The words "vegan" and "uptight"don't seem to jive.
And there may be a scientific reason for that.
Researchers at Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois have found that eating meat can put you in a bad mood while a vegetarian diet can improve your mood.
The researchers point to arachidonic acid as the culprit, which is found in much higher amounts in meat-based diets than vegetarian diets. Though some is necessary for good health, high amounts of arachidonic acid promote changes in the brain that can disturb mood.
EPA and DHA found in fish is known to curb the effects of arachidonic acid, but in this study, despite that the omnivores were eating a lot of fish, the vegetarians in the study still had better "mood scores" than the omnivores.
That finding coincides with our most recent blog post, which mentioned that plant-based foods restore cellular health and toxin removal, thereby promoting emotional stability — and that animal protein is a worry trigger.
Too much arachidonic acid is also a major source of inflammation, which can lead to all kinds of disease.
Do you get the sense that the body just isn't happy when it's bombarded with this stuff?
On the flipside, little or no arachidonic acid is found in plants, and thus plant-based diets (like The Hallelujah Diet) do not contribute to the mood alterations seen in this study.
Could a plant-based diet make you more calm and level headed?
There's only one way to find out. :)
What foods make you mellow? Comment below!
