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Meat and mental health: Meat eaters suffer less depression, anxiety

tandfonline.com

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Re: Meat and mental health: Meat eaters suffer less depression, anxiety

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what diseases are linked to lack of fiber? you have a generous definition of "need". edit: I'm not disputing the benefits of fiber for the average person, but the implied necessity of fiber is just false. Fact: A zero fiber diet is not guaranteed cause disease, whereas essential nutrient deficiencies will cause disease.

bowel cancer, IBS, diverticulitis, heart disease

Yet many claim keto diets have cured their digestive issues.

Re: Meat and mental health: Meat eaters suffer less depression, anxiety

#73

This is nothing but conjecture, but my suspicion is that neurotically conscientious people are more likely to become vegan, and also more likely to be depressed and anxious.

Interesting suspicion. What atypical mind states are associated with meat eating? It would have to be a very large effect given 95‰ of the US eats meat. I think the opposite is more likely. Atypical mind states are associated with veganism and the mood disorders.

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Re: Meat and mental health: Meat eaters suffer less depression, anxiety

#74
post #17

"In 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that mental illness was the leading cause of disability worldwide" This is the intro. Wot? I have no idea who Taylor and Francis are but I'll pop them in the noddy bin for now.

https://www.who.int/news/item/30-03-2017--depression-let-s-t...

Re: Meat and mental health: Meat eaters suffer less depression, anxiety

#75

I'd say the first big thing to highlight is that correlation is not causation - you wouldn't want someone to take this study as proof that eating meat makes you less depressed. I would imagine that vegans (in particular vegans who chose their diet on ethical grounds) are overall more concerned about the state of the world around them - or are at least subjected to more of an echo-chamber effect from their peers - whi…

That or people become vegan because they have depression and anxiety and are just trying to find a lifestyle that will help manage the symptoms. Then the vegan diet works, and they keep on not eating meat because their depression and anxiety actually got better. Not as good as someone that doesn't struggle with those from the get go, but better.

That's another correlation, and if true it would actually mean that not eating meat is good for depression and anxiety in some people.

Re: Meat and mental health: Meat eaters suffer less depression, anxiety

#76

clearly mentions "Funded by Beef Association". Sample size is 91.8% meat eaters. Clearly Biased. Be smart #GoVegan #MeatCausesCancer 1. World Health Organization - https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/cancer-carcinogenic... 2. https://www.cancercouncil.com.au/1in3cancers/lifestyle-choic...

What did you mean "Clearly Biased"? Because the sample is unbalanced?

Funding is unbalanced.

You can find ads like "Most doctors recommend our cigarette - ". All the studies are funded by the tobacco industry, says cigarettes make you stronger, healthier. Seen these several times.

Why do you think World Health Organization says meat causes cancer? After reading studies from all over the world?

Re: Meat and mental health: Meat eaters suffer less depression, anxiety

#77
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not eating meat is one of the major things a person can do to reduce their carbon footprint, so I would imagine more people giving up meat would be very helpful collectively.

BS - the steak you didn’t eat yesterday doesn’t resurrect the cow, it just gets eaten by someone else.

So what about the meat that gets thrown out when no one buys it, causing the stores to order less, causing the CAFOs to grow fewer head of cattle?

The economics-101 concept of "supply and demand" would like a word with you...

Re: Meat and mental health: Meat eaters suffer less depression, anxiety

#78
Two of my kids are anemic (iron deficient). After meeting with a phycologist (for a different issue) this year we learned that the symptoms of iron deficiency actually mirror depression. Perhaps it’s not the beef, but the fact it’s a good source of iron?

Re: Meat and mental health: Meat eaters suffer less depression, anxiety

#79
post #33
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think you're wrong. Ignorance is bliss, sometimes. If everyone had to meet the meat before their meals, we'd be able to bring consumption right down. (And by that I'd include the whole impact of cow breeding on the environment etc, right down to the execution.)

So you think hunters and people tend livestock eat less meat?

I hunt and raise livestock and I eat more meat than most, but I try to be very conscious of where my meat comes from and how it was produced. People that hunt/produce have much different relationships with meat. I think the comment above meant if more of the masses knew how terrible mass produced farms and slaughterhouses were, they would be more conscious of the chain too, hopefully making their buying decisions more sustainable and ecological.

Re: Meat and mental health: Meat eaters suffer less depression, anxiety

#80
post #28

I'd say the first big thing to highlight is that correlation is not causation - you wouldn't want someone to take this study as proof that eating meat makes you less depressed. I would imagine that vegans (in particular vegans who chose their diet on ethical grounds) are overall more concerned about the state of the world around them - or are at least subjected to more of an echo-chamber effect from their peers - whi…

It is easy to lack some vitamins or nutrients while going on a vegan diet. Some of them have an impact on mental health. Unless you are very comited into calculating your intake in every mineral and vitamin, I would recommend to take some supplements if you are going vegan (which is something I support but did not totally go through yet)

Do you have any specific vitamins/nutrients in mind that have relevant mental health impacts? Ones that meat diets get, but vegan/vegetarian diets don't?

From what I can tell, meat eaters are even less likely than vegans to calculate their nutritional intake (naturally so, vegans are much more likely to read ingredient and nutrient lists because how else can you shop vegan?), and the claim that it's easy to not have enough nutrients on a vegan diet goes both ways. It's easy to miss having enough of specific nutrients on a meat diet too if you don't carefully calculate your intake.

From what I can tell, in practice some amount of nutritional deficiency just isn't that big a deal for most people. College kids that live on a diet of 80% ramen still survive relatively well, as do people who spend time attempting to balance their nutritional intake. The level of impact varies by person I'm sure.

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