The eternal question of vegan nutrition: whether the suffering brain from lack of meat?

We all know that despite its undoubted benefits, vegan diet contains very few nutrients necessary for the development and activity of the brain. Moreover, sometimes these components are completely absent in the diet of strict vegans. Does it affect their intelligence and if it is necessary for our brain meat, really?

Today, many believe that avoiding animal protein, we are endangering your brain. Meanwhile, scientists anthropologists still can't find the answer to the question about what and in what proportions ate our ancient ancestors. Most of them believe that without a large amount of meat is not done, but direct evidence is not yet discovered.

Among the scholars and those who just talk about what made us the meat of the animal people. They justify it by the fact that our mind is a very wasteful thing and up to 20% of daily calories spent in particular the brain, the weight of which rarely exceeds 2% of the total body weight.

A huge amount of fat, amino acids and trace elements needed by our brain, the easiest way to extract it from the meat of animals that include all the necessary nutrient complex. So imagine the situation that our ancestors decided to give up meat in favor of turnips or grape is quite difficult.

Despite the credibility of this information, vegans every year becomes more and more. According to recent statistics, in the world today 375 million people who adhere to a vegan diet. The West, where the rejection of the meat before it was considered a relic of the hippie era, in recent decades rid of this stereotype and made the rejection of animal protein fashionable modern trend.

Says a lot that only in the United States in the period between 2014 and 2017, the number of vegans has increased by 600%. In some countries, such as India, giving up meat is not something unusual, and widely practiced from about the fourth century B. C. But, on the other hand, modern editions are full of headlines, frightening a decrease in brain activity and other nightmares related to the lack of certain amino acids.

In 2016 experts of the German society of nutrition is strictly not recommended for pregnant, lactating mothers and children to give up meat. The basis of this statement were the studies conducted by scientists from different countries of the world. In Belgium, the parents limiting their children's consumption of meat, can and does provide behind bars.

On the other hand, if veganism really is so adversely affected the mental faculties, would we not noticed this? All around us are people who renounce meat in favour of plant foods and we can draw conclusions about how it has affected their intelligence.

Is there really a danger to the brain waiver of animal protein? To confidently answer this question, we need to conduct lengthy but not very difficult experiment. This will require two groups of people, one of which for a long time to be deprived of meat, and the other will eat as usual.

Then you need to test the intellectual abilities of members of these two groups and do on the basis of these results, conclusions. Despite the simplicity of this research, oddly enough, it has not carried out a single time.

Only once an attempt was made to determine the effect of different diets on academic performance of students. The study was conducted in Kenya and participated 555 pupils of primary and secondary schools. Children were divided into three groups, one of which fed meat soup, milk the other, and the third — cooked in vegetable oil.

The study lasted seven years and showed that consuming meat soup students had higher academic performance and superior to other groups in mathematical abilities. A bit spoiled statistics experience that the second place in terms of mental activity, after eaters of meat soup were the guys that were fed dish in vegetable oil.

The world's leading experts in nutrition are not sure that what is true for severely malnourished Kenya, will work for other countries. To Refine the data need a new, more thorough studies, which yet we do not see.

We can confidently say that in plant foods and even mushrooms is missing a number of important substances such as creatine, carnosine, taurine, omega‑3, heme iron, and vitamins B12 and D3. However, they can be synthesized artificially, and even to extract from plants, such as algae, mosses and lichens.

But that doesn't mean that these animals can provide us with everything we need by themselves. The content of protein, minerals and vitamins in them too insignificant to play a role in our diet, without pre-treatment. The researchers found that only receiving daily doses of vitamin B6 (1.3 mg) would require eating not less than 750 grams potatoes.

Medical studies have shown that all vegans in the organism the deficit of the above elements with this problem, they live for many years. Taylor Wallace, nutritionist and CEO of the Think Healthy Group, says about this issue:

Wallis argues that the biggest problem for vegans to obtain vitamin B12 contained only in foods of animal origin such as meat and eggs. A nutritionist is a reminder that we should not look to other species that go without meat and I feel great.

These organisms gain the missing vitamins and minerals in a variety of ways, ranging from their synthesis of the bacteria living in their digestive tract, and ending with eating other people's excrement. For a man these methods, unfortunately (or fortunately), not applicable, therefore, it remains to rely only on meat or medications.

What causes a lack of vitamin B12? If we talk about the children, its absence may lead to very serious consequences. In some cases, kids are not developing as it should, for example, bad sitting behind or emotionally from their peers. Others fall into a coma that can lead to death.

Adults have accurately determined the relationship between B12 in the blood and the level of intelligence — lack of vitamin leads to a decrease in IQ. Threat B12 deficiency and for the elderly. It was found that elderly people with low blood levels of this vitamin, the probability of reducing the size of the brain increases almost 6 times.

What is the conclusion from the foregoing? Nutritionist Taylor Wallace is confident that the main role in solving the problem plays awareness.

In order not to create unnecessary your brain deficit, missing components needed to put him in sufficient quantity, and here is one or two tablets a day will not do. A man should listen to your body and make appropriate conclusions.

A great example for all can become a national hero of India Mahatma Gandhi. He, being a hereditary vegetarian, in adolescence, went on about their peers and tasted the meat. The product appeared to him to be hard and tasteless and Gandhi to it never been touched.

Later, the sage refused to salt and went fully vegan diet. It is obvious that such extreme body Mahatma failed — he was like a walking skeleton, and in addition to this he became ill with a severe form of dysentery. After that Gandhi became not so categorical in nutrition and returned in the diet of dairy products.