“You don’t have to be positive all the time. It’s perfectly okay to feel sad, angry, annoyed, frustrated, scared and anxious. Having feelings doesn’t make you a negative person. It makes you human.”
— Lori Deschene
A vast population of people on this planet is made up of vegans and vegetarians. There might be a slight confusion about the differences between vegans and vegetarians. Vegans are those people who refuse to eat meat and other products that we acquire from animals. Some of them are even against using leather jackets or sweaters because they are made from substances produced by animals. Vegetarians on the other hand do not eat only the flesh of the meat. They usually do not have any problems in eating eggs, drinking milk, or using any other meat-related products.
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Some people become vegetarians because of religious beliefs or because their religion forbids them to eat meat. Vegans are those who don’t believe in harming animals in order to have good food or a better way of living. While eating only vegetables and pulses can be a very healthy diet for our body to function properly, the absence of meat in their diet can cause some mental health problems.
Vegetables are good for our bodies. All the necessary vitamins and nutrients that our body requires for proper functioning can be obtained from eating fruits and vegetables. It keeps us fit and protects our bodies from various diseases. Our immune system is also made stronger because of the healthy diet. We may have seen the cartoon ‘Popeye’ which taught us that eating spinach makes us stronger. All this is very true. Fruits and vegetables are more than enough to make us physically healthy and strong.
Studies, however, have found that those who don’t consume meat were more at a risk to suffer from various mental illnesses like anxiety, depression, and self-harm, than those who consume meat on a regular basis. The reason for this was not clear and researchers were surprised to find out that meat-eaters seemed to be mentally healthier than those who eat only healthy vegetables.
https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/features/how-can-veganism-impact-your-mental-health/
The researchers came up with a few hypotheses as to why vegans and vegetarians suffered more from mental illnesses but these hypotheses could not be scientifically proved. Those who suffer from mental illness tend to alter or change their diet. In doing so, they may stop consuming some food that plays an important role in their diet. This could lead to nutrient deficiencies which can be a cause for increasing mental illness.
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Those who suffer from eating disorders tend to cover up their problem by eating only vegetarian food. Those who chose to be vegan to prevent cruelty to animals can also suffer from anxiety and depression by continuously thinking about these problems. However, having a vegetarian diet and lifestyle is often found to be associated with neuroticism which even mental illness, depression depend on. Therefore, it was proved that veganism and depression were interrelated.
In a study conducted for elderly people, it was found that elderly men who had a plant-based diet were more prone to suffer from depression than those who consume meat. In another study that included 18 test cases that included more than 160 participants, it was concluded that 16 out of the 18 cases showed that vegans suffered more from mental illnesses. All these studies confirmed that vegans and vegetarians were more prone to suffer from depression, anxiety, or self-harm.
Another study among diabetic patients showed no relation between mental illness and the diet of the test subjects. In fact, the vegans and vegetarians were viewed to have great mental health and were even seen to be better sleepers than those who consume meat as well. Another study in developing countries like India, Ethiopia, and Peru among 15 years old also showed no signs that a vegetable-based diet was messing up their mental health.
Yet another study showed that eating a healthy, well-balanced diet that consisted of fruits, vegetables, lentils, meat, and other foods that contained the necessary nutrients for our well-being was more than enough to keep away mental illnesses. Having a lot of ghee-based food or red meat was shown to produce adverse effects on a person’s body physically as well as mentally.
Researchers found out that the stress levels between vegetarians and non-vegetarians were vastly different in the case that vegetarians seemed to have more stress than non-vegetarians. But after running higher quality research, it was shown that young adults, below the age of 26 were the ones who were more prone to obtaining any mental illness be it anxiety or depression. So it may not be what we are eating that is causing problems, but what we are not eating. We must just find out what kind of nutrients we lack and try to find some food that can help in making us healthy again.
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Keeping all this in mind, it is not necessary that those who have adopted the vegan or vegetarian lifestyle have to start eating meat. That is completely the individual’s decision. It’s not necessary that only vegetarians can suffer from mental illnesses. Both kinds of people can equally fall prey to anxiety and depression. We just need to take the necessary steps to put a halt to increasing these problems. Seeking help from friends and family always helps and if that doesn’t work, we can always look to a therapist.
As the number of cases of mental illnesses increases with the coming generations, researchers are looking for reasons as to why this increase is occurring. According to several studies conducted all over the world, the found veganism one of the many reasons. But we can catch and eliminate these illnesses with proper care and treatment. There is no necessity to start consuming meat just to get rid of your depression or anxiety.
-Sharon Ajith -10/06/2021
Tags: #food, #fruits, #getgreengetgrowing, #gngagritech, #greenstories, #health, #mentalhealth, #veganism, #vegans, #vegetables, #vegetarianfood, #vegetarians
