Abstract
BackgroundThe physical health status of vegetarians has been extensively reported, but there is limited research regarding the mental health status of vegetarians, particularly with regard to mood. Vegetarian diets exclude fish, the major dietary source of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), critical regulators of brain cell structure and function. Omnivorous diets low in EPA and DHA are linked to impaired mood states in observational and experimental studies.MethodsWe examined associations between mood state and polyunsaturated fatty acid intake as a result of adherence to a vegetarian or omnivorous diet in a cross-sectional study of 138 healthy Seventh Day Adventist men and women residing in the Southwest. Participants completed a quantitative food frequency questionnaire, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS), and Profile of Mood States (POMS) questionnaires.ResultsVegetarians (VEG:n = 60) reported significantly less negative emotion than omnivores (OMN:n = 78) as measured by both mean total DASS and POMS scores (8.32 ± 0.88 vs 17.51 ± 1.88, p = .000 and 0.10 ± 1.99 vs 15.33 ± 3.10, p = .007, respectively). VEG reported significantly lower mean intakes of EPA (p < .001), DHA (p < .001), as well as the omega-6 fatty acid, arachidonic acid (AA; p < .001), and reported higher mean intakes of shorter-chain α-linolenic acid (p < .001) and linoleic acid (p < .001) than OMN. Mean total DASS and POMS scores were positively related to mean intakes of EPA (p < 0.05), DHA (p < 0.05), and AA (p < 0.05), and inversely related to intakes of ALA (p < 0.05), and LA (p < 0.05), indicating that participants with low intakes of EPA, DHA, and AA and high intakes of ALA and LA had better mood.ConclusionsThe vegetarian diet profile does not appear to adversely affect mood despite low intake of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids.
Highlights
The physical health status of vegetarians has been extensively reported, but there is limited research regarding the mental health status of vegetarians, with regard to mood
Vegetarians must rely on limited endogenous production of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) from the short-chain omega-3 fatty acid, α-linolenic acid [ALA] in plant foods [11,12]
Participant characteristics Data are reported for 138 participants, 107 participants were from the Phoenix Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) community and 31 were from the Santa Barbara SDA community
Summary
The physical health status of vegetarians has been extensively reported, but there is limited research regarding the mental health status of vegetarians, with regard to mood. Vegetarian diets exclude fish, the major dietary source of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), critical regulators of brain cell structure and function. Traditional vegetarian diets omit all flesh foods, and low intakes of the long-chain omega-3 fats, eicosapentaenoic acid [EPA] and docosahexaenoic acid [DHA], have been widely reported in vegetarians [3-. EPA and DHA favorably impact neural function by displacing the long-chain omega-6 fatty acids in brain cell membranes, arachidonic acid [AA] [7]. Vegetarians must rely on limited endogenous production of EPA and DHA from the short-chain omega-3 fatty acid, α-linolenic acid [ALA] in plant foods [11,12]. A recent study reported the average omega-6 to omega-3
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