Can eating meat be detrimental for your mood and mental health? Is there a reason that your vegetarian friend is so energetic and cheerful all the time? The latest nutrition research suggests there may be scientific validity to these observations.
According to a recent study published this February by Bonnie Beezhold in Nutrition Journal, a randomized group of omnivores reported improved mood states after only two weeks of eliminating meat, fish and poultry from their diets.
The study consisted of three groups. The omnivores were randomly assigned to either a control group, which included consuming meat, fish and poultry daily, a second group assigned to consuming fish 3-4 times a week but avoiding meat and poultry, and a third group that avoided meat, fish, and poultry altogether. At baseline and at the end of the two weeks, the participants completed a food frequency questionnaire, a "Profile of Mood States" questionnaire, and a "Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale." According to the self-reported results, both the omnivore's and the fish eater's moods remained unchanged, while the vegetarian group showed significant improvements in their mood scores at the end of the two week trial. (1) This and other studies conducted by Beezhold suggest that vegetarianism is associated with overall healthier mood status.
So what is it about meat and poultry that may have adverse affects on our mood? Omnivorous diets are high in arachidonic acid (omega-6) in comparison to vegetarian diets. Past research has shown that high intakes of arachidonic acid, found mainly in red meat, poultry, and some fish, promotes changes in the brain that can negatively disturb our mood. High blood levels of arachidonic acid, in relationship to eicosapentaenoic acid (omega-3), have been linked to clinical symptoms of depression. (2) While omega-3s, especially fish oil, have become the poster child for brain function and lowering oxidative stress, the high levels of omega-6 in our modern omnivorous diets may be doing us more harm than good. A possible solution to this imbalance of omegas in your diet could be the addition of several amazing plant sources of omega-3s such as walnuts and flaxseed, that provide the benefits of omega-3s with lower levels of omega-6s.
These findings challenge what we have come to learn about the beneficial effects of fish our brain and, according to Beezhold, suggest an unrecognized benefit of vegetarian diets that are naturally lower in omega fatty acids. While vegetarians typically have lower levels of both omega fatty acids, they also have much higher circulating concentrations of antioxidants due to their increased plant consumption. (3) Vegetarians therefore may not need as many omega fatty acids to protect them from oxidative stress.
While there is still debate about the ideal diet for optimum brain function, this field of research certainly raises another interesting argument that points to how cutting down on our meat and poultry consumption can have beneficial impacts on our overall health and well-being.
(1) Beezhold and Johnston: Restriction of meat, fish, and poultry in omnivores improves mood: A pilot randomized controlled trial. Nutrition Journal 2012 11:9 (http://www.nutritionj.com/content/pdf/1475-2891-11-9.pdf)
(2) Adams, Peter B., Sheryl Lawson, Andrew Sanigorski, and Andrew J. Sinclair. "Arachidonic Acid to Eicosapentaenoic Acid Ratio in Blood Correlates Positively with Clinical Symptoms of Depression." Lipids 31.1 (1996): S157-161. Print. (http://www.springerlink.com/content/u028h00453272554/about/)
(3) Beezhold et al., Vegetarian diets are associated with healthy mood states: a cross- sectional study in Seventh Day Adventist adults Nutrition Journal 2010, 9:26 (http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1475-2891-9-26.pdf)
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That said, I'm perfectly willing to grant that if a person switches from a diet of meat plus sugar, refined carbs, and packaged snack foods processed with industrial seed oils to a well-balanced vegetarian diet that does not include junk food, that person's mood will almost certainly improve (or at least stabilize). But that's not what this study looked at. I fail to see how simply removing the meat from an otherwise unchanged standard American diet would have any effect on mood if what we're looking at is poor O3:O6 ratios as the culprit.
I'm sure a lot of people eat too much protein for their body weight and activity level, and far be it from me to suggest that Americans shouldn't eat their vegetables, but when it comes to the unhealthy, depression-inducing aspects of the American diet, this study ignores the elephant in the living room.
Uh, well, my vegetarian friends AREN'T energetic and cheerful all the time. Quite to the contrary.
Moreover, the idea that meat and fish are the principal sources of omega-6 fatty acids in current U.S. diets is laughable. (In fact, this entire study, involving all of 39 people for two weeks -- TWO WHOLE WEEKS! -- was laughable!). As Dr. Andrew Weil noted in one of his blogs, the omega-6 fatty acids in current the current U.S. come mainly from "seeds and nuts, and the oils extracted from them. Refined vegetable oils, such as soy oil, are used in most of the snack foods, cookies, crackers, and sweets in the American diet as well as in fast food. Soybean oil alone is now so ubiquitous in fast foods and processed foods that an astounding 20 percent of the calories in the American diet are estimated to come from this single source." Meat from pastured pastured ruminants, rather than animals on a largely grain diets, does NOT exhibit an imbalance of O-6 to O-3 fatty acids, so singling out "meat" in general as a "the problem" makes no sense.
And I personally am more energetic and cheerful than almost anyone I know. I work with college students and feel like an energizer bunny compared to the tired, lethargic demeanor I witness in so many of them. I am 59 and have been LCHF for 12 years and counting.
My moods are less dependent on what I'm eating - which is very stable - than on a host of other things.
One of the largest sources of omega-6 in the American diet is from grains (especially oils like corn and canola) not meat. Fish is a significantly higher source of omega-3 than plant sources. Pasture-raised beef and chicken can even be a good source of omega-3 fats. Flaxseed is great, but requires proper nutrition for effective conversion to omega-3 fat.
A vegetarian diet may work for some people, but this article is way too oversimplified and does not show a vegetarian diet to be healthier than a healthy omnivorous diet.
The other curious thing is that there is no indication that they assessed sources of AA other than from meat and fish. We know that the biggest source is from vegetable oils. What were these people doing about their oil intake? Nothing is said about this. Also, 82% of the participants were female. Nothing is said about menstrual cycles which can have a big impact on mood scores since the groups sizes are so small.
All in all, it would be hard to find a weaker justification for shifting to a vegetarian diet.
I have to say also our culture's scientific materialism makes it blind to the obvious fact that eating animal flesh and secretions from abused, terrified, depressed, anxious, stress-out, tortured animals-- which is what people are eating, whether it's free-range, organic, or commercial--is going to affect us!
We are not just material meat --and neither are these beautiful beings we call pigs, cows, chickens, and fish! Like them, we are conscious beings operating through a physical body! All sane traditional cultures have recognized the presence of energy and the reality that mind and body are not fundamentally separate.
Causing terror and insomnia and pain and depression to billions of innocent animals, and then feeding their flesh and secretions to our children and eating them ourselves -- is guaranteed to boost the profits of pharmaceutical industries who rake in billions selling drugs for --guess what?-- insomnia, depression, anxiety, and pain management!
Let's wake up from the obsolete cultural program that is forced on all of us to disconnect from our natural compassion. It's all in The World Peace Diet. As we sow, we reap. If we want to be peaceful, relaxed, happy, joyful, and loved, then we are called to treat others in a loving way, especially those who are vulnerable and at our mercy.
I agree with you, as you will find probably every other omnivore on this thread will also agree, that mistreating animals is a bad thing. We do not want to eat animals who have been mistreated and abused, and we choose NOT to eat such animals. We are literally putting our money where are mouths are when we choose naturally pastured, grass-fed meat and dairy. Please do not conflate that issue with the separate issue of whether meat is suitable food for humans.
I bought a Paleo cookbook and have felt great for the past two months.
http://greatestviews.com/paleo-recipe-book/
The site above is what helped me change my life around and feel much healthier.
Worth doing a larger followup study with more data analysis, but not enough to make blanket claims of how you should eat.
Also, the first one (unhappy) suffers from illnesses more often than the second one or most of the omnivores I know. Can there be a correlation between "live and let live" and "push your choice on someone else" when it comes to happiness and good health?
If you think this "study" proves anything, I have a nice bridge in Brooklyn that you might be interested in buying.