"Veggies Shrink the Brain" according to new findings
I think it's a load of crap, but it is worth posting and discussing.
MELBOURNE: Scientists have discovered that going veggie could be bad for your brain-with those on a meat-free diet six times more likely to suffer brain shrinkage.
Vegans and vegetarians are the most likely to be deficient because the best sources of the vitamin are meat, particularly liver, milk and fish. Vitamin B12 deficiency can also cause anaemia and inflammation of the nervous system. Yeast extracts are one of the few vegetarian foods which provide good levels of the vitamin.
The link was discovered by Oxford University scientists who used memory tests, physical checks and brain scans to examine 107 people between the ages of 61 and 87.
When the volunteers were retested five years later the medics found those with the lowest levels of vitamin B12 were also the most likely to have brain shrinkage. It confirms earlier research showing a link between brain atrophy and low levels of B12.
Brain scans of more than 1,800 people found that people who downed 14 drinks or more a week had 1.6% more brain shrinkage than teetotallers. Women in their seventies were the most at risk.
Beer does less damage than wine according to a study in Alcohol and Alcoholism.
Researchers found that the hippocampus-the part of the brain that stores memories - was 10% smaller in beer drinkers than those who stuck to wine.
And being overweight or obese is linked to brain loss, Swedish researchers discovered. Scans of around 300 women found that those with brain shrink had an average body mass index of 27 And for every one point increase in their BMI the loss rose by 13 to 16%.
Dude, it's not the size of the organ, it's how you use it.
Dude, it's not the size of the organ, it's how you use it.
Actually, that does sound like it could be a bad thing. I mean you can't "use it" if your losing your memory due to your brain physically changing.
It was a joke. Evidently a bad one.
The point really shouldn't be to advertise how bad a veg*n diet is. If you take cae of yourself and make sure you have enough B12, it shouldn't be an issue.
i believe this is what we call a contradiction. Beer does less damage... Beer drinkers have worse memory. wha?
unless, maybe, they were talking about a different study?
Eat stuff with nutrional yeast. End of discussion.
What I think is... oh, wait, my brain's shrunk too much to think.
Like the "this is your brain, this is your brain on drugs" commerical of yesteryear.
This is your brain: http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:Q0b-2IudC2Y8ZM:http://bp0.blogger.com/_14eCdcvj9XA/RquYDqS5NeI/AAAAAAAAAMs/9LtuXr-GpYM/s320/Brain%252520fart.gif
This is your brain on vegetables: http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ECw8F6vpeMX-FM:http://www.swagalicio.us/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/ms-brain.jpg
Paid for by the meat and dairy industry.
Funny, I always heard people who were more intelligent were more likely to become veg*n.
:jamming: :busted:
What I find loathsome about this article is the title: Eating Veggies Shrinks the Brain. It is terribly misleading and I would guess, intentionally so. Eating veggies does not shrink the brain, B12 deficiency shrinks the brain. That's why most of us take supplemental B12. Stuff like this pisses me off.
>:( >:( >:(
I wonder if their research was funded by a grant from the meat industry?
Off topic and not really important, but I think threads like this should be in the news and debate section.
OMG--yous are a funny bunch of wise guys! *LOL*
It really sounded liek a crap shoot...I mean, they only studied 107 people...that's really, not very many for a study like this. I'll call it a "jumping off point".
Off topic and not really important, but I think threads like this should be in the news and debate section.
Me, too. That's why I didn't post a real comment.
What they should have said is that a diet low in B12 can cause brain shrinkage. Any body can be deficient in B12 even omnivores.
Brain shrinkage is normal with age. I don't know how they figured that people with less B-12 was more at risk for brain shrinkage when according to the American Federation for Aging Research says that the brain decreases in size and volume about 2% per decade. Here's the link:
http://www.healthandage.com/html/min/afar/content/other6_2.htm
That's why most of us take supplemental B12. Stuff like this pisses me off.
We do? Where can I get me some of that B12?
That's why most of us take supplemental B12. Stuff like this pisses me off.
We do? Where can I get me some of that B12?
I don't know if this was supposed to be a joke or not, but you can get a B12 supplement at your local health food store. I found mine at Whole Foods.
That's why most of us take supplemental B12. Stuff like this pisses me off.
We do? Where can I get me some of that B12?
I don't know if this was supposed to be a joke or not,
Sadly not! Is it in powder form or a tablet?
If you take a multivitamin vitamin, you're covered on B12. It's also in vegetarian support nutritional yeast. You can get B12 tablets on their own. Your body stores a few years worth, so if you haven't been vegan for a bajillion years you're likely fine. Just take it from now on out. I take a vegan multi that has about 1000% percent of the RDA, so I just take it a couple of times a week.
Mine are B12 tablets. I might look into getting a good multivitamin instead though... It couldn't hurt! I am probably deficient in some other vitamins anyway (not because I am vegan, but just because!!).
Ahhhh....the media buzzword, "studies have shown."
Who study? Who pay for study? Cross section? Duration? Size of sample?
They always leave stuff like that out.
My husband watches the US news via satellite daily (I would but not in an election year AND an Olympic year, thank you). It always makes him laugh when they puff or pan some food/med/whatever by citing "a study in Europe." Just so you know, most of the time that's bollocks. Europe is a big place, which country? Which part of which country? Ya know?
If you take a multivitamin vitamin, you're covered on B12. It's also in vegetarian support nutritional yeast. You can get B12 tablets on their own. Your body stores a few years worth, so if you haven't been vegan for a bajillion years you're likely fine. Just take it from now on out. I take a vegan multi that has about 1000% percent of the RDA, so I just take it a couple of times a week.
I can't recall where I read this but, I heard that if you take way more than your RDI of B12, the body kind of ignores it or can't take it in. ???
I must look into this further! :search:
I also want to know whether B12 naturally occurs in the process of making nooch, or whether they have to supplement it. To put a point on it: I want to know if the organic bulk nooch that I buy has any B12 innit. If not, I need to think about looking for a good multivitamin.
Just wanted to add that store bought soymilk has 50% of the B12 rda in an 8 oz. serving. I use a lot of soymilk and eat a bunch of nooch, so I'm not too stressed by this. Even if this study were legit, I would weigh my options carefully. Meat-based diets cause heart disease, cancer, stroke, hypertension, alzheimer's, auto-immune disease, etc.... I will continue to eat the veggies.
Pages