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Vegetarianism Isn’t Making People Depressed
Why you can probably ignore the headlines about vegetarianism and depression
Nothing divides opinions over diet quite like vegetarians. Is it the moral choice? The ethical option? Or, as I was once informed while travelling through rural Spain, is it “not an option that appears on this menu”?* However you define it, and whether you yourself eat meat of not, the one thing we can say is that a lot of people have oddly strong opinions about whether a total stranger has bacon or halloumi for brunch.
Which means that any time a story comes out looking at vegetarianism and health, we leap on it with a heated fervor. This week has been no different — after a study came out looking at vegetarianism and depression, media sources from across the globe immediately started reporting that vegetarianism was terrible for your health. The Daily Mail went so far as to suggest that eating meat in and of itself could improve your mental health, which is great news if you really like cheap steak Tuesdays at the local pub.
The problem is, none of these headlines were even remotely true. The science didn’t find that…
