Vegetarian Diets and Mental Health • Hacker News Board

Re: Vegetarian Diets and Mental Health

#41

Post by rdmcfee » Tue, May 27, 2014, 5:48 PM UTC

yamalight wrote: post #4

[deleted] wrote: post #2

[deleted]

they even state so in the "limitations" part. I wonder who reviewed this paper? If that's their "limitation" I don't really see any benefits in their research (well, I am quite far from that area and might not get the whole picture).

I think the idea of observational epidemiology is 2 fold. In extremely rare and specific cases (like with smoking and small cell lung cancer) cohort studies show such extreme correlation with new or rare diseases that causation can be implied. This is most certainly not the case with this study.

In other cases observational studies are used to look for a strong correlation which can be used to justify a much more expensive interventional study which could actually be meaningful.

From my account of the paper it's not apparent that the correlation is even strong enough to justify proper research. Something along the lines of proving the correlation between eating ice cream and drowning.

Re: Vegetarian Diets and Mental Health

#42

Post by zacinbusiness » Tue, May 27, 2014, 9:35 PM UTC

VLM wrote: post #31

zacinbusiness wrote: post #15

There is a pretty strong anti-vegetarianism sentiment where I'm from (the Southeast U.S.). I see it (as a vegetarian for almost 5 years now) when I visit the grocery store and, annoyingly, from my family. At the grocery store I am often asked "What, are you some kind of vegetarian or something?" when I buy tofu, tempeh, lots of vegetables, and no meat products. And when I say yes, people are often flabbergasted. "I c…

"It's madness." Its just conformity. Try to change the topic to religion, anything other than vanilla Evangelical Protestant Christian, and see how much they like it. Or, "I don't like large pickup trucks/SUVs". (edited to add, tell them their prices are too high, if you want to tweak them back. I'm not a vegan but our family has a relationship with an organic farmer who provides us with almost all the meat we eat (o…

Religion is another hot topic. My wife may need (minor) brain surgery (minor as far as brain surgery goes) and her family believes they can pray it away instead. It's a whole thing here.

Re: Vegetarian Diets and Mental Health

#43

Post by yamalight » Tue, May 27, 2014, 10:01 PM UTC

rdmcfee wrote: post #41

yamalight wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

they even state so in the "limitations" part. I wonder who reviewed this paper? If that's their "limitation" I don't really see any benefits in their research (well, I am quite far from that area and might not get the whole picture).

I think the idea of observational epidemiology is 2 fold. In extremely rare and specific cases (like with smoking and small cell lung cancer) cohort studies show such extreme correlation with new or rare diseases that causation can be implied. This is most certainly not the case with this study. In other cases observational studies are used to look for a strong correlation which can be used to justify a much more exp…

Whenever I see papers like this, the infamous "Global average temperature vs. number of pirates" chart almost always comes to my mind xD

Re: Vegetarian Diets and Mental Health

#44

Post by PerfectElement » Tue, May 27, 2014, 10:14 PM UTC

zacinbusiness wrote: post #27

finleye wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also from the Southeast, and had the same issues. Ridicule from family and sometimes even strangers. I've been vegan now for 5 years. I've never had so many people concerned about my protein intake. Moving to NYC changed all that though. It's not unusual here, and the food is a lot better.

Yeah the whole "but where do you get your protein" thing gets old after about 30 seconds. I have answered many emails and Facebook posts with this: http://bit.ly/1nQx8EQ

I usually answer with this: http://veganbodybuilding.com

Re: Vegetarian Diets and Mental Health

#45

Post by PerfectElement » Tue, May 27, 2014, 10:27 PM UTC

johnohara wrote: post #38

While I can't speak to the issue of mental health effects, I can say with certainty that being purely vegan requires a very high level of knowledge and understanding about the human body's intrinsic dietary needs and metabolic processes. Most vegans I know have acquired this knowledge over time. A vegan diet demands physiological due diligence and truthful self-discovery. Neither of which is a bad thing.

I think that's true for anyone aiming at being healthy. I'd say that eating meat and not having any nutrition knowledge is even worse. If you don't know anything about nutrition, sticking with fruits, legumes, grains, nuts, seeds and greens is a pretty safe choice.

Re: Vegetarian Diets and Mental Health

#46

Post by dhaneshnm » Tue, May 27, 2014, 10:44 PM UTC

I wonder how practising Hindus and Buddhists will scale in this kind of a study. I am a practicing Hindu. My family/clan and say some 20-30% of whole population of my country are lacto-vegetarians(no eggs and meat, but will consume milk) for generations. I hope the researcher does a study among that ethnic group too. That will fix this debate for good.

Re: Vegetarian Diets and Mental Health

#47

Post by adarshr » Wed, May 28, 2014, 8:24 AM UTC

manojlds wrote: post #22

I am Indian, and have been vegetarian since birth. Born into a family of vegetarians, and our ancestors have been vegetarians for centuries. We are fine, thank you. I think this article is about those in the West who try out being vegetarian. I wish that can be made explicit in the article and the comments here.

I'm a born-vegetarian as well and would like to add that contrary to what some westerners believe, vegetarian diet isn't just about salads and vegetables. If my mental ability was affected, I wouldn't be here reading comments on Hacker News.