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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

#121

Post by jiggunjer »

Omnitaus wrote: post #60
jiggunjer wrote: post #44

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

But low fiber doesnt _cause_ those diseases in the same sense as low vitamin D causes rickets. Most fiber-related studies I've seen were small and published in obscure journals. I'd agree the average person (with an average diet and lifestyle) probably benefits from getting enough fibre. But that's in conjunction with other factors. I just disagree with the statement humans "need" fiber.

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

#122

Post by pstuart »

hhs wrote: post #91
King-Aaron wrote: post #9

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…

> 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

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

#123

Post by CameronNemo »

loser777 wrote: post #5

It looks like this is a meta-analysis, and the line "Twenty studies met the selection criteria representing 171,802 participants with 157,778 meat consumers and 13,259 meat abstainers." suggests that this is a post hoc analysis so we can't rule out the most obvious confounding variable: are people who care more about externalities (e.g., as they pertain to meat eating, more likely to be depressed or anxious?

I read through the analysis looking for controls... no mention. I imagine some of the studies did include controls, but it us hard to see them.

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

#124

Post by loeg »

loser777 wrote: post #5

It looks like this is a meta-analysis, and the line "Twenty studies met the selection criteria representing 171,802 participants with 157,778 meat consumers and 13,259 meat abstainers." suggests that this is a post hoc analysis so we can't rule out the most obvious confounding variable: are people who care more about externalities (e.g., as they pertain to meat eating, more likely to be depressed or anxious?

Yeah, the abstract also says this, indirectly:

> The current body of evidence precludes causal and temporal inferences.

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

#126

Post by hsbauauvhabzb »

chinchilla2020 wrote: post #108
dahfizz wrote: 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’s a pretty reasonable assumption that if a significant portion of vegans choose that lifestyle based on ethical/empathetic grounds (which is a pretty reasonable assumption n its’ own merit , IMO) then its reasonable to assume on average they’re more empathetic than meat eaters, even if there are some vegans who are not empathetic / choose the lifestyle for selfish reasons.

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

#127

Post by phonypc »

icey wrote: post #115

An anecdote: I have been 100% carnivore for the past two months. The last vegetable I ate was in August. I’ve eaten 10 grams of carbs in that time period (in the form of vitamin C tablets early on), and zero fiber. My anxiety levels are subjectively lower, I’ve had fewer instances of insomnia, I’ve lost 20lbs of water + fat weight while maintaining an active lifestyle (standing desk all day + running 20+ miles a week…

Do you actually test your blood ketones? Unless you're eating largely fat tissue straight up, rather than somewhat fatty meat, you're probably getting enough of your calories from protein that your ketones aren't particularly elevated.

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

#128

Post by BikiniPrince »

hhs wrote: post #91
King-Aaron wrote: post #9

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…

> 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."

I feel this is the first thing to look for in any study is who is funding it. Next buts are the qualitative aspects.

I am patiently waiting for a study brought to you by Carl’s Jr. any day now.

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

#129

Post by loeg »

victorronin wrote: post #7

I am curious whether it implies causation or just correlation. I can easily explain it away with correlation. Most likely vegans will be people who are quite attuned to somebody else's (including animal) suffering. And the same empathy my guess would cause a higher level of anxiety. (All of this obviously, my guesses and I don't have any data to prove it)

The abstract explicitly mentions this only shows correlation in the final sentence:

> The current body of evidence precludes causal and temporal inferences.

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

#130

Post by inside65 »

icey wrote: post #115

An anecdote: I have been 100% carnivore for the past two months. The last vegetable I ate was in August. I’ve eaten 10 grams of carbs in that time period (in the form of vitamin C tablets early on), and zero fiber. My anxiety levels are subjectively lower, I’ve had fewer instances of insomnia, I’ve lost 20lbs of water + fat weight while maintaining an active lifestyle (standing desk all day + running 20+ miles a week…

Many people have not studied nutrition, or not studied it properly, and associate fats as in lipids with fat as in being overweight when this is in fact not the case and the various types of fats are both essential and provide energy to become an active person. Like you, I run 20+ miles a week, eat beef everyday and I'm the skinniest person I know.
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