In this week’s podcast, we discuss how a plant based diet can negatively effect your mental health. 

It has been shown in various studies that people on a plant based or vegan diet experience depression at an increased rate. 

In a 2018 French study of 90,000 adults, looking at different diets and depression, found that vegans were about 2.5 times more likely to suffer from depression than meat eaters. Vegetarians and pescatarians were also more likely to suffer from depression but not as much as vegans.

In a 2014 Austrian study of 1,320 participants found that vegetarians were about twice as likely to suffer from depression and/or anxiety than meat eaters.

Our argument shows why this revolves around the nutritional deficiencies of a plant based diet and how being low in various nutrients effects our mental health.

The first nutrient that is low on a plant based diet is the amino acid tryptophan. This amino acid gets converted into serotonin which is a feel good hormone. Inadequate serotonin has been linked to depression. 

The second nutrient we looked at that is low in a plant based diet and linked to depression was carnitine. Carnitine is an amino acid that helps shuttle fat into our mitochondria and in animal and human studies. It has been show that low carnitine levels in the blood increases your odds of experiencing depression. 

To learn more about why a plant based diet isn’t good for your mental health, listen to this week’s podcast.