Vegan Nutrition with Dina Aronson, M.S. R.D.

Dina Aronson, MS, RD is a vegan dietitian whose specialties include chronic disease prevention, vegetarian/vegan nutrition, and lifestyle management. She is the founder and director of VeganRD.com, a nutrition consulting company. Active in many vegetarian nutrition organizations, Dina was the recipient of the American Dietetic Association's Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year Award in 2002.

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My husband and I argue a lot about meat and intelligence. My husband is not a vegetarian and is always telling my son that the breakthrough of cave men came when they started eating meat. Where can I find facts about how meat affects the brain? - Jennifer

Dear Jennifer,

It’s very tempting to comment on the “intelligence” involved in your husband’s argument, but I’ll refrain. Fortunately or unfortunately, what our humanoid ancestors lived on thousands of years ago is not a rational argument for or against what humans should be eating in the 21st century, and for deciding whether or not meat is necessary for optimal brain health.

The claim is that modern humans should eat meat because 2 million years ago they did. Why would this be? (Not to mention there may be a lot of things humans did 2 million years ago that we no longer need to do.) Do we today have any difficulty getting enough calories to support our brains? No. In fact, our problem today is clearly the reverse—many of us get too many calories and are therefore suffering from being overweight. Any difficulties getting sufficient calories were erased 10,000 years ago with the widespread adoption of agriculture. Furthermore, are our brains evolving, as early humans' were 2 million years ago? The literature doesn't say so. And if we were, modern agriculture enables us to consume plenty of calories when relying only on plant foods.

To really determine whether a meat-free diet is a risk factor for lower intelligence, we need to look at scientific data collected in purposeful ways over the past few decades. This is the best evidence we have.

The best science available tells us that in order for the brain to function optimally, it needs to have access to all of the necessary nutrients: macronutrients (protein, fat, carbohydrates), micronutrients (vitamins, minerals), and water. In addition, a healthy dose of phytochemicals, known to keep blood vessels healthy, enhance head health because optimal brain function depends on good blood flow.

Let’s look at each of these nutrients separately. First, we know that a vegan diet provides all of the protein, carbohydrates, and fats that a meat-containing diet does. Vegans have to try a little harder than fish-eaters to obtain optimal amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for brain health. But an optimal intake is certainly attainable with a diet rich in leafy greens, walnuts, canola, flax, and hemp seed oils, flax seeds, and soy products. Second, we know that a vegan diet provides all of the vitamins and minerals that a meat-containing diet does, with the exception of vitamin B12, which vegans must obtain via supplements and/or fortified food (meat has B12 because B12 comes from bacteria that live in the flesh of animals). For more on B12 and vegan diets, click here. Third, obviously it’s easy for everyone to get enough water. Vegetarians have an advantage because even if they’re lazy about drinking water, they get more than average from food because fruits and vegetables have such high water content. Fourth, vegans get many times more phytochemicals (found only in plant foods) than meat eaters. These include antioxidants and other healthy components that fight off chronic disease like cancer and cardiovascular disease, which affect the brain. In fact, studies have shown that diets high in antioxidants protect cognitive function.

Bottom line: there are no health-supporting components in meat that cannot be obtained in a healthy vegan diet (of course, in meat we find damaging components like cholesterol, saturated fat, hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, etc.). Scientists have yet to identify any constituent of animals that, when eaten, protect humans from disease or enhance intelligence.

The most compelling evidence I have found regarding how meat affects the brain is a study that compared rates of dementia among people who ate meat and those who abstained. Those who ate meat were more than twice as likely to develop dementia; furthermore, those who had eaten meat for many years were more than three times as likely to develop signs of dementia. There is also evidence that lower blood cholesterol and lower blood pressure (vegetarians typically have lower rates of both) protect against dementia.

Finally, noting famous vegetarian intellectuals proves nothing, but is food for thought nonetheless: some of the greatest thinkers in recorded history were vegetarians and/or advocated vegetarianism, including Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Leo Tolstoy, Plato, Voltaire, and many others. Generally speaking, if meat eating were required for a person to be intelligent, then we would expect to see precious few intelligent people supporting vegetarianism.

Disclaimer: The advice given here is for eductional purposes only. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified health care provider.

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