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

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

#151
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would reverse the causation. People become vegans because they are highly empathetic and emotionally driven - this personality type also is more susceptible to anxiety and depression

I know several vegans and none of them are particularly empathetic. Is this proven true?

It could also be your friends are more empathetic to non-human animals than they are to humans.

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

#153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A bottle of Metamucil, a psyllium husk fiber supplement, indicates on it that helps with "heart health by lowering cholesterol" and "healthy blood sugar levels". I'm sure you can find studies that both support and deny these claims, but I understand the general consensus to be that these claims are supported by science. Heart disease is #1 killer of Americans, diabetes is #7 according to CDC [1]. [1] https://www.cdc.…

food supplements are not medicines. If you claim there is science behind the claims show it. But as you already admitted, it's probably weak evidence.

Search PubMed. I will throw a couple links at you but cannot establish consensus for you.

American Heart Association says "Dietary fiber can help you improve blood cholesterol levels and lower your risk of heart disease, stroke, obesity and even type 2 diabetes" [1]

American Diabetes Association says "eating foods higher in fiber can also improve your digestion, help you manage your blood sugar and reduce your risk of heart disease." [2]

[1] https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-s...

[2] https://diabetes.org/healthy-living/recipes-nutrition/unders...

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

#154
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd say the first big thing to highlight is A second big thing to highlight is the study disclosure at the bottom of this article. Four of the six authors "have previously received funding from the Beef Checkoff, through the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association."

Obligatory: http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html

> Whatever its flaws, the writing you find online is authentic. It's not mystery meat cooked up out of scraps of pitch letters and press releases, and pressed into molds of zippy journalese. It's people writing what they think.

Oops. About that. 2005 was a long time ago, eh?

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

#155
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)

Look in to creatine. Studies suggest that it may increase cognition for vegetarians (but not omnivores).

Again this has only been demonstrated in a couple of studies. But if you’re on a plant-based diet consider giving it a try.

Omega-3 fats can also be important, but I’m not sure if there’s any vegan options there (it’s been a few years, maybe someone is synthesizing them now.)

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

#156

Self-proclaimed hackers: Our trades rely on rationality and facts Also self-proclaimed hackers: Let's all upvote this purely correlational study riddled with conflicts of interest because it makes us feel better about ourselves

Upvoting doesn't mean agreeing with the study. It means it's fun to talk about, discuss and exchange opinions about the topic.

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

#157
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would reverse the causation. People become vegans because they are highly empathetic and emotionally driven - this personality type also is more susceptible to anxiety and depression

Not necessarily. I was a localvore before I went vegetarian, and the place where I got my chickens, pork, lamb and beef was ~10 miles from my house. (I live in a hipster city.) I did this because I liked meeting my animals and watching them be butchered. (Industrial meat production is wildly, horrifically cruel by comparison.) Now I'm vegetarian because meat is just too effing expensive when purchased ethically. I ca…

You got any sources? I get the feeling we got some stuff in common, so would you mind laying some wisdom down with regard to soy curls or other economic meat substitutes?

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

#158
Want a possible explanation? General happiness is fueled by consistently spending effort towards your long-term goals, and seeing these goals advance. Such goals must be something you can imagine, something that requires effort, and something you can more or less quantify. Savings, paying off mortgage, gardening, you name it.

When you deprive people of such goals, they start looking around for other things satisfying these criteria. Veganism is spending effort towards reducing animal suffering. It's a noble goal, except it's virtually impossible to quantify. You can sort of proxy it into converting other people to your beliefs (that creates tension), or by finding products that claim to be aligned with your values, but generally you will still be less happy than someone taking care of their own farm animals and seeing them every day.

And the latter type will seldom consider veganism, because they are already happy with their current goals.

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