Does anybody know of any scientific evidence that there's a link between vegetarian diet and poor memory?

Question

I am not a vegetarian and I have nothing against being a vegetarian but I have two close vegetarian friends who have exceedingly bad memories. I suspect the lack of protein in their diets is negatively effecting brain activity. Can anybody suggest where I find hard facts on this? Or should I consult a professional?

According to Wikipedia, "Although Einstein had long been sympathetic to the notion of vegetarianism, it was only near the start of 1954 that he adopted a strict vegetarian diet." Einstein died in 1955. I'm not saying vegetarians are dumb, just have noticeably bad memories.

Answer 1

If you're genuinely concerned for your friends, you can certainly ask a professional-- a dietician for instance, but I'd be amazed & suspicious if an informed person were to tell you that a *healthy* vegetarian diet can cause memory issues.
Are these 2 friends the *only* vegetarians that you are accquainted with? If so, it is an interesting coincidence that both of them have memory problems-- unless they both have similar unhealthy diets, or drink a lot of alcohol etc.
*Most* of the vegetarians I know, including ppl who have never eaten meat, have fine memories. As you're probably aware, lots of things can effect one's memory, including substance abuse, stress, certain diseases and others. Further, vegetarians usually get more protein than they need.
Also, while Wikipedia can be interesting or *somewhat* somewhat useful as a reference, remember that it's not all that reliable & that ppl can post their own opinions or agendas there as 'fact.'

Answer 2

Hi, I don't know about links between vegetarian diets and memory, but I do want to say something about searching Wikipedia for factual information. There was a story on my local news channel not long ago about a teacher who noticed his students getting the same questions wrong and it was happening with bewildering frequency. It turns out they were getting their info from wikipedia.com. Keep in mind that anybody can edit the information there. Use http://www.britannica.com for more reliable info. Brit does have a premium service that costs but you can still get a lot from the free online version. In truth I didn't read enough to find out if anything was said about Einstein being a veggie or for how long. Paul McCartney is a vegetarian and has been for a long time, he seems to be doing quite well. If you don't like the brit then at least find something else for reliable info than the wiki.

Answer 3

Vegetarians do not lack protien

I have not eaten meat for 17 years, but people are constantly telling me what a good memory I have. Trust me.. I'm not the type to brag. I don't consider myself to have any real talents at all, but memorization is the one thing that has always come easily to me. I can rattle off lengthy quotes I had to memorize in high school 10 years ago, or every president of the united states, first name and last name, often middle name as well, in order.. These are things I memorized over 10 years ago! Still there...

my brother has been vegetarian for almost 20 years now and his IQ is over 160, and there is not a computer problem he can't solve. He knows electronics, computers, etc.. inside and out.. what every chip is, how it works, He's the #1 tech support at work. An incredible amount of information is in that brain of his, and it doesn't seem to dissappear or anything...

My 3 year old neice has an INCREDIBLE memory, and has never had meat, dairy, or eggs in her LIFE.. She's so healthy... Even her mom is vegan, so the nutrition she got while in the womb was vegan, as well as her mom's breastmilk.

Answer 4

To be perfectly honest with you, I know of no studies that link any negative side effects to a well-balanced vegetarian or vegan diet. Such diets are simply better for you in every way than the more common omnivorous diets most people eat these days.

That said, any diet can be bad for you if you don't balance it correctly. A vegan who only eats french fries and drinks pepsi is going to be unhealthy.

Your friends may or may not have a deficiency in their diets that is affecting their memories. Two people does not a trend make, however. They could always get some blood tests done to show what their vitamin levels are at. However, keep in mind that modern medicine doesn't always preach what is best. Example: Cholesterol of 200 or less is a silly gauge of healthy cholesterol levels. It should be WAY lower than that. If I were to walk in and test with a cholesterol of 175, my doctor wouldn't bat an eye. But as someone who is aware that humans are born with cholesterol levels significantly lower than that, I know that I can and should have a much lower score than that.

Answer 5

There is virtually no instance of protein deficiency in adequate calorie consuming populations. the only place that there actually is protein deficiency is in places like third world countries were malnutrition is a problem.

All foods have an amount of protein in them and even vegans and vegetarians that eat incredibly bad diets are still more than likely to be consuming far more than enough protein.

Furthermore, protein is used in constructing all cells within the body, not just the brain and not just the part of the brain thats used for memory. I doubt that its possible to suffer specifically from a memory based condition that could be connected to a single dietary factor.

Having a 'bad memory' is also a far cry from actually having a problem with memory function inside the brain which is known as 'amnesia'.

I have two friends who have been vegans for around 10 years. One, like me is a software engineer and the other is a psychologist and a tcm practitioner. We all have perfectly fine memory systems.

though we do constantly exercise our minds by working learning, thinking and discussing.

The parts of the brain are just like any other part of the body, if you don't train it, it wont be strong.

I suspect your friends have a 'bad memory' because they don't train their memory system or thier brain overall.

Answer 6

Not sure... If Albert Einstein were still alive we could ask him how being vegetarian affected his memory I guess.

Touch'e.... no wait... you're the one who says that :)

Do you have any evidence that states to the contrary?
Lack of protein in diets could be suspect. however, since the average american meat eater or vegetarian far exceeds the amout of protein that is recommended I wouldn't think that was a problem. I have found my mind clearer and things easier to learn... so I don't know maybe both your friends live near a factory that is pumping harmful chemicals into the ground water or they are getting older or both have a neurodegenerative disease... or have you thought that maybe they either don't care about remembering what you think they should, have written it down somewhere, or just don't really like you and wish not to get into things with you because you make rash judgements about things that you have no idea. How do you mark the difference between what someone remembers and quality or quantity of memory. They may have a wonderful memory... just not in line with the way your memory is and your brain thinks it should be... I have a memory like that... My memory is phenomonal in areas that I find important but I "forget" things all the time to keep from getting my butt chewed by my wife. For me... if I put my shoes in the closet isn't important to me and I can't for the life of me tell you if they are in the closet or on the floor.... but I don't care either. good luck. I would speak to a neurologist about it because you don't really have enough information for a question like this to be answered in the manner you have posted it...

Answer 7

I have been a vegan for 8+ years. I feel that my brain works better when I eat well. I have a 9 yr. old daughter who has been vegan from birth and she has an excellent memory. She plays the violin and has over 20 pieces of music memorized- she does well on standardized achievement tests- 99th percentile.

However, not all vegetarian diets are created equal. Your friends may very well have dietary deficiencies and this may have affected their memories. Or, something else could be going on.

Many vegans are low in omega-3 fatty acids (so are many omnivores). Eating ground flax seeds or taking supplements can provide this for vegans, but many vegans do not do this and therefore have low omega-3 fatty acids.

Also, the vegan diet is low in vitamin b-12, unless you eat fortified foods (such as fortified soymilk) or take vitamins. Low b-12 can cause neurological damage, and many long-term vegans are low in b-12.

However, there are many advantages to the vegan diet for brain health. Here are some links that provide the kind of hard facts you are looking for:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20746682/site/newsweek/from/ET/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6180753.stm

The second link is a BBC article about vegetarians having higher IQs than the general population. As the article states, this is probably not because the vegetarian diet makes people smarter, but because more intelligent people are likely to choose to become vegetarian.

As far as protein is concerned, it is easy to get enough protein on a vegetarian diet, however it does take a little planning or there may be deficiencies in certain amino acids. Vegetarians who just eat snack foods, sodas, and the regular family meal minus the meat are probably low in some amino acids, as well as probably low in b-12, zinc, iron, and iodine.

Some people (young women in particular) call themselves vegans or vegetarians when they go on a weight loss diet. Most real vegetarians aren't doing it to lose weight, but for ethical, environmental or health reasons.

There are lots of websites where you can get information on vegetarian diets. I recommend vegsource.com and pcrm.org. for more info.

Best wishes to you and your friends.

Answer 8

Protein is abundant in a vegetarian diet so irrelavent to any brain disfunction

Being concered about your friends is a good think so yes, go and spend a lot of money on consulting professionals.

Your might have to pick up your veggie friends though, they will likely forget to turn up.

I have far more that "2" meat-eating friends with bad memories so perhaps 2 is not enough of a sample from which to generalise

Answer 9

The example of two people is not enough evidence to make a generalization like that.

Protein doesn't have anything to do with memory. B vitamins could, though.

However, vegetarians aren't necessarily deficient in either protein or B vitamins.

My wife is a Registered Dietitian and has a Master's in Nutrition; we're both vegetarians.

You are, of course, free to believe anything you want, but what you are proposing is not backed up by any reliable source.

Answer 10

What does a lack of protein have to do with being vegetarian?
They probably get too much protein.

If your friends have an unhealthy diet, it's not because they are veg. It is either because they aren't that bright to begin with or they are using vegetarianism to hide eating disorders.