• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

ramonmercado

CyberPunk
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
Messages
58,108
Location
Eblana
High IQ link to being vegetarian

Vegetarianism has been linked to better heart health
Intelligent children are more likely to become vegetarians later in life, a study says.
A Southampton University team found those who were vegetarian by 30 had recorded five IQ points more on average at the age of 10.

Researchers said it could explain why people with higher IQ were healthier as a vegetarian diet was linked to lower heart disease and obesity rates.

The study of 8,179 was reported in the British Medical Journal.

Twenty years after the IQ tests were carried out in 1970, 366 of the participants said they were vegetarian - although more than 100 reported eating either fish or chicken.

Men who were vegetarian had an IQ score of 106, compared with 101 for non-vegetarians; while female vegetarians averaged 104, compared with 99 for non-vegetarians.

We've always known that vegetarianism is an intelligent, compassionate choice benefiting animals, people and the environment

Liz O'Neill, of The Vegetarian Society

There was no difference in IQ score between strict vegetarians and those who said they were vegetarian but who reported eating fish or chicken.

Researchers said the findings were partly related to better education and higher occupational social class, but it remained statistically significant after adjusting for these factors.

Vegetarians were more likely to be female, to be of higher occupational social class and to have higher academic or vocational qualifications than non-vegetarians.

However, these differences were not reflected in their annual income, which was similar to that of non-vegetarians.

Lead researcher Catharine Gale said: "The finding that children with greater intelligence are more likely to report being vegetarian as adults, together with the evidence on the potential benefits of a vegetarian diet on heart health, may help to explain why higher IQ in childhood or adolescence is linked with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease in adult life."

Intelligence

However, she added the link may be merely an example of many other lifestyle preferences that might be expected to vary with intelligence, such as choice of newspaper, but which may or may not have implications for health.

Liz O'Neill, of the Vegetarian Society, said: "We've always known that vegetarianism is an intelligent, compassionate choice benefiting animals, people and the environment.

"Now we've got the scientific evidence to prove it. Maybe that explains why many meat-reducers are keen to call themselves vegetarians when even they must know that vegetarians don't eat chicken, turkey or fish."

But Dr Frankie Phillips, of the British Dietetic Association, said: "It is like the chicken and the egg. Do people become vegetarian because they have a very high IQ or is it just that they tend to be more aware of health issues?"


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6180753.stm
 
is there anyone else here who thinks that if you eat fish or chicken it invalidates the whole vegetarian bit?

also aren't the numbers a bit funny? surely the average should always be 100 as IQ is relative, everyone squashes into the same bell curve and 100 is the midpoint. maybe i'm wrong but i thought that was how it was worked out...

don't look at me like that i'm not a mensan or anything, i'm not even vegetarian!
 
agree about the eating fish and chicken invalidating the use of those people in the "being vegetarian" category - be interesting to see what the results are without that.

there's also the problematic nature of IQ tests anyway - what's the error of margin at say 95% confidence ? If it's about 5% then the results don't really prove anything either way.
 
Mal_Adjusted said:
there's also the problematic nature of IQ tests anyway - what's the error of margin at say 95% confidence ? If it's about 5% then the results don't really prove anything either way.

Yeah I thought that as well also IQ tests may only measure how well people can do IQ tests.

-
 
Mal_Adjusted said:
agree about the eating fish and chicken invalidating the use of those people in the "being vegetarian" category - be interesting to see what the results are without that.

Already dealt with

There was no difference in IQ score between strict vegetarians and those who said they were vegetarian but who reported eating fish or chicken.

Brings a literal meaning to the expression "meathead".

*gets hemp coat*
 
placeholder said:
is there anyone else here who thinks that if you eat fish or chicken it invalidates the whole vegetarian bit?

Yes, I agree.

I can believe the research. Most people are vegetarian because they've applied some thought to what they do (whether or not you agree with their conclusions), which has to be a sign of intelligence doesn't it?

Anyway, I'm going for a meal with some fellow vegetarians tonight. I shall report back if dinner conversation was any more intellectual than at neighbouring tables.
 
And explains why I have such a towering intellect! Is there no one on this planet to even challenge me?!
 
When all the meat-eaters are dead of vCJD, we'll have a better idea of who's cleverer. ;)

I went to a meeting t'other night with 'nibbles', which all turned out to be meat or fish-based. Had some toast when I got home. :(
 
mindalai said:
Anyway, I'm going for a meal with some fellow vegetarians tonight. I shall report back if dinner conversation was any more intellectual than at neighbouring tables.

It wasn't. ;)
 
t'Manbitch has won a £20 voucher for a lcoal posh butcher shop. (In a golf competition, of course. :D )

www.clewlows.co.uk

The idea is to provide a turkey, but I will be spending it on turkey giblets for the animals and Cheshire cheese for us. :D

They sell a rare Fortean delicacy there, which our own Stormkhan has a hand in, so to speak. ;)
 
escargot1 said:
t'Manbitch has won a £20 voucher for a lcoal posh butcher shop. (In a golf competition, of course. :D )

www.clewlows.co.uk

The idea is to provide a turkey, but I will be spending it on turkey giblets for the animals and Cheshire cheese for us. :D

They sell a rare Fortean delicacy there, which our own Stormkhan has a hand in, so to speak. ;)

Well, I looked at that website, but couldn't find anything Fortean - do please tell us what it is.
 
The BMJ article is shorter than the BBC news article. :? There's no discussion of what the points spread in the IQ test actually means. What is the difference between a person who has an IQ of 99 and one who has an IQ of 106? I'm guessing, bugger all. This study tells us nothing unless clearer delimitations are placed on the IQ test.
 
If vegetarians were proven to have an increase of thirty I.Q. points over the meat eater's average then it might be significant, but five points probably isn't noticeable. And then only significant to those who put great store by I.Q. tests.
 
What's weird is I have a lot of vegeterian friends who have brought up vegeterian kids, and who were concerned about some studies saying that the vegies lifestyle might hinder growth.
 
Most of the vegetarians I've known have been pretty unhealthy.

As a prime example, my own father has become more of a vegetarian as he gets older, but this has caused him to be extremely anaemic.

Another vegan friend gave himself acidosis because he regularly ate too many nuts (he was trying to replace the protein that would normally be derived from meat).

I don't necessarily think vegetarianism is a sign of intelligence, I think it's more a sign of sensitivity.
 
So being vegetarian is bad for you?
I knew it!
 
Unfortunately eating meat is bad for you too. We can't win.
 
"is there anyone else here who thinks that if you eat fish or chicken it invalidates the whole vegetarian bit?"

Absolutely. I've been vegetarian most of my life and, quite simply, do not eat any animal.
I couldn't believe at my company canteen a few years' the so-called vegetarian option one day was a tuna salad. I explained to them the error of their ways and made them change the menu. Think they changed it to a mushroom omelette.

You'd have to be pretty stupid to think that meat from a fish or chicken counts as vegetable matter.
 
I quite like this thread, but it's left me just a bit unsatisfied. Think I'll have to look around for a meatier topic to discuss.
 
"is there anyone else here who thinks that if you eat fish or chicken it invalidates the whole vegetarian bit?"

Absolutely. I've been vegetarian most of my life and, quite simply, do not eat any animal.
I couldn't believe at my company canteen a few years' the so-called vegetarian option one day was a tuna salad. I explained to them the error of their ways and made them change the menu. Think they changed it to a mushroom omelette.

You'd have to be pretty stupid to think that meat from a fish or chicken counts as vegetable matter.

Indeed. I assume that's why there are the ovo-lacto, pescatarian and vegan designations. Kind of odd they'd ignore that. Or just lazy, perhaps.

I don't like eating meat, and mostly don't because it makes me a bit queasy, but I'm a bit like Mytho's dad, probably. If I don't have at least a small amount of meat every few weeks I get weak and anemic. I've heard this has something to do with having type O blood for some reason and not being able to digest vegetable protein.

I have tried to replace the meat with vegetable protein but ended up too weak to get out of bed.
 
The only reason why my Dad avoids meat is because when he was very young, he was anaemic - and the only cure back in the 1930s was for him to eat raw chopped liver. Nasty.
He used to eat some meat years ago, such as bacon and chicken, but now he won't even touch that. It's why he keeps getting ill. We've been trying to get round it by giving him Bovril or beef consomme.
 
How strange, I've been a vegetarian for over twenty years and never had a problem with anaemia. Eat more spinach!

I had to laugh at the Parks & Recreation episode I watched this week where big meat eater Ron Swanson was offered a plate of salad and he said there must be some mistake, you've given me the food my food eats.
 
How strange, I've been a vegetarian for over twenty years and never had a problem with anaemia. Eat more spinach!
My Dad does. He also takes iron supplements.
I think he must have a rare condition or something. Glad I didn't inherit that.
 
From the story:-
Long term vegetarian diet changes human DNA raising risk of cancer and heart disease

When coupled with a diet high in vegetable oils - such as sunflower oil - the mutated gene quickly turns fatty acids into dangerous arachidonic acid.

Highly processed junk oil? Well there's your problem.

To make the problem worse, the mutation also hinders the production of beneficial Omega 3 fatty acid which is protective against heart disease. Although it may not have mattered when the mutation first developed, since the industrial revolution there has been a major shift in diets away from Omega 3 – found in fish and nuts - to less healthy Omega 6 fats - found in vegetable oils.

Oh, there it is again.

But it is the vegetarian part that is the problem? o_O
 
it has gotten to the point now where I don't take a blind bit of notice of any new health scare/information that gets bandied about in the press. Eat butter (eggs, beef, curly kale), don't eat butter (eggs, beef, curly kale). How about just eating sensibly? Protein, carbs, fat, proportionate to your physical needs and how you are inclined ethically. Me: mostly fruit and veg with a more than fair amount of fish and a slightly more than fair amount of meat, chocolate, and cake. Also, alcohol, water, coffee, pretty much in that order, descending volume.

I can't stand faddy diets, moronic journalism, and scaremongering. Maybe it's because I was raised on a farm in the 70s...home-grown, home-cooked, with a side order of dung; I'm not terribly dainty when it comes to food!
 
Back
Top