Veganism for the sad? Scientists have found that giving up meat is associated with depression

The fact that our well-being and mood are closely related to lifestyle and nutrition has been known for a long time. The loudest voices were heard convincing of the benefits of giving up meat. They promised that as soon as a person becomes a vegetarian, the world around him begins to play with the brightest colors, and peace settles in the soul. But recent studies break this harmonious theory and turn everything exactly the opposite.

A group of Brazilian scientists from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul conducted serious scientific work and made an unexpected discovery for vegetarians. They noticed that there is a direct relationship between the rejection of meat products and depression. Fans of kebabs and steaks do not need to prove this. But the supporters of the "green" diet do not want to believe in the new truth.

Before making a serious statement, a team of university experts studied the eating behavior of 14 thousand men and women aged 35 to 74 years. All of them were asked to fill out questionnaires and then pass an interview with a psychologist. Based on these data, conclusions were drawn about the relationship between depressive states and refusal of meat.

In Brazil, a traditionally "meat" country, interest in vegetarianism and even veganism has been awakening lately. So far, we cannot say that this is an epidemic — less than a hundred out of 14 thousand survey participants do not eat meat. Psychologists asked these people to talk about their condition before giving up meat and after. The specialists were particularly interested in depressive experiences and other bad phenomena.

To exclude the influence of other factors, the study participants were asked questions about their health status, attitudes to tobacco, alcohol and drugs. They were also interested in body weight, physical activity and sports experience. As a result, it turned out that the main cause of depression, after all, is vegetarianism. Regardless of lifestyle and age, meat-free Brazilians faced negative episodes twice as often as meat-eaters.

But as you know, fans of salads and smoothies do not give up so easily. The results of the scientific work of the Brazilians were immediately criticized. Nutritionist from Ohio State University Mary Mosquera-Cochran said that conclusions cannot be drawn from one study. It is likely that the resulting pattern works only in the case of residents of Brazil. She also added that if there is a connection between the diet and the psychological state, no one has studied its mechanism.

Supported by a colleague and a psychologist from University of Bath Chris Bryant. He stated that depression in vegetarians may not be related to the diet at all. In his opinion, a serious blow to the psyche of these people is caused by footage of animal cruelty. The scientist did not tell why people who do not recognize meat should look at the slaughter of cattle. Bryant also noted that vegetarians are very upset because they are in a noticeable minority.