British researchers have just conducted a study that found that that the higher the IQ of a person is, the more likely they are to follow a relatively health diet overall. It also indicated, more specifically, that IQ is a reliable predictor of the likelihood of a teen/young adult becoming a vegetarian.
The study looked at over 8,000 men and women around the age of 30 whose IQs had been tested when they were 10 years old. In the group, 33.6% "said they were vegetarian but also ate fish or chicken," 4.5% were strict vegetarians and 2.5% of the strict subset were vegan. Men in the study who were vegetarian had an average IQ score of 106 and female vegetarians averaged a score of 104. Non-vegetarians averaged 101 for men and 99 for women. There was no IQ difference between strict and lax vegetarians and all had a lower risk of heart disease. Even after adjustments were made to account for the fact that more vegetarians were women and that they tended to be better educated than others, IQ was still a significant predictor.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-28-2006 @ 4:22PM
manya said...
I knew I felt smarter, I just didn't know why.
Must be all the tofu.
:-)
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12-28-2006 @ 4:46PM
Steven Andrew Miller said...
33.6% "said they were vegetarian but also ate fish or chicken,"
You are NOT a "vegetarian" if you eat fish or chicken. Hate these posers.
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12-28-2006 @ 5:55PM
BWJones said...
I would suggest a more likely causative issue here is that vegetarians often (at least in Western cultures) have the luxury of being vegetarians. Given that they enjoy a higher economic standing, they are more likely to attend better schools and have more access to educational resources. This is the dangerous thing about statistics, right? After all, being a vegetarian does not predispose you to being smarter or having higher economic status. Rather it would be an outcome of having higher socio-economic status and IQs correlate quite nicely with those stats.
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12-28-2006 @ 6:04PM
Robyn said...
I second BW Jones. And also, isn't there research about IQ tests being culturally biased anyway?
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12-28-2006 @ 8:04PM
calamari said...
If fish and chicken are vegetables, I could pass as a vegetarian some years -- but I've never claimed to be one.
Note that the study said IQ predicted becoming a vegetarian as a teen or young adult, i.e., at the age when people do things partly to annoy their parents. So marginally smarter kids refuse to eat the Thanksgiving turkey, rather than shocking the 'rents some other way. Is an IQ difference of 5 points even statistically significant at a reasonable alpha?
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12-28-2006 @ 9:00PM
FoodieBride said...
I'm not trading in meat for 5 points.
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12-28-2006 @ 9:14PM
esmereldagrubb said...
BW Jones....you hit the nail right on the head. Veganism is the result of a highly affluent society with a surplus of food and too much time and money on their hands.
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12-28-2006 @ 9:46PM
calamari said...
Hey, wait a second! Look at this sentence from the article:
"There was no difference in IQ score between strict vegetarians and those who said they were vegetarian but who said they ate fish or chicken, the researchers add."
To translate, IQ does NOT predict your likelihood of becoming a vegetarian, if you define "vegetarian" as "someone who doesn't eat meat." All it predicts is a person's tendency to CLAIM to be a vegetarian, and *possibly* a tendency not to eat much red meat. (Assuming the accuracy of self-reports of eating habits is incredibly naive.)
And that's worth a publication in a major medical journal. Right.
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12-28-2006 @ 10:38PM
Allison said...
So, as someone who has been measured and labeled as "gifted," way above the IQs listed in this study, and someone who has achieved senior status, I continue my bent for life-long learning and passion for healthy living. According to un-product-, un- industry-sponsored research, vegetarian and vegan diets are not good for most humans over the long term. The statistics from north and south India studies are revealing.
Vegetarianism is political, trendy, and scientifically unsound for healthy nutrition unless you are of a statistically small genetic metabolic type. I'll refer you to mercola.com and westonprice.org to let you study for yourself.
Eat well, be well, and listen to your body. It's the soundest feedback and advice you can get!
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12-29-2006 @ 12:25AM
Angela Schoonover said...
I think that being vegetarian helps keep my weight down and makes me feel like a lot better person because I am not eating cows. Being smart isn't such a bad thing either. Sure there are going to be people who disagree with me and thats fine but I'm stickin to my tofu!
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12-29-2006 @ 5:13PM
Word Diggity said...
Suuuuuuuure. And which anti-meat, pro-vegan group paid for THIS study?
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1-06-2007 @ 10:44PM
SmartrthnUvegan said...
I agree that eating fish and chicken is not vegetarian. Even so, I am 100% vegan and I am probably the poorest soul I know. You do not have to come from a finacially wealthy background to afford the pleasures of a vegetarian / vegan lifestyle, only a morally wealthy background. I am glad I was raised to show compassion to animals and know right from wrong. Before you judge a person for having a strong moral character and for not following the zombie norm of eating meat maybe you should do some research on what you are putting into your body. Spend one week researching what really goes into your food and maybe that will explain why those who eat natural healthy foods are smarted then those who pump there bodies full of unnatural "whatever".. And to my sister, quit sending me these articles in my email, how do you find all this crap? Ok, everyone cant rant now, no harm to me.. I dont even know how to get back to this page if I tried.. Ji guru deva om.
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