Get Smart, Go Veggie
What you eat can really help you look after your mental health. This is the message from leading health charity, Viva Health.
Viva Health has produced a great fact sheet Simple Tips to Sharpen Wits, which suggests ten clever reasons to go veggie:
1. Folic acid (from broccoli, Brussels sprouts, peas, chick peas, yeast extract and brown rice) can improve mental agility in the over 50s.
2. Smart kids go veggie – a group of people who were vegetarian at 30 had an IQ five points higher than average when they were 10.
3. Complex carbs bolster mood – carbohydrates from wholegrain bread, brown rice and pasta) boost serotonin production.
4. Cut dementia risk by going veggie – being obese in your 40s is linked to dementia later in life, veggies tend to weigh less.
5. Slim to improve memory – research shows that obese people may score lower in memory tests. A veggie diet can help you shed pounds.
6. Juicy way to cut Alzheimer’s – fruit and veg juice may cut the risk significantly.
7. ‘Good’ omega-3 fat (from flaxseed, hempseed and rapeseed oils and walnuts) may help some people cut their Alzheimer’s risk.
8. Go veggie to cut cholesterol – people with high cholesterol levels in mid-life are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s later in life. A plant-based diet can be used as an alternative to statins to lower cholesterol.
9. Ditch the dairy – too much calcium in older adults may lead to dementia, depression and stroke. Loading up on calcium from dairy may be responsible.
10. Go meat-free – red meat and processed meat have been linked to a range of degenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s.
Viva Health senior health campaigner Dr Justine Butler says: “Not many people realise how what you eat can affect your physical and mental health; changing your diet can bring about significant benefits.” For more information on this and Viva Health’s other fact sheets go to www.vegetarian.org.uk/factsheets or call 0117 970 5190. They can be viewed fully online, or hard copies purchased for 40p.
For more information about this media release contact Dr Justine Butler at the Viva Health on 0117 970 5190 or email info@vegetarian.org.uk or press officer Helen Rossiter by calling 0117 970 5190 or emailing press@vegetarian.org.uk
About the author
Dr. Justine Butler
Justine joined Viva! in 2005 after graduating from Bristol University with a PhD in molecular biology. After working as a campaigner, then researcher and writer, she is now Viva!’s head of research and her work focuses on animals, the environment and health. Justine’s scientific training helps her research and write both in-depth scientific reports, such as White Lies and the Meat Report, as well as easy-to-read factsheets and myth-busting articles for consumer magazines and updates on the latest research. Justine also recently wrote the Vegan for the Planet guide for Viva!’s Vegan Now campaign.
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