to the national healthcare expenditure and global burden of diseases. Vegetarian diets, defined as dietary patterns limiting intakes of animal products, are consistently associated with improved health outcomes in previous studies. To study the association between vegetarian diets and multiple health outcomes in Taiwan, Tzu Chi volunteers were recruited in Tzu Chi Health Study and Tzu Chi Vegetarian Study and were followed for 6 years and 9 years respectively. Vegetarians had healthier levels of blood glucose, blood pressures, cholesterol, uric acid, and a lower prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver. Prospective follow-up results showed that vegetarian diets were associated with a lower risk of diabetes (reduced by 46%), ischemic stroke (reduced by 59%-74%), gout (reduced by 39%-67%), cataracts (reduced by 20%). Among women, vegetarian diets were associated with lower risks of urinary tract infection (reduced by 18%) and gallstone diseases (reduced by 48%). Compared with omnivores, vegetarians incurred 17% lower medical expenditure on National Health Insurance. Vegetarian diets could be a potential strategy to reduce medical care economic burden in Taiwan.