Dementia in Vegetarians

Vegetarians face risk of dementia
By V NarayanaMurthi
29 Sep 2009 07:21:17 AM IST

VELLORE: As the world observes the International Day of Older Persons on October 1, here is some food for thought for you. If you are over 50, vegetarian, and experience memory loss, you are more likely to have dementia than others.

Dementia is a disorder of the brain that affects areas of cognition such as memory, attention, language and problem solving. A recent study conducted by the Department of Geriatrics attached to the CMC Hospital here, considered to be a breakthrough, has found a link among vegetarianism, deficiency of Vitamin B12 and dementia.

The study has found that the deficiency of Vitamin B12 was one of the major reasons for dementia. Ten per cent of the persons with dementia had B12 deficiency and most of the sample group was vegetarians where as a similar study in USA had revealed the percentage was around one. “A pure vegetarian diet is very poor in Vitamin B12 and the same should be supplemented in the form of tablets by all vegetarians,” Dr Prasad Mathews, HoD, stressed. Read More

The debate over what is the perfect diet for people will probably never be settled. What we are told today is the food to avoid, will be tomorrow’s health food. So unless you want to constantly try keeping up with diet fads, your best option is going to be to eat a balanced diet that includes meat and dairy products. This study suggests that a vegetarian diet may cause even more harm to your brain health than previously believed. It’s more proof that extreme diets aren’t good for you.