Antibiotic body burden of elderly Chinese population and health risk assessment: A human biomonitoring-based study

Objective: To examine the relation between the consumption or avoidance of meat and psychological health and well-being.Methods: A systematic search of online databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL Pl...

Meat and mental health: a systematic review of meat abstention and depression, anxiety, and related phenomena

Vegetarianism has gained more visibility in recent years. Despite the well-described effects of a vegetarian diet on health, its influence on the quality of life of the individuals who follow it still needs to be properly investigated. Quality of life relates to a subjective perception of well-being and functionality, and encompasses four main life domains: physical, psychological, social, and environmental. The adoption of a vegetarian diet, despite being a dietary pattern, could potentially influence and be influenced by all of these domains, either positively or negatively. This review aims to present an overview of the background, conceptualization, features, and potential effects of vegetarianism in all quality of life domains. The choice of adopting a vegetarian diet could have positive outcomes, such as better physical health, positive feelings related to the adoption of a morally correct attitude, an increased sense of belonging (to a vegetarian community), and lower environmental impact. Other factors, however, could have a negative impact on the quality of life of those choosing to abstain from meats or other animal products, especially when they go beyond one’s control. These include the environment, the social/cultural group in which a person is inserted, gender-based differences, economic aspects, and a limited access to a wide variety of plant-based foods. It is important to understand all the effects of adopting a vegetarian diet—beyond its nutritional aspects. Not only do studies in this area provide more consistent data, but they may also contribute to mitigating all factors that might prevent individuals from adopting a vegetarian diet, or that may have a negative impact on the quality of life of those who already follow it.

Vegetarian Diet: An Overview through the Perspective of Quality of Life Domains.

Depressed mood, which can occur in the context of major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and other conditions, represents a serious threat to public health and wellness. Conventional treatments are not effective for a significant proportion of patients and interventions that are often beneficial for treatment-refractory depression are not widely available. There is, therefore, an immense need to identify novel antidepressant strategies, particularly strategies that target physiological pathways that are distinct from those addressed by conventional treatments. There is growing evidence from human neuroimaging, genetics, epidemiology, and animal studies that disruptions in brain energy production, storage, and utilization are implicated in the development and maintenance of depression. Creatine, a widely available nutritional supplement, has the potential to improve these disruptions in some patients, and early clinical trials indicate that it may have efficacy as an antidepressant agent.

Creatine for the Treatment of Depression.

Previous studies reported inconsistent findings regarding the consumption of a vegetarian diet with mental health outcomes, specifically depression, anxiety and stress. A systematic review was conducted to summarize the current state of literature regarding our understanding of the association between a vegetarian diet and depression, anxiety and stress. A literature search was completed using Scopus, PubMed, and the Web of Science for relevant articles published prior to July 2020. Prospective cohort and cross-sectional studies conducted on adults reporting risk estimates for the consumption of a vegetarian diet, depression, anxiety, and stress were selected. A fixed effects or a random effects model was performed to pool effect sizes. Results from 13 publications (four cohort studies and nine cross-sectional studies) assessing the relationship between the consumption of a vegetarian diet and depression, anxiety and stress were included. The pooled effect size from 10 studies indicated no association between the consumption of a vegetarian diet and depression (pooled effect size: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.84-1.25, p = 0.817). Further, the pooled effect size from four studies suggests that a vegetarian diet is not associated with anxiety (pooled effect size: 1.09, 95% CI: 0.71-1.68, p = 0.678). Due to insufficient data for stress, we were not able to pool the results. Together, no significant associations were observed between the consumption of a vegetarian diet and depression or anxiety. Future cohort studies are needed to further investigate the effects of a vegetarian diet on these mental health outcomes.

Jun-qing Zhang

Papers

Adhering to a vegetarian diet may create a greater risk of depressive symptoms in the elderly male Chinese population