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Rapid Responses: Rapid Responses published:
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Intelligent Vegetarians
- Rameet S Uberoi (18 December 2006)
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A Hi IQ implies better attention to diet
- David Turnbull (19 December 2006)
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Personal view
- Michelle Cabrol (22 December 2006)
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Diet Effects IQ
- Bill D. Misner Ph.D. (6 January 2007)
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Read the title?
- Jeremy N Miles (6 January 2007)
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Non-conformity: the hidden driver behind the positive relationship between IQ and vegetarianism?
- Kobe Millet, Siegfried Dewitte (23 January 2007)
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IQ's, ethics and vegetarians
- Shalini K Subashchandran (28 January 2007)
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decline in vegetarianism during medical school-Feb 3, 2007
- Phillip J. Colquitt (5 February 2007)
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Definition of vegetables?
- Allan House (5 February 2007)
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To Enjoy Unique Experiences
- Aaron Dale (4 January 2008)
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Rameet S Uberoi, Foundation year 1 pre-registration House Officer University Hospital Lewisham
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Dear editor, I was amazed to learn from reading Gale.C.R et al's article entitled IQ in childhood and vegetarianism in adulthood: 1970 British cohort study, that clever children not only become vegetarians in later life, but in turn also earn more money and have better qualifications than meat eaters. Brushing aside the fact that there was no difference found in IQ’s between those who were vegetarian and those who ate meat/fish, I am surprised that such claim is possible! Surely consuming meat is not all that bad? It is already know that incidence of dementia is the same in both vegetarians and non-vegetiarians1, but who are we to argue with the diets of famous meat eaters such as Buddha, Jesus, aristotle and even the mighty brain of bill gates? Apart from increased consumption of cholesterol, saturated fat, hormones, antibiotics, BSE etc, what are vegetarians missing out on? As a meat eater it gives me great pleasure in avoiding problems such as a lack of essential amino acids, anaemia and subacute combined degeneration of the cord. Even the highest rates of food poisoning are attributed to greens based salads2. I eagerly join Denmark and New York in turning to animal fats as industrially produced trans-fats have become the new source of all our problems. Eating meat is not all that bad after all. Dr Rameet Singh, F1 at UHL. 1. Giem P, Beeson WL, Fraser GE. The incidence of dementia and intake of animal products: preliminary findings from the Adventist Health Study. Neuroepidemiology. 1993;12(1):28-36. 2. http://www.food.gov.uk/ Competing interests: None declared |
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David Turnbull, Exhibitions Manager National Gallery Of Australia
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It is obviously a characteristic of those with a high IQ in my case 148 and vegetarian for 26 years, that diet becomes a subject of abiding interest. Consequently food choices that avoid cruelty to animals and fish are undertaken as obvious. Diets that minimise harm to the individual human and in fact bolster the bodies defences are also obvious to vegetarians. Bigger brain vegetarian food longer life less disease seems obvious to me. David Competing interests: None declared |
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Michelle Cabrol, unemployed Copenhague 2200
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I was vegetarian, vegan to be exact, which means no consumption of cheese or milk, or any animal derivated products, from when I was 20 till I was 33, and I am not from a high social class. Both my parents were workers, and my mum had to leave school at the age of 14 to go to work. I am from a classic worker family with a large number of children and parents with a very low education level, though my mum read a lot of books. I have studied at university and obtained a diploma in a large variety of matters, like electronic engineer, philosophy, master in project leadership, team building and teaching, translator, etc... I don't know if this confirms or informs your research: I am the only one in the family who has studied at university and the only one to be vegetarian. I stopped gradually being a vegetarian due to external pressure in my close environment, but I still consider vegetarianism to be a preferred/highly recommendable way of life or way to feed oneself, compared to meat eater. I see meat eating as a form of cannibalism, a killing of other species in an unecessary/unmotivated assassination. It is basically wrong as well as ethically uncorrect. Not just logically but ethically, and that's how I view it. Does high IQ have an influence on a person's mentality and therefore ethical sense, so you have the answer as to how high IQ relates to vegetarianism. As a child, I already began to view it as incorrect. It is an instinctive reaction to the concept of killing, even if the words peace and love and instinct rarely sing together. I hope this contributes to your research. Competing interests: None declared |
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Bill D. Misner Ph.D., Nutrition Consultant Spokane, WA USA 99205
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I once viewed a comparitive MRI cross-section of a vegetarian and a meat-and-potato-fast-food diets. The vegetarian cross section showed open vessels and lean muscle mass while the non-vegetarian demonstrated fat- marbled muscle mass and associated fatty-lined vessels. Circulation of blood appears to be necessary for growth progress of intelligence peak. Intelligence potential is directly correlated with healthy blood circulation inversely related to chronic dietary protocols associated with high-normal blood pressure, and are inversely related to stroke and ischemic heart disease. The vegetarian diet appears to generate blood circulatory health that may permit intelligence quotient to reach maximum potential. Ophir et al. (1983) concluded that the protective antihypertensive factor in the vegetarian diet is the presence of high amounts of potassium. Ninety-eight (98) confirmed adult vegetarians were examined against a matched group of nonvegetarians living in the same urban environment in order to evaluate the prevalence of arterial hypertension. The average blood pressure was 126/77 for the vegetarians and 147/88 for the control group (p less than 0.05). Significantly lower blood pressure was found in every decade of age. Only 2% of the vegetarians had hypertension (higher than 160/95) as compared to 26% hypertensives in the nonvegetarians. These differences in blood pressure were maintained also when individuals with the same "relative weight" were compared. Family history of hypertension was similar in both groups. Joshipura (1999) examined the dietary habits of 75,596 women aged 34 through to 59 for 14 years and 38,683 men aged 40 through to 75 for nine years. Eating five to six servings of fruit (or vegetables) daily was found to lower the risk of stroke risk by 30% in middle-aged people. Subjects who consumed five to six daily servings of fruit or vegetables had 30% less chance of experiencing a stroke compared to those who ate two and a half to three servings a day. Eating more than six daily servings provided no additional protection, but eating just one extra serving of fruit or vegetables daily reduced stroke risk by 6 percent. Cruciferous vegetables, green leafy vegetables and citrus juice provided the most protection. Ovesen (2005) associates an increased intake of about 800 g per day vegetables (and fruit) with a 20% reduced risk of developing ischemic heart disease and concluded that an increased intake of a mix of fruits and vegetable reduces the risk of IHD. The MRI cross section reference may therefore present a dramatic "picture" of how diet choices effect blood circulation and the potential gain of or deterioration in the progress for realizing optimal intelligence quotient. References Ophir, O., et al. Low blood pressure in vegetarians: The possible role of potassium. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 37(5):755-762, 1983. Joshipura K. Journal of the American Medical Association. 292(13):1233-1239, 1999. Ovesen LF. [Increased consumption of fruits and vegetables reduces the risk of ischemic heart disease.] Ugeskr Laeger. 167(25-31):2742-2747, 2005. Bill Misner, Ph.D. AAMA Board Certified Alternative Medicine Practitioner Competing interests: None declared |
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Jeremy N Miles, Behavioral Scientist (and vegetarian) RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA 90293, USA
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Did Rameet S Uberoi even read the title of the paper before writing a response? The article is not suggesting a causal link from vegetarianism to intelligence, and says nothing about what happens to vegetarians - the result would not be inconsistent with vegetarianism leading to a 5 point drop in IQ. Competing interests: None declared |
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Kobe Millet, PhD student, Department of Marketing and Organization Studies, KULeuven Naamsestraat 69 3000 Leuven, Siegfried Dewitte
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As the authors already point out, the link between childhood IQ and vegetarianism in later life [1] is perhaps not driven by a causal chain of mechanisms related to health. We have some data supporting a different point of view. As the frequency of vegetarians in the population is extremely low (in their data only 4.5 %), vegetarianism could be considered as a type of non-conformist behavior. We argue below that acting in a non-conformist way is less threatening for highly than for less intelligent people. Therefore, we predict a positive relationship between non-conformist behavior and general intelligence. To give support to our argument, we show another similar relationship between general intelligence and another (more general) type of non-conformity, namely the ‘need for uniqueness’. Non-conformist behavior may threaten the belongingness to a social group, or has the potential of enlarging the psychological distance from others. People who deviate from the group are more likely to be punished, ridiculed, or even rejected by other group members [2]. In that light a mechanism such as social pain (i.e. “the distressing experience arising from the perception of actual or potential psychological distance from close others or a social group.”[3]) that prevents someone from social isolation situations appears as a functional characteristic. After all, in human’s natural environment acquiring resources in isolation is more difficult than in groups [4]. Prospects for isolated people are rather grim. Therefore, the need to belong may reduce people’s inclination to act in a non-conformist way, through the motivation to secure the acquisition of resources. However, general intelligence is a strong predictor of future resources [5, 6]. So, the more intelligent someone is, the less dependent this person is on the group to acquire resources. This means that highly intelligent people can afford more non-conformist behavior because of their capacity to secure resources in isolation. Therefore, we propose that as general intelligence increases the need to conform to group norms decreases. To test this hypothesis, we measured the ‘need for uniqueness’ [7] and a raven progressive matrices measure of general intelligence [8]. The need for uniqueness is measured by a scale with statements all indicating a low level of conformity (e.g. “I often dress unconventionally even when it’s likely to offend others.” and “When a style of clothing I own becomes too commonplace, I usually quit wearing it.”). Our study (32 men, 14 women) showed a significant positive relationship between the need for uniqueness and general intelligence (r = .35, p = .017). This relationship was similar for both men (r = .32) and women (r = .46). Summarized, we explain the IQ-vegeterianism findings from a psychological point of view and show converging evidence. Moreover, we generalize these findings to a positive relationship between general intelligence and non-conformity in general. Our data give support to this view as a more general type of non-conformist behavior than vegetarianism (the need for uniqueness) is similarly related to general intelligence. [1] Gale CR, Deary IJ, Schoon I, & Batty, D. IQ in childhood and vegetarianism in adulthood: 1970 British cohort study. BMJ 2006;doi:10.1136/bmj.39030.675069.55 [2] Griskevicius V, Goldstein NJ, Mortensen CR, Cialdini RB, Kenrick DT. Going along vs. going alone: when fundamental motives facilitate strategic (non)conformity. J Pers Soc Psych 2006;91: 281-294. [3] Eisenberger NI, Lieberman MD. Why rejection hurts: a comon neural alarm system for physical and social pain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 2004;8: 294-300. [4] Baumeister RF, Leary ML. The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychol Bull 1995; 117: 497-529. [5] Gottfredson LS. Intelligence: Is it the epidemiologists’ elusive “fundamental cause” of social class inequalities in health? J Pers Soc Psych 2004; 86: 174-199. [6] Kanazawa S. Why beautiful people are more intelligent. Intelligence 2004; 32: 227-243. [7] Tian KT, McKenzie K. The long-term predictive validity of the consumers' need for uniqueness scale. Journal of Consumer Psychology 2001; 10: 171-193. [8] Millet K, Dewitte S. Altruistic behavior as a costly signal of general intelligence. Journal of Research in Personality in press. Competing interests: None declared |
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Shalini K Subashchandran, SHO in Psychiatry Manchester
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I read your article with interest! I think the findings can be explained in a variety of ways as suggested previously. Higher intelligence, means a push for a healthier lifestyle. But perhaps also a deeper contemplation of the ethics of killing animals for food? Perhaps people with higher IQ's are more likely to contemplate on spirituality, animal rights, world economics (it's more expensive to raise a pig than grow crops)to make their life-style choices? Competing interests: None declared |
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Phillip J. Colquitt, Technician/RN Independent Comment
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ACCORDING to just published work of Spencer et al[1], who studied medical students in the Class of 2003 (n=1,849) at 15 US medical schools (response rate 80%),…… “…….THE PREVALENCE of vegetarianism was higher among US medical students than among other US adults, although the prevalence declined during medical school……” IF BEING a medical student might be taken as evidence of being of above average intelligence in the first place, such that IQ confirmation by testing is unnecessary, it is interesting to note the decline in vegetarianism during medical school. This could suggest that medical culture generally is anti rather than pro vegetarianism, since almost by definition a “student” is moulded in certain directions by a “school”. MY OWN HUNCH as to the finding[2] is that being in a dietary minority[vegetarian] makes it difficult to survive, and being generally more intelligent than the meat eaters, is an asset required to remain vegetarian[and hence alive] at all. [1]Spencer EH, Elon LK, Frank E. Personal and professional correlates of US medical students' vegetarianism.J Am Diet Assoc. 2007 Jan;107(1):72- 8. [2] Catharine R Gale, Ian J Deary, Ingrid Schoon, and G David Batty. IQ in childhood and vegetarianism in adulthood: 1970 British cohort study BMJ 2007; 334: 245 Competing interests: Vegetarian |
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Allan House, Director, Institute of Health Sciences University of Leeds
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One of the striking findings of this study is that 1/3 of those who describe themselves as vegetarian in fact eat fish and chicken. Being a vegetarian myself (that is, somebody who eats no meat) I am intrigued - and I have to say often irritated - by this widespread phenomenon. Even not very clever people must know that fish and fowl aren't vegetables, so what is going on? I suspect the answer is that vegetarianism is more widely recognized as a desirable behaviour than its prevalence would suggest. However, like cycling and not smoking in pubs it is harder to practice than it should be, so people describe what they would like to be rather than what they are. There is a lesson here for those who wish to improve the public health. Competing interests: None declared |
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Aaron Dale, Software Engineer 99204
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"To Enjoy Unique Experiences" Isn't this the true meaning of life? If you are a person who can watch the same movie 20 times, either you're lying to yourself that you enjoy it or you have a low IQ. It seems odd to me that a person with a High IQ wouldn't eat meat. Lettuce gets boring. They only make so many salad dressings. I believe that obsessing about what you should eat may require a higher than average IQ since it requires deeper thought and consideration. This, in my opinion, does not mean that the vegetarian/IQ correlation is directly associated. The cause is something else. Something you're not considering or something you're not looking for. I would start by researching why a person is a vegetarian. When did they decide to become a vegetarian and what was their motivation? From my point of view it must be a behavioral dysfunction. All in all, if you are a vegetarian, start thinking bigger. Why stop at the big picture of vegetables when their are bigger problems to contemplate? For example, aren't plants alive too? Why would you give more value to a bird and less to a tree? Because a bird has a brain? Why should having a brain make you more valuable? All life is equal, even as equal as inanimate matter. Energy is energy and life is simply a more complex reaction of different energies. Keep sharp, keep finding answers, don't sell yourself out to hype and make your own answers for why you are doing what you are doing. Competing interests: None declared |
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