Vegetarianism Tied to High IQ
In a recent study published in the British Medical Journal, researchers found that children with high IQs were significantly more likely to become vegetarians as adults.
The study looked at over 8,000 adults born in 1970 and who had their IQs measured at age 10 as part of another study. 366 of the study participants identified themselves as vegetarians by age 30. Vegetarians had, on average, an IQ 5 points higher than non-vegetarians (and that was after adjusting for gender, social class, and education).
123 of the self-identified vegetarians also ate chicken or fish, which meant they weren’t actually vegetarians. But even after excluding these individuals, the study’s results remained unchanged.
A vegetarian diet is certainly not the only healthy dietary approach for helping to ensure optimal cognitive function. For people whose ancestors ate a diet higher in meat and dairy, a diet that includes some animal products may work better with their own biochemistry.
However, a vegetarian diet, if constructed to ensure the inclusion of key nutrients that may be lacking (e.g., protein, vitamin B12, calcium, zinc, iron, omega-3 fats, etc.), is certainly a viable approach.
There is a significant amount of research that suggests a vegetarian diet may help to:
- Improve cholesterol levels
- Decrease blood pressure
- Reduce the risk of developing:
- hypertension
- cardiovascular disease
- type 2 diabetes
- certain cancers (e.g., colon, prostate, breast)
- dementia
- And more …
No guarantees that a vegetarian diet will help to make you smarter, but it may help to make you a little healthier.
