High IQ link to being vegetarian

[Guest guest]

High IQ link to being vegetarian

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? "

 

J Venkatasubramanian

 

 

recommends that you upgrade to the new and safer Internet Explorer

8. http://downloads../in/internetexplorer/