It has been researched: vegetarians are more often depressed than meat eaters
The thought of pigs being crammed into a pen that is too small, stuffed with feed and then horribly killed to fill supermarket shelves is likely to evoke unhappy feelings in several people. This is often the reason why people decide to become vegetarian and feel happier as a result. But a new study shows that this is not the case, and that vegetarians are actually more likely to experience depressive feelings.
Research into mental or physical problems often examines how they relate to food. What you eat and drink every day determines your health—we all know that. That relationship was also examined in this Brazilian study. For six months, 14,000 people between the ages of 35 and 74 were studied to determine the influence of food on mental problems such as anxiety and depression.
Meat eaters
The surprising finding was that people who did not eat meat were more likely to experience depressive periods—almost twice as often as people who regularly eat meat. Scientists cannot fully substantiate how this is possible. That is because, in addition to protein intake (which is common in meat), they also examined the number of calories and micronutrients, such as vitamins. So it is not possible to casually claim that eating meat makes you unhappier.
Underlying causes
But what could the link be? It is possible that people who experience depressive feelings are more likely to become vegetarian, rather than the other way around. They more often have negative thoughts and feelings such as guilt. If you relate that to what happens in slaughterhouses, eating vegetarian is an understandable choice. In addition, eating vegetarian could affect social well-being. Vegetarians may not always feel understood, which can in turn lead to feelings such as loneliness and, in the long term, depression.
In short: there is a difference in the mental health of meat eaters and non-meat eaters, but whether that is solely and exclusively caused by giving up meat cannot (yet) be said.
Read also:
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