Are vegetarians unhappier than meat eaters?

Australian scientists who study both the physical and mental state of vegetarians have reached a paradoxical conclusion.

The debate about the benefits and harms of vegetarianism has been going on for several decades. Supporters and opponents of this way of eating give the most diverse arguments.

To this day, there is no unanimous opinion among scientists about how the long-term refusal of meat and meat products, and in some cases of eggs, fish and dairy products, affects health.

Australian scientists have analyzed the results of research involving more than 50,000 people. About half of all volunteers in the analyzed studies were supporters of the complete exclusion of foods of animal origin from the diet.

Health experts have developed a health index consisting of various variables such as diet, physical fitness, smoking, alcohol use, psychological well-being, body weight and presence of various diseases.

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As a result of the analysis, it was found that people who adhere to a diet with only plant food are physically healthier than those who also consume meat products, but look at life in a more negative perspective.

Furthermore, panic attacks and anxiety disorders are 28% more common in vegetarians than in the general population, and depression is 18% more common in people who adhere to a plant-based diet. Pessimists who see no hope in the future are more common among vegetarians.

At the same time, people who eat mainly plant-based food /vegetarianism also includes fish, dairy products and eggs/ are much healthier than those who consume meat relatively often.

The fact that most vegetarians adhere to a healthy lifestyle contributes to this – they do not smoke, do not use alcohol and drugs, they are more mobile and are in better physical shape.

However, researchers have not directly linked vegetarianism to mental disorders. They also do not confirm that eating a mostly plant-based diet causes changes in the brain.

Scientists are confident that only the more specific nature is the reason why a person decides to give up the consumption of foods of animal origin. It is very likely that the transition to vegetarianism is also the result of some peculiarities in the psyche, including those that could be of a deviation nature.

Intuitively, the conclusion is reached that a person decides to completely exclude meat and meat products from his diet because he believes that this will improve his condition.

Such potential patients of psychiatrists, thanks to vegetarianism, manage to avoid further development of mental illnesses.